NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.
With the benefit of over three decades of experience as a member of God’s Church and years of interested and careful continuing study of the Bible, questions have arisen regarding the celebration of the annual Holy Days as taught in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) in the days when its Pastor General was Mr. Herbert W Armstrong (HWA). It stands to reason and, is unavoidable as growth in knowledge and understanding occur, that questions will arise which should be addressed and for which answers should be provided using the Scriptures as the criterion of truth; not personal impressions, wishes or desires.
Mr. Armstrong always enjoined everyone listening to him to always check out with the Scriptures what he was teaching and if one of his teachings should prove to be wrong or unsupported by the Scriptures, not to go along with it just because he, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA) said it. The confusion that occurred after his death and the migration of most of WCG members to the new so-called churches of God that then appeared is a very clear indication that WCG attendees never took to heart HWA’s often repeated warning and command to check his teachings against the Bible and should one or more of them be found to not agree with the Bible, NOT TO FOLLOW IT but to follow their Bible. The great majority of past members of the WCG are now sitting comfortably in one of the many false churches of God that arose after the death of HWA. They were following the man, Mr. Armstrong because he was a good speaker and they had confidence in him which is exactly what HWA had told them not to do. When he died they started looking for other human leaders in whom they could place their trust and they followed them relieving themselves of the responsibility of proving things out for themselves with their Bible which is their only safeguard from being deceived. Salvation to their mind is simply a question of following the right man and being with the right group. They never got into the habit of checking things out for themselves with their Bible and as a result the Bible to them, is still a mysterious and closed book but they are not worried about it as they are part of the right organization headed up by the right man.
Does that describe you?
Mr. Armstrong made errors which he corrected and he said that a sign of the true Church was that it would correct past teachings when found to be in error as a result of a better understanding of the Scriptures. The most notable change was moving the celebration of Pentecost from Saturday to Sunday. Making errors is not the biggest problem; not correcting them when the truth finally becomes evident is the bigger mistake. It is inevitable that as growth in knowledge and understanding occur of the Scriptures that some of the Church’s teachings and practices will sometimes need to be revised.
The body of knowledge available to Christians at different times in the history of the true Church has been neither complete nor static. Each and every member of God’s Church must be growing in knowledge and understanding of the truth through continuing attentive study of the Bible all through their physical lives to remain live spiritual embryos that can be born at the time of the resurrection of God’s saints. God commands Christians to have growth in knowledge and understanding (just spend some quality time in the book of Proverbs and you will see it). He would not have given this command if there would come a time when all possible Biblical truths could be fully known and understood making growth impossible.
Continuing to study on an unending rotating basis the writings and voice recordings of Mr. Armstrong will not, past a certain point, result in increased knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures. It is not what God had in mind when He commanded Christians to have growth in their spiritual lives. Of course, it is an absolute certainty that truly converted Christians are to first master the foundational truth restored to God’s Church by God’s promised end-time Elijah. They provide true Christians with the ability to graduate to studying the Bible itself, not books written by men about the Bible, so as to grow in knowledge and understanding. Christians are to become spiritually mature. (Are You Spiritually Mature?)
It is a given that not every member of God’s Church will have the same level of knowledge and understanding as this will greatly vary based on the amount of time spent in studying the Bible and one’s personal degree of interest in wanting to do so. It is also one of the reasons why there was so little spiritual fellowship between members of the WCG and why it is next to impossible to have any quality spiritual fellowship with those who after the end of the WCG say they are holding on to the truth.
They really never understood and proved out for themselves the Church’s teachings and consequently, the Bible is still to them a closed and mysterious book whose main story they have yet to know. (Are Christians Personally Responsible for Proving all Things? ) They were given a certain amount of knowledge and understanding at the time of their calling which they have chosen to hide so as not to lose it. They refuse to have spiritual fellowship with other truly converted Christians fearing to be deceived. Will Christ be proud of this servant at the time of His Second Coming? Read it for yourself paying close attention to Matt 25:26; 25:30.
Mat 25:24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
Mat 25:25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
Mat 25:26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Mat 25:27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Mat 25:28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
Mat 25:29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Mat 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Studying is a personal decision which is wholly left up to the individual Christian; God will not force you to become spiritually mature so as to be able to study the Bible on your own and get the correct understanding of what it says nor will He force you to have spiritual fellowship. Indeed, God will not force you to do anything; you are entirely responsible for motivating yourself to do what you have to do; no one else can do it for you; not the ministry and not even HWA when he was alive. Praying, studying, meditating and living to the best of your ability God’s truth is your part in the salvation process. Salvation is not a spectator sport; each Christian stands or falls based on his own works.
Mr. Armstrong observed the annual holy days of the Bible for some 14 years before finally arriving at some understanding of what they meant. This clearly goes to show that their meaning is not all that self-evident especially that in the days of ancient Israel, the holy days memorialized and highlighted significant events in their past and in their everyday lives which are not all that relatable, if at all, to New Testament (NT) Israel which, to a very large extent, does not have a shared past with ancient Israel and, who in most cases, are not even their physical descendants.
The focal point of Old Testament (OT) Israel’s holy day celebrations were physical and material not spiritual. Ancient Israel was a totally unconverted nation who never knew the true God and for whom the holy days were solely physical-material celebrations commanded by God. They were simply told how to celebrate the holy days without, in many instances, being given any explanations as to why they had to do so except that it was commanded by God. OT Israel had a ritualistic religion consisting of repetitive physical tasks which they came to reluctantly practice and which they quickly neglected or abandoned whenever there was no strong leader among them.
The Book of Malachi, which I highly recommend you read, details their attitude toward the physical rituals God had given them. They didn’t see how they were useful or profitable to them, they were bored with them and were offering their lame animals rather than the best of their herds and flock as God had had commanded them to do. (Correctly Understanding the Book of Malachi)
If we examine the Scriptures bearing on the celebration of the annual Holy Days, it becomes clear there are differences in the manner of celebrating and in the meaning of these days as we go from the Old to the New Testament. The key point to keep in mind is that OT Israel was a carnal-minded nation which was never given access to God’s Spirit, who could not understand the spiritual truth of God, who was completely unable to know and never knew the true God, and whose physical descendants remain unconverted unto this day.
However, NT Israel is a spiritual organism made up of Spirit-begotten individuals from all over the world who have been given access to God’s Spirit which makes it possible for them to know and understand God’s spiritual truth and to know the true God. They know that He is simply not just another god like the many other gods followed by the unconverted of the world which indeed are not gods but merely the fruit of men’s imaginations.
Let’s go through every annual Holy Day and determine what changes in understanding and manner of celebration of these days, may be appropriate for NT Christians. As usual, the author assumes that the reader has mastered the foundational truths of God’s Church and has grown from being a babe-in-Christ to a spiritually mature Christian (Are You Spiritually Mature?) who can read the Bible on his own and get growth in knowledge and understanding from it beyond the foundational truth (1 Co 3: 10-15) of God’s Church. These fundamental truths were given directly from the mouth of Christ to His disciples who became apostles on the Day of Pentecost and who were the founding members of God’s NT Church. These foundational truths were to be transmitted from generation to generation of truly converted Christians unto the time of Christ’s Second Coming but because of the 1260 years of persecution of the true Church by the great false church that arose as a counterfeit of the true Church shortly after the founding of the true church, most of these foundational truths were lost. This is why God in the book of Malachi tells us that one would come in the spirit and power of Elijah before the great and dreadful Day of the Lord to restore to God’s Church the very foundational truth given the church directly by Christ.
Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Mat 17:10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
Mat 17:11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
We were always taught that the reason for the annual Holy Days is to keep true Christians in remembrance of the major steps being followed by God in bringing salvation to mankind. This is the spiritual message from God to His New Testament Spirit-begotten church. It is a message which is impossible for the unconverted to understand as they do not have God’s Spirit dwelling in them. The meaning and focus of the Holy Days is not, nor can be, the same in New Testament times as it was in Old Testament times when God’s nation was an unconverted, physical nation. Conversion is by God’s Spirit and they never had it.
Let’s start our study by looking at the Passover.
The Passover
In OT times, this feast was celebrated by the killing of a lamb, a male and a yearling, roasting it during the evening portion of the 14th of Nisan, eating it during the night; not breaking any of its bones and burning the remains with fire. The lintel and the 2 side posts of the door of the houses of the Israelites were smeared with the blood of the sacrificial lamb and when God’s angel of death was sent to kill the firstborn of man and beast, it passed over the houses of the Israelites on seeing the blood on the lintels and side posts of the doors of their houses.
The Passover led to Israel being able to leave Egypt and to ultimately be freed from its bondage under the Egyptians. When ancient Israel celebrated the Passover, it was among other things, a reminder of their firstborns having been spared from death on the night that God’s angel of death went over the land of Egypt and caused the death of the firstborn of men and animals everywhere the blood of the lamb was not found on the side posts and lintels of the houses in Egypt.
The practice in God’s Church has been to celebrate the Passover with unleavened bread and wine. Christ kept the Passover in the same way it had been kept by ancient Israel i.e., with unleavened bread and a roasted lamb.
Exo 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Exo 34:25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
But on His last Passover, Christ introduced a new way of keeping it. New Testament Christians would from then on keep the Passover with bread and wine which would be symbols for his body and death. There would no longer be a requirement for a lamb to be sacrificed and eaten during the Passover ceremony.
One point I would like to mention in passing and which has its importance is that Christ kept the Passover with His disciples one day before the Jewish Passover. This is because the Jews had combined Passover with the Days of Unleavened Bread into one feast as during their captivity under the Persians they had adopted the pagan practice of starting days at midnight rather than at sunset. They had to combine Passover with the Days of Unleavened Bread to be able to celebrate the Passover on the 14th and the Days of Unleavened Bread on the 15th of Nisan.
This is a bit complicated but here is a brief explanation of the problem posed by starting the days at midnight instead than at sunset when it comes to celebrating God’s holy days on the correct day. God’s Passover is to be celebrated on the 14th of Nisan which starts at sunset and the First Day of Unleavened Bread is to be celebrated on the 15th of Nisan which starts at sunset. If the days start at midnight as is the case for the Jews, it becomes impossible to have the Passover and the first Day of Unleavened Bread on two separate days because with days starting and ending at midnight, the Jews’ 14th day starts at midnight but the Passover is to be celebrated on the evening portion of the 14th day. The only way the Jews could arrive at celebrating Passover on the evening portion of the 14th day and Passover on the evening of the 15th was to combine the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread into one feast. In this way, on their 14th day of Nisan in the evening they celebrated the Passover but in reality at sunset on the 14th, the day changes to the 15th according to God’s way of starting and ending days i.e., at sunset. But according to the Jews’ way of starting and ending days, it is still the 14th until midnight. Then the following day which starts at midnight which is the 15th of Nisan according to the way they ended and started days, they celebrated the first Day of Unleavened Bread.
The Jews are celebrating the Passover one day late i.e., on God’s 15th of Nisan which begins at sunset on the evening of the Jews’ 14th of Nisan. Christ as the Lamb of God and perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind was sacrificed on the day portion of the 14th of Nisan while it was still the Passover. The Jews during the day portion of God’s Passover when Christ died on the stake were preparing to celebrate their Passover that evening which was the 15th of Nisan as at sunset a new day starts (for the Jews it was still the 14th until 12 midnight).
The essential point to keep in mind is that the NT Passover does not mean the same thing as the OT Passover and is not celebrated in the same way. In hindsight we can see that the OT lamb prefigured Christ as the Lamb of God and perfect sacrifice for sin which was fulfilled with Christ’s death on the stake but that’s not what it meant to ancient Israel. It was merely a reminder of one of the steps followed by God in freeing their forefathers from slavery in Egypt and, it still is today.
The Passover as celebrated in OT times did not carry over into the NT era of God’s Church. As previously stated, Christ Himself changed how it is to be observed and in doing so created a clear break between the OT and the NT way of observing this feast day and changed its meaning for NT Christians. The OT Passover when celebrated by God’s spiritual nation became a memorial of Christ’s death and suffering for the remission of the sins of mankind; the OT Passover celebration had no such meaning.
If we look upon the annual holy days as showing us the steps being followed by God in the administration of His plan of salvation for mankind then the New Testament Passover can be said to be the first essential step making God’s plan of salvation for mankind possible. Without a perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind, there would be no salvation possible. This can only be understood by spiritual Israel, God’s Church and this is why the NT celebration of Passover is the one applicable to God’s spiritual nation of Israel, His Church.
Was the Passover the only feast day which changes in the way it is celebrated by God’s spiritual nation and in its meaning for God’s Church? And, can we find in NT Scriptures what is the intended meaning of God’s annual feast days for His NT spiritual nation of Israel whose minds are enabled by God’s Spirit to understand the annual holy days in their spiritual dimension?
Let’s continue our study by examining the meaning and manner of celebration of God’s 2nd annual holy day, the Days of Unleavened Bread (DUB)?
The Days of Unleavened Bread
The purpose for this next feast as celebrated in Old Testament times was for the physical and unconverted nation of Israel to always remember the day when they came out of Egypt. It was to keep them in remembrance of an important historical event in the life of their nation. There is no spiritual meaning for this annual holy day as celebrated in OT times by the physical nation of Israel.
The following Scripture makes clear the purpose of the Days of Unleavened Bread as celebrated in OT times.
Deu 16:3 Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
Israel had to leave Egypt in great haste to take advantage of the short period of time when the Egyptians were still in shock from the loss of their firstborns and were in no mood to take any concerted action to stop Israel from leaving Egypt while they were overcome with grief. Had Israel left Egypt following a decree by Pharaoh, they would not have had to leave in such a big hurry nor would they have been instructed to spend the night up all dressed and ready to travel the next day as the sun came up. Pharaoh never allowed Israel to leave Egypt and this is why he pursued them when he was told they had gone. Remember that Israel lived separately from the Egyptian population in the land of Goshen. The following Scripture confirms that Pharaoh never allowed Israel to leave Egypt and was not aware of their having left Egypt until he was told that they had left.
Exo 14:5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
Please notice what this verse is saying: “And it was told the king of Egypt…..” The king of Egypt had to be told that Israel had left Egypt; he didn’t know they were gone. This means he never authorized them to leave for had he done so, he would have already known they had left Egypt. Also, please note that Israel fled or ran away from Egypt: “…..that the people fled:…..“ they did not leave at a leisurely pace which they would have done had there being a proclamation issued by Pharaoh that they were free to leave. This is also why Pharaoh pursued them after having been informed that they had left Egypt; he had never agreed to let them go.
God commanded ancient Israel not to have leaven in their houses nor to eat leaven for the 7 day duration of the feast. They had left in such haste (they fled from Egypt) that they could not leaven the bread dough they took with them as once leavened it has to be baked to prevent it from spoiling. Once they had finally escaped Egypt and Pharaoh’s army had perished in the Red sea, God instituted the Days of Unleavened Bread as a reminder of a significant event in their past; a memorializing of the day they were freed from being slaves in Egypt. This is all the feast meant to ancient Israel; it had no clue as to any potential or possible spiritual meaning of it.
The WCG taught that the message of the Days of Unleavened Bread is as follows:
But Jesus Christ is not only the author, or beginner, He is
also the FINISHER of our salvation (Heb. 12:2). That is what the
professing Christian world has forgotten! They have lost the
knowledge of the SECOND STEP in God’s plan — that we must PUT
SIN OUT OF OUR LIVES!
To help us in the knowledge of the second step, God gave His
Church a special festival — the Days of Unleavened Bread. They
are to impress upon us the fact that we must NEVER AGAIN RETURN
to the sins Christ paid for with His shed blood. (AC BCC 34 of the 58 lesson course)
According to the WCG, Christians must strive to remove all sin from their lives and never again return to sin as this is their part in the salvation process. However, the Scriptures are plain and clear that it is impossible for men to do so and that anyone who says that this can be done, is a liar and the truth is not in him (1Jo 1:8-10).
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
God very plainly tells us that sin is unavoidable in a Christian’s life. If leaven represents sin generally then how can a Christian in whose life sin will always be present be an unleavened lump i.e., be without sin so as to be saved?
1Co 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
Let’s continue with our review of this annual feast day
During the feast, the ministry spoke about the need for Christians to not be “puffed up” but never really explained what it meant to be puffed up spiritually speaking. As we will see, the NT does not mention unleavened bread as being part of the celebration of the Days of Unleavened Bread (DUB). This feast in NT Scriptures kept its OT name but no mention is made in NT Scriptures of unleavened bread except with respect to the Passover nor are any references made to the way this feast was celebrated by New Testament Israel.
The Passover also kept its OT name but as we have seen, it is no longer celebrated the same way in the NT nor does it mean the same thing.
Does Christ give us the new meaning and manner of celebrating the DUB for NT Christians? Christ is God’s Spokesman to His Church and the Bible is Christ in writing and if we are to find out the meaning and the manner of celebration of DUB in NT times, it has to be given to us by Christ.
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past [in OT times] unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days [the days in which the apostles lived and us today their spiritual descendants] spoken unto us [His Church] by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
The focal point of NT Scriptures is not unleavened bread but rather something that Christians are to avoid so as not to lose their salvation and that is being “puffed up.”
What does being “puffed up” mean for a member of God’s NT spiritual nation, His Church?
Christ told His disciples and through the Bible, truly converted Christians across the centuries, that all sins can be forgiven except one. Mr. Armstrong wrote a booklet on what is the unpardonable sin and he explained the unpardonable sin occurring when one willfully turns away from one or more of God’s truth. That is very true but Mr. Armstrong did not make the connection between being spiritually puffed up, the unpardonable sin and the Days of Unleavened Bread.
What is the unpardonable sin?
Christ told his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Mat 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Mat 16:11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
Mat 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Luk 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
How bad was their sin of hypocrisy?
Mat 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
Mat 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees knew who Jesus was and this is made known to us in John 3 where Nicodemus secretly by night went to talk to Jesus.
Joh 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
Joh 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
But they fought against Him, they opposed Him and sought to discredit Him in the eyes of the people by saying among other things that He cast out devils by the power of the devil and that He was devil possessed.
Mat 9:34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.
Joh 7:20 The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?
Joh 8:48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
Joh 8:49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.
Joh 8:52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
Joh 10:20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?
Did the Pharisees and the Sadducees sin of hypocrisy lead to their losing their salvation?
Mat 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Mat 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
Luk 11:31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
Luk 13:27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Luk 13:28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The generation that saw Christ and fought against Him all the while knowing full well who Christ was is guilty of having committed the unpardonable sin of having spoken against God’s Spirit or of blasphemy against God’s Spirit.
Hypocrisy was their unpardonable sin but hypocrisy is not the only way one can be found guilty of having committed the unpardonable sin. Basically, speaking against God’s Spirit is refusing to accept what we know to be the truth and making up excuses to justify to ourselves not following the spiritual truth given us by God’s Spirit.
All truly converted Christians have been given by the action of God’s Spirit in their minds to know God’s spiritual truth which allows them to correctly know the difference between right and wrong. They understand that they are not to rely on themselves to do so as they did before their conversion but to have God do it for them. The God they now follow is the true God and not the former god they had made for themselves while unconverted which was themselves deciding right and wrong based on their own personally-devised standards.
Whenever a truly converted Christian begins to reason his way around one or more of God’s truths to return to certain sinful parts of his past life before his conversion, he is committing the unpardonable sin. He is opposing himself to the truth he has received from God’s Spirit; he is elevating his understanding of right and wrong above that of God and is basically saying to God: “I know better than You the difference between right and wrong.”
Whenever this happens, we find ourselves looking at a Christian who is puffed up, spiritually speaking, against God; he is raising himself up; puffing himself up in authority over God by deciding for himself good and evil as he once did in his ignorance of the truth before being called. But now, he knows the truth and God will not ignore his sins as He had done before while they were committed when he did not know the truth.
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
God’s Church is now being judged by God because it knows the truth; the world’s time of judgment is yet future and will occur when they also will be given to know the truth about right and wrong when God opens their minds through His Spirit.
The unpardonable sin basically involves the knowing and willful rejection of one or more of God’s truth to allow ourselves to go back to one or more sins we committed while unconverted. We are then guilty of the unpardonable sin which is basically rejecting God’s revelation and elevating or puffing up our understanding of the truth above that of God. It is going back to ourselves being the god in our lives that we follow after having been given to know the true God.
The NT message of the DUB is that true Christians must always remain humble before God and accept that His law defines right and wrong for them and that they have to try to follow that law to the best of their abilities no matter how personally inconvenient it may sometimes be for them to do so. They can never allow themselves to rise up in authority over God and again become the god in their lives that they follow by again making themselves the criterion for determining right and wrong as they had been doing before being called and chosen. Their attitude of obedience to God must be in all things and this until the end of their lives.
Leaven is not symbolic of a specific sin but of an attitude of mind which is to knowingly resist God’s authority over us once we have come to the knowledge of the truth which results in sinfulness that is unpardonable.
Leaven is symbolic of the unpardonable sin which can be any sin which we no longer resist and of which we are justifying ourselves by all sorts of rationalizations. We are then in willful opposition to God and blaspheming against God’s Spirit.
Did the NT Christians keep the Days of unleavened bread the same way as OT Israel i.e., using unleavened bread? Paul gave the following reminder to the Corinthian congregations which is applicable to all true Christians.
1Co 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, [let God tell you what is sin; don’t go back to yourself being the criterion of what is and is not sin] that ye may be a new lump, [have Christ’s sacrifice cover your sins] as ye are unleavened. [your sins have been forgiven and are continuously forgiven as you maintain your attitude of obedience to God in all things] For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: [Christ was the Passover sacrifice for His spiritual nation; a sacrifice that forgives all sins conditional upon maintaining a sincere attitude of obedience to God in all things.]
1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, [your previous attitude of you being the criterion of right and wrong] neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread [the word “bread” is in italics which means it is not part of the original text; it was added in by the translators] of sincerity and truth. [The “unleavened” is their new attitude of fully trusting God to establish for them right and wrong and their commitment to conduct their lives accordingly to the best of their abilities.]
Why was Paul telling the Corinthians to purge out the old leaven. The Corinthians were tolerating among their fellowship someone who was a known fornicator (1Co 5:1) in defiance of Paul’s instructions not to company with fornicators (1Co 5:9) in their assemblies. In doing so, Paul said they were puffed up (1Co 5:2); they were using their own criterion of right and wrong rather than God’s which had been given them by Paul, thinking theirs was better than God’s. This is why Paul tells them to purge out the old leaven i.e., to cease determining right and wrong based on their own criteria as they used to do before their conversion and to apply God’s criteria of right and wrong as taught them by Paul, an apostle of God. They should put out the sinning member. They should be a new lump and keep the feast with the unleavened of sincerity and truth NOT with physical bread that is unleavened.
NT Christians have never been in bondage and there is no need or reason for them to be reminded yearly of ancient Israel’s hasty departure from slavery in Egypt. Moreover, ancient Israel’s time of slavery in Egypt was not punishment from God because Israel had sinned; it was the result of a new Pharaoh coming along and fearing that Israel would grow greater in population than Egypt and come to rule over it. In order to make sure that would not happen, he made slaves out of them. There is no spiritual message applicable to NT Christians of this historical event in the life of ancient Israel. The spiritual meaning of the Days of Unleavened Bread for God’s spiritual nation of Israel is given us by Christ Himself in the New Testament scriptures of Matthew, Luke and John we have just seen.
The Days of Unleavened Bread in NT times reminds truly converted Christians that they continue to be sinners; of how their sins are always forgiven, of the condition for their sins to be always forgiven and of their continuing state of being sinless in God’s eyes i.e., of being an unleavened lump though continuing to have sin in their lives as long as they let God’s law determine right and wrong for them and they maintain their attitude of trying to obey God in all things. Though truly converted Christians will be sinners all through their lives (1John 1: 8-10), God does not impute sin (Ps 32:2) to them as long as they are sincerely making an effort to obey Him in all things (1John 1:7) and in this way remain an unleavened lump or sinless (Ps 103: 10-14), and constitute the temple in which God and Christ dwell (2Co 6:16; John 14:23).
NT Christians are to be an unleavened lump. If leaven is sin then that would mean that Christians have to come to a time in their lives when they have no sin but God very clearly tells us that this is impossible (1John 1:8-10). Leaven is not symbolic of sin but of a willful attitude of opposition to God by a truly converted person which has for effect of cutting that person off from having their sinfulness forgiven by Christ’s perfect sacrifice. They are then no longer an unleavened lump and have lost their salvation.
The leaven NT Christians must avoid is not physical leaven but spiritual leaven which is refusing to submit to God with respect to certain parts of His law because they have decided not to do so for a multitude of reasons they have made up to justify to themselves not doing so.
Being in opposition to the truth of God after having been given to know the truth is the unpardonable sin which can be any sin resulting from any part of God’s law we decide to no longer follow. All sins will be forgiven except those against God’s Spirit i.e., willfully disobeying God after having come to the knowledge of the truth given us by God’s Spirit. This is why the Pharisees and Sadducees lost their salvation for they knew who Jesus was and opposed themselves to Him.
Mat 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. [Their sins were not forgiven because they knew who Jesus was and opposed Him; they lost their salvation.]
There is no indication whatsoever in the NT that the Days of Unleavened Bread were kept in the same way OT Israel observed it i.e., that they did the physical things of de-leavening their houses and spent 7 days eating unleavened bread. These physical, ritualistic, repetitive ordinances were for the carnal-minded (did not have and never had God’s Spirit) physical nation of Israel. Since the day of Pentecost, God’s people Israel is not longer a physical nation in which one is born but a Spirit-begotten nation whose members are from all over the world. This Spirit-begotten nation of Israel which is totally different from the ancient nation of Israel is to worship God not through the observance of physical rituals but in spirit and in truth.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
In NT times, for God’s Spirit-begotten spiritual nation of Israel, the feast of the Days of Unleavened Bread, is a reminder that true Christians have to be sure they are not knowingly and willfully resisting God in one or more aspects of their lives. Resisting God after having come to the knowledge of the truth is the unpardonable sin which results in loss of salvation.
The state of a true Christian in God’s eyes is one of being sinless. No sin is ever imputed to him as long as his attitude is to try to obey God in all things (according to the truth given him by God not according to “how he sees it”) to the best of his abilities. As long as He is not willfully resisting God and trying to obey Him to the best of his abilities, no sin is imputed to him. Salvation is not a question of having sin or no sin in one’s life; we all do and we will all have sin throughout our lives. What matters is refusing to submit to God and fighting against the truth we have because it goes counter to something we want to do which after our conversion we know is contrary to God’s law.
The OT is physical and material for a physical nation of Israel and the NT is spiritual for a spiritual nation of Israel. God dealt differently with OT Israel than He does with NT Christians because ancient Israel could not understand spiritual truth. OT Israel, a physical nation was given physical things to do so they would learn to fear (obey) God. These things were physical and repetitive to attempt to instill in them the habit of obedience. The process failed as is plainly revealed in the last book of the OT, the book of Malachi. Israel kept on reluctantly going through the motion of the physical ceremonies, ritual washings, animal sacrifices and temple ceremonies they had been given to do but the people in their everyday lives forgot about God’s law. They were even saying that it did not do them any good to obey God as they were not getting any physical rewards out of it. It was just drudgery to them which they grew to dislike and kept on doing half-heartedly (Mal 1:13) without any desire to obey God in their personal lives. God in the book of Malachi tells them he does not accept their offerings (Mal 1:10) and they would do just as well to shut the doors of the temple and stop their offerings (Mal 1:10, first part of verse).
However, spiritual Israel is made up of only those who have freely and self-willingly chosen to obey God upon their being called. They do not have to be given repetitive physical tasks to do in an effort to have them learn the habit of obedience. NT Christians are not reluctantly obeying God. God has shown them the cost of following Him and they have accepted to follow Him knowingly, freely and willingly. As a result, their past sins have been forgiven and any sins they commit after their conversion are always covered by the grace that resulted from Christ’s perfect sacrifice for sin as long as their continuing attitude is to try to obey God to the best of their abilities in all things. A Christian in God’s eyes remains without sin though being a sinner because God does not impute sin to those who are sincerely trying to obey Him. That is how and why Christians are an unleavened lump; they are not resisting God’s authority in any aspects of their lives.
They are, and continue to be, an unleavened lump from the beginning of their conversion until the moment they cease to maintain their attitude of trying to resist all sin in their lives. There is no in-between condition where one is partially leavened or partially unleavened; one is, or is not, leavened as a bit of leaven leavens the whole lump and, as we have seen, this leaven is not sin in itself which can be forgiven but being in opposition to one or more parts of God’s law and truth. Starting to reason around God’s law to give ourselves permission to sin without feeling guilty about it is the first step in fully departing from the truth as a little leaven leavens the whole lump. The same way of thinking by which we exempted ourselves from certain parts of God’s truth, we will in time apply to more and more aspects of God’s law we personally find inconvenient and lose our salvation for the penalty for sin, any unforgiven sin, is the second death.
In NT times, leaven is spiritual; not physical. It is not something that we can physically remove from our homes and properties; it is something that resides and lives in our minds; an attitude of opposition to God after having come to the knowledge of the truth in order to justify to ourselves those things we want to do which we know to be sin.
The Days of Unleavened Bread as celebrated by OT Israel were ordained forever i.e., for as long as there would exist a physical nation of Israel requiring physical ordinances to try to give them the habit of obedience. Ancient Israel ceased to exist as a nation after having gone into captivity among the Gentiles with 10 tribes having become lost in history and 3 tribes continuing under the name of “the Jews.” God has separated Himself from ancient Israel but He will choose it again but this time it will be a spiritual nation which will include converted members of the end-time nations making up end-time Israel and which during the Millennium, will grow to include converts from the Gentile nations of the world. All will then constitute spiritual Israel which will not be a specific physical nation living in a particular geographical location but a spiritual nation made up of individuals from all nations and scattered all over the world whom God will have called, who will have followed their calling and who will have remained faithful.
During the Millennium, there will also continue to exist the physical nation of Israel which God will prosper as at the first i.e., as in the days of Solomon because of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. They become the richest and most powerful nation in the world because of these past promises made by God; not because they are obeying God (See Ez 36:22; 32; Jer 33:7) in the same way that Ephraim and Manasseh in the end-time inherited the promises because of Abraham’s obedience and not because of their obedience.
The physical nation of Israel that will exist during the Millennium will be the remnant of the nations constituting end-time Israel and the remnant of the Jews now living in the Middle East. This physical nation of Israel will be made up of all of those who did not enter into the New Covenant which is the time of the calling of Israel. They will have lost their salvation as there are not 2 callings nor 2 sacrifices for sin.
Within this physical nation of Israel there will be God’s New Covenant Church which will be initially made up of the remnant of the nations making up Israel in the end-time and of the remnant of the physical descendants of ancient Israel that enter into the New Covenant. Israel will be redeemed but not all will choose to enter into the New Covenant. As the years go by, Gentile converts will be added to the Church as God pours out of His Spirit over all flesh but there will be no massive conversion of the Gentile nations of the world.
For a full explanation of why not all will convert during the Millennium, please go through the following study where this is explained in detail. (Mass Conversion of the Nations during the Millennium?)
There will be no need during the Millennium to continue the Days of Unleavened Bread in their OT manner of celebration for the unconverted nation of Israel after the New Covenant will have been made any more than the holy days are a requirement for the unconverted of the world. All of end-time Israel will have been called but many will choose to not enter the New Covenant and God will not be using repetitive physical, ceremonial rituals and ordinances as a means of teaching them the habit of obedience. They will have been called at the time of the confirmation of the New Covenant and will have chosen their fate knowingly, freely and self-willingly in accordance with God’s plan of salvation for mankind and there is nothing else that can be done for them. Please see the following studies for a detailed explanation of what happens after Christ’s 2nd Coming: Administration of God’s Plan of Salvation During the Millennium ; When and Why will God Again Choose Israel?; Israel’s Critical Role in God’s Plan of Salvation
As God plan of salvation progresses from the physical to the spiritual, physical, ceremonial rituals cease to be required in the same way that after Christ’s perfect sacrifice for sin, animal sacrifices ceased to be a requirement as a reminder that sin requires the death of the sinner unless there is a sacrifice that forgives the sin of the sinner.
The Days of Unleavened Bread in their NT celebration continue to be a requirement for true Christians but the physical rituals of those days do not as they are pointless in terms of furthering God’s plan of salvation for mankind and nor are they an explanation of one of the steps being followed by God in the administration of His plan of salvation for mankind. In NT times God is effecting the salvation of mankind through His Spirit not through the keeping of physical ordinances and symbolic rituals and ceremonies to give men the habit of obedience and which, of themselves, do nothing to teach God’s spiritual truth to men as this can only occur through God’s Spirit.
But as it concerns spiritual Israel or God’s Church, the spiritual message of importance of the Days of Unleavened Bread to them is that following their having been called and chosen, their sins have been forgiven by Christ’s sacrifice being applied to them but the condition for them to remain under grace or for their sins to be continually covered by Christ’s sacrifice, is that they have to be steadfast in their resolve and attitude of not resisting God and in doing their best to obey Him. When they do this, they are an unleavened lump (are not willfully resisting God in any way ) which makes their salvation possible.
This is their part in the salvation process and they are reminded yearly during the Feast of Unleavened Bread that to be saved they must remain an unleavened lump by maintaining their attitude of obedience to God in all things (not willfully resisting His authority in their lives) until the end of their lives.
One last point of importance which we need to realize is that God’s annual Holy Days are not an end unto themselves; they are a means to an end. God instituted them in order to achieve specific objectives. This means that once those objectives have been achieved or when the people for whom they were instituted no longer exist there is no longer any need to continue celebrating them as they did in OT times.
We need to understand the distinction that is to be made between the purpose for keeping the Holy days in OT times and in NT times and why many of the OT practices for the physical congregation of Israel do not carry over into NT times.
For God’s congregation in the wilderness or ancient Israel the purpose of the Holy Days was to teach them the habit of obedience or as the Scriptures states it: “……that they may learn to fear me…..” :
Deu 4:10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
Deu 14:23 And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.
Deu 17:19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
Deu 31:12 Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:
Deu 31:13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
In NT times, God’s nation is a spiritual nation made up only of those individuals from all nations that have been called and who are remaining faithful in following their calling. They have freely and self-willingly chosen to obey God; they are obeying God because they want to not because of anything or anyone forcing them to do so. The physical rituals and ceremonies of the OT whose goal was to teach the carnal-minded and unconverted nation of Israel the habit of obedience are not applicable to NT Christians for whom the condition for being part of God’s Church is their continuing, unconditional attitude of obedience to God in all things. They accept God’s authority without exception, in their lives.
However, the annual holy days in their NT meaning continue to be a requirement for NT Christians but the manner in which they are kept is different from the way they were kept in OT times. The purpose of the NT annual holy days is to teach Christians and keep them in remembrance of the steps being followed by God in bringing salvation to mankind; not to teach them the habit of obedience.
Christ gave us the new manner of celebration and the new meaning of the Passover that is to be observed by NT Christians and now we should be able to understand how the Days of Unleavened Bread are to be kept in NT times.
The Days of Unleavened Bread is a yearly reminder to NT Christians that their part in the salvation process is to remain an unleavened lump by maintaining an attitude of obedience to God in all things according to the truth revealed to them by God’s Spirit, which is the reason why God does not impute sin to them. For a detailed explanation of what is “imputation” I refer you to the following study: Salvation by Imputation They are then the holy temple in which God and Christ dwell. The condition for salvation is not being without sin; it is never ceasing to try to obey God to the best of our abilities in all things and in this way be an unleavened lump or sinless i.e., our sins are then always forgiven because we are not knowingly and willfully resisting God. It is impossible for Christians not to have sin in their lives.
Now let’s see what is the meaning of Pentecost in NT times.
Pentecost — the Foundation of God’s Spirit-Begotten Church
The WCG taught that:
Pentecost, or Firstfruits pictures to us the first part of
the spiritual harvest, the calling out of God’s True Church — a
FEW PEOPLE and a SMALL FIRST HARVEST. (AC BCC 35 of the 58 lesson course)
In OT times there was the Feast of Firstfruits, which was a celebration held before the beginning of the small winter harvest of wheat that occurred at that time of year. This celebration included the wave sheaf offering by the priest on the first Sunday that followed the ending of the Days of unleavened bread. A first sheaf of the new spring grain was offered to God before the harvest could begin. Fifty days later, on the day of Pentecost, there was the wave loaves offering performed by the priest.
In NT times, there is no wave sheaf offering nor any wave loaves offering as this was a function of the Levitical priesthood for a physical nation and both ceased to exist after the destruction of Jerusalem and of the second temple by the Romans after the rebellion of the Jews against the Roman government following the passage of Christ.
In NT times, the feast of firstfruits is not celebrated anymore as there is no longer in existence a physical nation of Israel living in a specific land sowing crops which were harvested in the spring and in the fall. Rather what we find in NT Scriptures is a very detailed description of the events surrounding the first Pentecost occurring following the ascension of Christ. Christ told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father which is that they would be baptized with God’s Spirit not many days from the time that they saw Christ ascend to His Father.
Act 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
Act 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Act 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Act 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Act 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
The disciples stayed in Jerusalem as commanded by Christ and on the first Day of Pentecost after Christ’s ascension they were all assembled in one place. There then occurred great miracles signaling that something very different and of great importance was happening.
Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Pentecost as celebrated by the disciples did not include any of the rituals performed in ancient Israel’s celebration of this day. There was no Levitical priest in attendance making a wave loaves offering and animal sacrifices (Lev 23:15-20). The Levitical priesthood was still in existence at the time of that first NT Pentecost but themselves and the rituals they performed were not part of it. There is also no mention whatsoever of a celebration of firstfruits in the NT. If OT rituals and ceremonies were to be maintained in NT times, they would have been included in NT Scriptures and information given on how those days were to be celebrated by NT Christians. As is the case for the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, OT rituals are not mentioned in any way in the NT. This indicates a clear break from the OT manner of celebrating them and Pentecost.
Pentecost celebrates the foundation of God’s Spirit-begotten Church whose mission would be to teach newcomers to the faith as men were called and chosen through their being given access to God’s Spirit. God’s NT Church or spiritual nation of Israel, would be made of individuals from all nations. God’s nation would cease to be a physical nation into which one must be born to become a member. Circumcision would be of the heart and ears and no longer be in the flesh. God’s Zion would be spiritual Israel, His Spirit-begotten Church which is to exist until the very end of mankind. Christ is the first of the firstfruits; He is the first flesh-and-blood human being to have been born again by a resurrection from the dead to glorified, immortal, spirit life. NT Christians are a kind of firstfruits who will become actual firstfruits at the time of Christ’s 2nd Coming when they too will then be born again.
Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. [of God’s spiritual creation]
Pentecost is not celebrating the harvesting of God’s firstfruits which only occurs at the time of the First Resurrection when all Christians, dead and alive, are resurrected/transformed into glorified spirit beings and become God as God is God. If the holy days rehearse the steps being followed by God in bringing salvation to mankind then what is of importance on the Day of Pentecost is the foundation of His Church which from that time forward will be the human level instrument God will use to teach new converts to the faith, help them in living their Christian lives, and which is to exist until the time of the end of the Last Great Day (See Mat 16:18 quoted below).
His Church will play a central, critical and essential role in God’s plan of salvation for mankind and is rightly the focal point of the Day of Pentecost.
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
As long as there would be human beings alive on the earth God’s church would exist and this includes the period of the Millennium and of the Last Great Day.
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The WCG taught that the reason for the existence of God’s church was for it to be a training ground for teachers that are to be used during the Millennium and the Last Great Day in bringing salvation to the nations which would supposedly massively convert as God pours out His Spirit upon all flesh. Please see the following study for a lot more detail on this topic: Mass Conversion of the Nations during the Millennium? It would simply take up too much space to repeat all that information in this study.
Suffice it to say that Christ plainly tells us if we will believe Him that many are called and few are chosen (Mat 22:14) and of those chosen, few remain faithful (Mat 7:13). If this be true, and it is, how can we come to the conclusion that all but a few hardheaded individuals will become converted during the Millennium. Our own recent experience of what occurred in the WCG in the days of HWA and following his death should help us understand the significance of Jesus’ words regarding how many follow their calling and how many remain faithful to their calling. Again, I refer you to the above-mentioned study for a complete explanation of what will happen during the Millennium.
God’s NT Church founded on the first day of Pentecost following Christ’s ascension to heaven is the human level instrument that God used in teaching those who were called and chosen after its founding right on up to our days. It is also the means He will use to minister to those that will be called and chosen during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. God’s NT Church is to exist until the end of God’s plan of salvation fulfilling its mission of teaching those who come to conversion and being helpers of those already converted until the time of the Third Resurrection and the coming of the Lake of Fire. This is the reason why God through the ages has maintained His Church in existence. Would God during the Millennium and the Last Great Day teach new converts by using Christ and the First Resurrection saints given that this is the role of His Church?
God’s Church was never to die out and is the means used by God to teach newcomers to the faith. Why ensure its survival until the end of His plan of salvation if it were to be replaced by Christ and spirit beings administering the governments of the nations of this world and teaching the nations during the Millennium and the Last Great Day?
If Christ and God’s first resurrection saints are to become visible, take over the governments of this world, run vast reeducation campaign to teach the nations the true value by which they should live and administer God’s law over the physical nations of the world, then it would mean that Christ after His Second Coming would remain on the earth for 1,000 years and during the 100 year period of the Last Great Day.
Here, I want to focus on the notion that Christ would remain on the earth during the Millennium. Unfortunately, it will make this study longer than I would like it to be.
Let’s get started.
Christ to Remain on the Earth after his second coming?
A question which needs to be asked and answered is “Will Christ remain on the earth ruling its nations in a manner visible to flesh-and-blood human beings and this, until the end of the Last Great Day?” After all, this is what is assumed when it is said that Christ will rule over the nations of the world as King of kings and LORD of lords. It is also what was taught by the Worldwide Church of God.
What was the purpose for Christ’s First Coming and what is the purpose for His Second Coming?
Christ came the first time to Israel (not to the world) for, among many other things, to teach specially chosen men a number of spiritual truths which would constitute the foundational truth of God’s Church (1 Cor 3:10) which all newcomers to the faith would be taught by God’s Church. These fundamental truths given to the apostles directly from the mouth of God-in-the-flesh, Christ is the means allowing true Christians, once they had mastered them, to study God’s Bible and learn more of God’s truth on their own. Remember that God says true Christians are not to rely on men and nowhere in the Bible do we see members of God’s Church being told to refer to their ministers to have Scriptures explained to them. The only exception is that of Philip explaining Isaiah to the euneuch from the court of Candace (Act 8:26-37) at the request of the angel of the LORD. The fundamental truths of God’s Church were to be passed on from one generation of believers to another but this transmission of God’s truth was interrupted by persecution from the great, false church. This is why an Elijah figure was to come in the last days to restore them to God’s Church.
After Christ had completed His first ministry to Israel which lasted 3 1/2 years He returned to His Father and was to remain there until the time of restitution of all things (Act 3:21).
Christ at His Second Coming is returning to Israel to restore all things to it; not to the world which has never had the truth of God and therefore could not have lost it nor would there be a need to restore it to them. Spiritual Israel had God’s truth and lost it and Christ is coming back a second time to restore it to them. What is the “all things” that Christ is to restore to Israel and how does this happen?
In Dan 9:27 we learn that Christ’s ministry to Israel was cut short lasting only 3 1/2 years when it was to last 7 years. So there is still another 3 1/2 year to go in Christ’s ministry to Israel.
Dan 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
When Christ returns to this earth, here is the sequence of events that will occur.
Christ is coming back a 2nd time but not to the world (Mat 15:22-24); He is coming back to Israel as a He did the first time. The Scriptures say that on the day of His 2nd Coming Christ will stand on the Mount of Olives (Zec 14:4); He will gather Israel from all the nations where He had scattered them (Jer 29:14); He will build them as at the first (Jer 33:7); He will set them in their own land (Is 14:1-2); and He will confirm the covenant with them for 3 1/2 years (Dan 9:27) and those that enter into the New Covenant become God’s Holy nation and kingdom of priest (Ex 19:6) or God’s Church.
Christ will have then completed His ministry to Israel which was to be 7 years in duration and He will then return to His Father as He did the last time when He completed the first part of His ministry with Israel. At His First Coming Christ founded God’s Church and returned to His Father. On His Second Coming to Israel (as we have detailed above) Christ will spend 3 1/2 years confirming the New Covenant with Israel returned from its end-time captivity and those that convert will become God’s Church. This church will be a continuation of God’s Church which started on the day of Pentecost and have the very same mission i.e., teaching new converts (Eph 4:10-14) and being the helpers of the already converted (2 Co 1:24).
Why would Christ come back a second time for the express purpose of maintaining in existence God’s Church if Himself and first resurrection saints are to take over the Church’s mission?
God has been using men since the days of Adam and Eve to administer His plan of salvation for mankind. He is doing so now and will do so during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. Christ, the Word, will continue to fulfill His role of being the Spirit that works in the minds of the truly converted (John 14:17) (Please see the following studies for more information on God’s Spirit: What is the Holy Spirit? Cliff Notes Version; Who or What is the Holy Spirit?) and God’s church will continue to be God’s human level instrumentality fulfilling its Eph 4:10-14 role and being helpers of the joy of the brethren (2Co 1:24). Christ said the church would never die out (Mat 16:18); it would exist until the end of God’s plan of salvation which occurs at the time of the coming of the Lake of Fire after the Great White Throne Judgment.
Another point of consequence is that Christians are saved by grace through faith.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
And faith is the substance of things unseen.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
If God’s government and Christ and the First Resurrection saints become visible to men worldwide, how is faith then involved in the salvation process? It would effectively mean that Christians from Pentecost to the Millennium are saved by grace through faith and those of the Millennium and the Last Great Day will be saved by the efforts of a visible government of God ruling over the nations requiring no faith. In other words they will be saved by sight; not by faith but God says that without faith it is impossible to please Him (Heb 11:6).
And here another difficulty arises, God’s truth is spiritual i.e., it is of another level of existence not comprehensible by flesh-and-blood human beings. It requires the addition of God’s Spirit to men’s mind. Having spirit beings becoming visible and administering the governments of this world is not how God’s calling occurs.
The calling out process is individual and personal and God the Father is the one who initiates the process; not Christ. Once the person chooses to follow their calling and commit to obeying God, they then become chosen and it is Christ who then takes over to teach them spiritual truth (John 14:17;14:26; 17:8;17:12; 18:9).
Indeed, God will pour His spirit upon all flesh during the Millennium but being given access to God’s Spirit is only the first step to conversion. Upon being called God’s Spirit is only with the individual, it is not in him. If following a period of being taught spiritual truth a person decides to obey God to the best of his abilities, he then becomes chosen and God’s Spirit enters him making him a Spirit-begotten son of God. During the calling out process men are still quite carnal minded and quite able to reject the truth and many are those who do (Mat 22:14). The truly converted also have to keep their carnal mind under control and it is the many who do not (Mat 7:13). This means that it is the many during the Millennium who will not follow the lead of God’s Spirit or if they do, remain converted. Being unconverted, they are unteachable even if Christ and spirit beings were to visibly appear to them and try to teach them (Rom 8:7). Once having rejected the truth they can never again be given the ability to choose it (Heb 6:4-6).
Would God’s plan of salvation for mankind be different during the Millennium and the Last Great Day?
But God says He changes not.
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Salvation has been by faith through grace since the day of Pentecost, would it be by sight during the Millennium and the Last Great Day by seeing Christ and First Resurrection saints at work administering the governments of the nations of the world and running vast reeducation programs in the true value of life as an intermediary step in bringing about the conversion of the nations. If this were to occur then no faith would be required for salvation.
This would have for effect of having the Bible contradict itself and if it does, then it is not true.
Will Christ remain on the earth after completing His second 3 1/2 year ministry with Israel, the confirmation of the covenant?
The first time Christ came to Israel He returned to His Father after having completed His mission. After having completed the second part of His ministry to Israel, there is no longer any need for Him to remain on the earth. God’s plan of salvation will continue to have God’s Church as the teacher of those who are called and chosen. It does not require Christ to visibly and forcefully rule over the nations of this world to bring them to conversion. All those coming to conversion have to be left completely free to follow their calling and to choose to obey God. All of God’s plan turns on the requirement for “character” to exist in those that are to inherit salvation. Any conversion by force of any kind does not result in “character.” Character is the unforced commitment to obey God in all things after having been given to know the truth.
The salvation process is by God’s Spirit working in the minds of those being called. Men remain free to accept or reject their calling and even to return into the world after having accepted their calling and it is the many that do so.
During the Millennium there will be no possibility or need for conducting vast campaigns of reeducation of the masses in the true values of life as it will be the few of the many that will become and stay converted. The unconverted majority will be unteachable.
The next time Christ will be back is at the end of the Last Great Day when the Great White Throne Judgment occurs bringing to a close God’s plan of salvation for mankind. God’s Church is the means chosen by God to teach new converts and the conversion process is by God’s Spirit working on an individual and personal basis in the minds of those being called. Conversion is not a group process.
God’s plan is that salvation is by faith through grace and that faith is the perfect faith of Christ imputed to the truly converted.
Please see the following study which deals precisely and in detail with Christ’s rule during the Millennium The Millennium God’s Kingdom on Earth?
Let’s now move on to God’s 4th annual holy day and examine the Scriptures together to see what is the meaning of this feast day for NT Christians.
Feast of Trumpets — the Foundation of God’s Millennial and Last Great Day Church
In OT times they celebrated this feast by blowing trumpets and having a celebration. There were the silver trumpets which were used to call the people to meetings, etc. and the ram’s horn which was only blown when war was imminent. The priests blew the trumpets and the nation had a celebration but without knowing why it was there was to be a blowing of the trumpets as this was never revealed to them but they were happy to have a celebration nonetheless.
In NT times, trumpets are not blown as there is no priesthood to blow them and trumpets are no longer used as a means of communications or of signaling impending war to a physical nation inhabiting a specific land. Also, God’s nation is spiritual and not physical; it is made up of converted men from the many nations of the world and they are usually scattered all over the world; there is no central church and no single group in a given geographical location that constitutes “the” Church. It is first and foremost a spiritual organism which is sometimes a visible organization but which for most of its existence has not been a visible, organized corporate body.
This Feast looks forward to Christ’s 2nd Coming to His people Israel NOT to the world, to restore to them all things.
Act 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Act 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Act 3:22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren [Christ was a Jew and a descendant of the House of David and therefore an Israelite], like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
Act 3:23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
These verses are talking about Christ’s 2nd Coming and to whom Christ will come (Israel, His people, not to the world). He is the prophet that God will raise up unto Israel (in the end-time) and this prophet shall Israel hear in all things i.e., they will be given access to God’s Spirit and they will be able to understand Christ’s teaching to them in its spiritual dimension. They will be taught the foundational truth of God’s Church given to the apostles at the time of Christ’s First Coming and anyone of them that will not hear (believe and obey) that prophet (Christ completing His ministry with Israel (Dan 9:27) will be destroyed from among the people i.e., they will lose their salvation and not be part of God’s spiritual nation of Israel or Church. This is the time of the redeeming of Israel spoken of by Paul in Romans 11.
This did not occur at the time of Christ’s First Coming to Israel.
The people and especially the religious elite of the day, opposed Christ and ultimately put Him to death. So these verses (Acts 3:20-23) are talking about what will happen to Israel (the modern-day nations constituting end-time Israel and the Jews in Palestine) at the time of Christ’s 2nd Coming. It will be the time of Israel’s calling (Rom 11); their opportunity for salvation (for those entering into the New Covenant); and it will also be the time where all those of the end-time remnant of physical Israel that choose to not to enter into the New Covenant lose their salvation. All those of end-time Israel (Rom 11) who enter the New Covenant become God’s holy nation with the mission of being a kingdom of priests.
Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
In other words, they become God’s Church. They have God’s Holy Spirit which makes them God’s Holy nation and the reason for their calling is to be God’s instrument in teaching newcomers to the faith during the Millennium and the Last Great Day in the same way that this was God’s Church mission from its coming into being on the Day of Pentecost.
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Christ did not come to the world the first time nor is He coming to the world the second time. At His First Coming, He only came for Israel and will again come only for them; the Scriptures are very clear on that. The whole Bible has as its focus the nation of Israel and other nations are only mentioned as they come into contact with it. At His 2nd Coming, Christ will gather the remnant of end-time Israel which will have been scattered in captivity all over the world and resettle them in the Promised Land. He will then spend 3 ½ years confirming the covenant with them (Dan 9:27) and at the end of this 3 ½ year period, all those who make the New Covenant (not all of them will) become God’s Church which He will use to teach newcomers to the faith during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. (Eph 4:11-12)
The WCG taught the following regarding the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets:
“The Feast of Trumpets portrays a pivotal event in God’s plan. This
festival not only pictures the coming of Christ to resurrect and change the
firstfruits, it also pictures the terrible time of world war just ahead and
the intervention of Jesus Christ to save humanity from total annihilation,
as well as to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.” (AC BCC 23 of the 32 lesson course)
But, the kingdom of God cannot exist over flesh-and-blood human beings (John3;
1Cor 15:50). It is made up of spirit beings and only, of spirit beings. This is why Christ told Nicodemus that one must be born again as a glorified spirit being to see the Kingdom of God (John 3). God will only rule over those who voluntarily submit to Him; God’s Spirit only ever leads, it never forces anyone to follow it (Rom 8:14). Many are called; few are chosen (Mat 22:14) and few of the chosen remain faithful (Mat 7:13). God will not rule by force (Rom 8:14) over the unconverted nor it is possible for the unconverted masses to be taught the true values of life through a massive re-education campaign conducted by spirit teachers as the unconverted are not teachable (Rom 8:7). This is covered extensively in the following study: Mass Conversion of the Nations during the Millennium?
Christ at His Second Coming will not establish the Kingdom of God on earth. Will Christ’s Second Coming Change the Current World Order?
Trumpets in NT times anticipate Christ’s 2nd Coming; the gathering and resettlement of end-time Israel into the original Promised Land, Christ’s 3 ½ year ministry with Israel, the making of the New Covenant and the establishment of God’s Millennial and Last Great Day Church which will function as God’s instrument in teaching not the world, but only newcomers to the faith as God calls men through His Spirit in the very same way as occurred in the days of the WCG under Mr. Armstrong and which has been happening since the days of the foundation of God’s Church on the day of Pentecost. For a whole lot more information on this topic, please see the following study: Administration of God’s Plan of Salvation During the Millennium
Trumpets celebrates the foundation of God’s Millennial Church which is another critical step in the administration of God’s plan of salvation. This Church will exist during the Millennium and the Last Great Day fulfilling its mission of teaching newcomers to the faith the foundational truth of God’s Church as they are called and chosen. It is a continuation of the very same process by which God has been bringing salvation to mankind and which started on the first Day of Pentecost when the disciples received God’s Spirit and became the foundation of God’s NT Spirit-begotten Church which is to exist until the very end of mankind which occurs at the coming of the Lake of Fire at the end of the Last Great Day.
Some will say: “But God’s church was never to die out or cease to exist; how can it be necessary to have it re-established at the time of Christ’s Second Coming?”
There are 2 main reasons.
Firstly, at the time of Christ’s Second Coming, God’s Church in existence at that time, becomes the Bride of Christ. They are no longer flesh-and-blood; they become glorified spirit beings who become part of God’s Kingdom as the Bride of Christ.
Secondly, God chose Israel to be His holy nation and kingdom of priests. OT Israel never was able to fulfill its mission because the Old Covenant did not include Israel being given access to God’s Spirit which, but for the OT prophets for whom God made an exception, could not be given until Christ was glorified (John 7:39). God separated Himself from ancient Israel because it could not obey Him but He said He would not remain angry with them and would choose them again (Jer 30:11; 46:28; Zech 2:12; Jer 32:37). God chose, rejected and will choose again Israel. All of this is covered in detail in the following study: When and Why will God Again Choose Israel?
The end-time nations constituting modern Israel will be scattered in captivity across the nations of the world and the remnant of Israel will be gathered by Christ at His Second Coming (Jer 32:37), resettled in the original Promised Land and a New Covenant (Jer 31:31; Heb 8:8) made with those who following Christ’s 3 1/2 year ministry to them (Dan 9:27), will commit themselves to obeying God. They then become God’s holy nation and kingdom of priests or God’s Church.
This is how the gates of hell do not prevail against God’s Church according to your Bible (Matt 16:18).
Atonement — Human Beings Become God as God is God
In OT times, the Day of Atonement was the only time when the high priest could enter the holy of holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. The high priest who represented the whole nation of Israel then came into the presence of God. This was followed by the symbolic banishment of Satan when the Azazel goat was taken into the wilderness by the hand of a strong man.
In NT times, there is no such ceremony as the Levitical priesthood no longer exists. The only remaining requirement is to fast on that day.
The WCG taught that:
The fifth annual Sabbath, the Day of Atonement, pictures the fifth step
in God’s Master Plan–deposing Satan from his position as world ruler, and
his removal to a place completely away from mankind. Satan will be “bound”
for 1,000 years, no longer able to deceive the nations or influence mankind
to sin (Rev. 20:1-3).(AC BCC 29 of 32 lesson course)
This is based on the OT ceremonies performed by the high priest on the day of Atonement and it is indeed true that at Christ’s 2nd Coming Satan will be replaced on the throne of the earth by Christ and a seal placed on him so he can no longer deceive the nations. However, this will not result in there being at-one-ment between God and men; this is not the means by which God and man can and will become one.
The Day of Atonement in NT times looks forward to the day when not only Satan will have been banished forever but to the time when the wicked will have been burnt up in the Lake of Fire and God’s children will have been born in the Third Resurrection completing the formation of God’s Kingdom. God’s saints from Adam and Eve to the time of the Third Resurrection will then all have become glorified spirit beings in God’s Kingdom. Please see the following study for a detailed explanation of what happens at the time of the 3rd Resurrection: When are God’s Millennial Saints Resurrected and Will They Appear to the Unconverted? As glorified spirit beings, men will be one with God; they will be one with God and Christ in the very same way that Christ and God are one. (John 17: 21-23)
Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
In the Bible we are given an example of what it means to be one with God.
First, we have God and Christ as the Head of the body and the body of Christ is the church.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
God the Father has put all things under the feet of Christ. He is the head of the church which is His body.
Then we read in 1Co 12 of how the body of Christ, the church, is made of many members which constitute one body as also is Christ. Sounds a bit confusing? Let’s read through 1Co 12:12.
1Co 12:12 For as the body [the human body] is one, and hath many members, [has many different parts to it] and all the members [different parts of the body] of that one body, [a human body] being many, [with many parts] are one body:[a single human body] so also is Christ.
There is a huge amount of information in 1Co 12:12 which is directly related to the Day of Atonement. What this verse is effectively saying is that in the same way that a human body though made up of many different parts constitute a single body so also is Christ whose body is also made up of many members which in this case in the resurrection will be many separate and distinct individuals with independent mind power and their own personality who will constitute the body of Christ and be in complete and total harmony with each other and Christ, the head of the body as all of the many and varied parts of a human body performing various functions in the human body are all working in perfect harmony with each other and constitute a single, not many bodies.
An extended and detailed comparison is going to be made in the verses of 1Co 12 (quoted a few paragraphs below) between the body of Christ and how its many different parts or members all work together as one in the same way that a human body which has many different parts with their own functions collectively all work harmoniously together as one and constitute one body.
This is also stated in Eph 4:16.
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body [God’s Church and future kingdom] fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, [by that which every members or parts of the body provides] according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, [according to the role/function given each part in the body] maketh increase [makes the body grow] of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. [Each of the many different members of the body of Christ contribute to the growth of the body and this because they all fulfill their individual roles out of the love they have for each other and the head of the body, Christ.]
With this information in mind, let’s now read through 1Co 12 where an extended comparison is made between the different parts of the human body, the members of the body of Christ, the Church, and the Kingdom of God which will be God’s Church in the resurrection from the dead to glorified spirit life. All parts in the human body are necessary and all contribute in their own way to the well being of the body in the same way that all the members of the body of Christ, all have a necessary and vital role to play.
The body of Christ, the Church, in the resurrection becomes the Kingdom of God and every member of Christ’s body in the resurrection in God’s Kingdom will all have a necessary and essential role to play in God’s Kingdom. And, in the same way that the many and different parts of the human body constitute a single body, the many members of the body of Christ, the saints of God’s Church, in the resurrection will constitute one body. God will determine the role of each member of the body of Christ in the resurrection and in His Kingdom. They will all, in full harmony and cooperation with each other and Christ, the Head of the body, fulfill the roles they have been given to play in the body of Christ which is the Church who in the resurrection becomes the Kingdom of God with God the Father as the supreme authority.
All members of God’s Kingdom will function as parts of one body as is the case for the individual parts of our human bodies who are not many bodies but one body. This will be possible because each and every members of God’s Kingdom will always be fully and willingly under the authority of God. God’s authority in God’s Kingdom, with each and every members of God’s Kingdom fully in submission to God’s authority is how, God’s Kingdom, like our human bodies which are made up of many different parts, will function as one body or one being. God’s Kingdom will be made up of many parts who are God’s glorified saints but be one body as all parts or members of God’s Kingdom will be fully under God’s authority.
This is the same kind of relationship which existed forever between God and the Word and Christ and His Father. Though fully in submission to His Father, Christ had His own mind and thoughts; He was not simply an extension of the mind of God the Father unable to think His own thoughts. He was a separate and distinct being from God the Father though fully in submission to Him and it will be the same way in God’s Kingdom where each member of the Kingdom will be fully in submission to God but retain their ability for independent thought, their personality and their individuality.
This is fully in agreement with God’s objective of reproducing Himself through man which are beings He created that can be elevated in the resurrection to the God plane level of existence and be members of God’s Kingdom in the same way as are God and the Word. They will be fully in subjection to God like Christ and continue like Christ, to have their own minds, individuality and personality.
God does not want nor can He have a kingdom with beings who don’t have their own minds. The ability and the freedom to think is what makes makes individuality and personality possible; otherwise, men would be just like all the animals created by God who don’t think and whose actions are almost entirely determined by instinct. Animals can provide companionship to people but they cannot relate to human beings like other human beings can. Humans need to and, can only have meaningful and satisfying interactions, with other human beings. In the same way, God wants to interact with other beings like Himself. The only way that can happen is for God to elevate human beings to the same kind and level of existence as Himself which is something He has the power to do.
This is a longer introduction to 1Co 12 than I had anticipated so I will stop here and read through the verses.
1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
1Co 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.
1Co 12:15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
1Co 12:16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
1Co 12:17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
1Co 12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, [the functions of the different parts of our human bodies have been established by God in the same way that the functions of the members of Christ’s body will be established by God; the body of Christ is another way of saying the Kingdom of God; Christ under God the Father is the head of God’s Kingdom or the body] as it hath pleased him.
1Co 12:19 And if they were all one member, where were the body? [The body (our human bodies and Christ’s body, the church) could not exist without having many different members having different roles, responsibilities and functions as will be explained in the following verses.]
1Co 12:20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
1Co 12:21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
1Co 12:22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: [Even those parts of the body that seem to not really have any great utility, are necessary in both the human body and in the body of Christ.]
1Co 12:23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
1Co 12:24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:
1Co 12:25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. [There are no parts of the human body or functions in God’s Kingdom that are not required by the body; all parts play a vital role in our human bodies in the same way that all the functions/roles allocated by God will all be essential in the body of Christ or God’s Kingdom (Eph 4:16).]
1Co 12:26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. [And so it is with our human bodies where when one part is hurting the whole body feels it; and in God’s Church which is the body of Christ, when one member is hurting all sympathize and help and when one member is honoured, the whole congregation rejoices with him. In other words, our human bodies which God designed and which the Scriptures say are wonderfully and fearfully made are a perfect type of the body of Christ which is also the Kingdom of God and of how that Kingdom will exist and function.]
The preceding Scriptures (John 17:21-23 and 1Co 12) allow us to understand the oneness that presently exists in the Godhead where God the Father and Christ are one though being two separate and distinct beings with their own minds. They also allow us to understand how the members of God’s Church who constitute the body of Christ in the resurrection will be one with Christ and God.
As Paul said in Eph 5:32: “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” You may have to spend a bit of time thinking about what has just been explained before you fully understand knowledge which has always been there but not necessarily understood.
In light of the information given we can hopefully understand that Atonement looks forward to and very greatly rejoices in the knowledge that God’s saints, when they become glorified spirit beings, will fully share in the very nature of God. They will be one with God, being God, as God is God, as members of God’s Kingdom. They will retain their individuality, personality and ability to think independantly but will be in perfect submission to God in the same way that Christ is a distinct and separate individual with His own mind and thoughts while being in perfect submission to God. This is the oneness that now exists in the Godhead and which will continue to exist in the Godhead even with the addition of thousands of new individuals to it.
The meaning of Atonement for New Testament Christians is given us by Christ Himself in John 17:21-23 and by God through Paul in 1Co 12. Christians in the resurrection will one with God with the same unity that exists between God and Christ. Man can become a God being i.e, become a spirit being in which dwells immortality through a resurrection from the dead to glorified spirit life. The great message of hope of the Day of Atonement to NT Christians is that man can become God as God is God and having the same nature live in oneness with God while being separate and distinct beings with their own minds and personalities.
Feast of Ingathering — Salvation Opened up to all Mankind
The 6th annual holy day was initially celebrated as the Feast of Tabernacles and it was a reminder to ancient Israel of God’s punishment for their refusal to trust Him to be able to bring them into the Promised Land. For 40 years they wandered aimlessly in the desert until all those that were of that generation that refused to go into the Promised Land had died. It was a grave reminder to ancient Israel to trust God and obey Him and of the severity of the consequences for not doing so.
Once Israel entered the Promised Land, during the same period of time as the Feast of Tabernacles, there was the Feast of Ingathering (See Lev 23:34 and 23:39 quoted below). It was a time of thanksgiving to God for the bountiful fall season harvest which was all important to their survival during the winter months. If there were to be a massive crop failure in any given year there would be widespread misery, famine and death in Israel.
Lev 23:34 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.
Lev 23:39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
In NT times, the 6th annual holy day most applicable to spiritual Israel is the Feast of Ingathering which looks forward to the time when God will gather end-time Israel from the nations where they will have been taken captive during the Great Tribulation and were slaves (Ez 11: 17; 36:24). Christ brings them back in a Second Exodus to the original Promised Land where as a physical nation they are to become as powerful and rich as in the days of Solomon (Jer 33:7; 33:11). There will also exist a spiritual nation of Israel which will be those of end-time Israel that make the New Covenant at the end of Christ’s 3 1/2 year ministry to them. They then become His Church which He will use in teaching those who convert (not all of them will) during the Millennium and during the Last Great Day.
This is the time spoken of by Paul in Romans 11 when Israel will be redeemed. All those who enter into the New Covenant become God’s Church. They will then begin to accomplish the mission God had given ancient Israel i.e., they were to be unto Him a holy nation and a kingdom of priests (Ex 19:6).
God punished Israel but promised to restore it to its original greatness and more as He will be faithful to His promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. He will again choose Israel, restore it to the Promised Land and make it more prosperous than anciently but NOT because they all become converted and are eager to obey Him. He does it because He is faithful to His promise to not destroy Israel despite its sinfulness and to make of it a great nation. For a detailed explanation of the restoration of Israel, please see the following study: When and Why will God Again Choose Israel?
In the WCG, there was a blending of the feast of tabernacles, a reminder of ancient Israel’s sinfulness and of the severe punishment that came upon it as a result, and of the time of the Millennium (the Feast of Ingathering) when physical Israel would be restored to the Promised Land and will have been made to prosper by God as in the days of Solomon.
In the WCG, Tabernacles was seen as the requirement for NT Christians to live in temporary accommodations during the feast and to live as richly as they could afford to do based on their 2nd tithe which would be a type of how people would live during the Millennium. In practice, for many, it was a time of excessive eating and drinking that left them physically sick. However, it is highly unlikely that the days of misery and punishment endured by ancient Israel (Tabernacles) can or should be included in the celebration of God’s 6th Holy day in NT times. Ancient Israel celebrated together both feasts which occur on the same date every year.
Ancient Israel was a physical nation who were direct descendants from those who had lived 40 days in the desert as punishment from God for having refused to trust Him. For them, the purpose of the Feast of Tabernacles was as an ongoing reminder of this historic event in their nation’s past. But, New Testament Israel, is a spiritual nation made up of men from all nations; they do not have a shared historical past with ancient Israel; their forefathers never spent 40 years in the desert; and the Feast of Tabernacles does not represent a step in God’s plan of salvation for mankind.
Nowadays, what is most applicable to NT Israel is the Feast of Ingathering which was celebrated by Israel once it settled in the Promised Land and had crops to harvest. There were no crops to be sown or harvested in the desert especially that during the 40 years they spent in the desert, Israel was nomadic i.e., did not remain in the same place for any great length of time. There is no use in planting crops in the desert which in the best of conditions require a great deal of attention and time to grow if it will not be possible to remain at the same place long enough to tend and harvest what was sown.
Once Israel entered and settled the Promised Land their main feast celebration was no longer the Feast of Tabernacles but the Feast of Ingathering. They lived in booths only in a ceremonial way; they remained in their cities and towns; they did not go back out into the desert and dwell in tents during the time of the Feast.
Neh 8:14 And they found written in the law which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month:
Neh 8:15 And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.
Neh 8:16 So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.
Neh 8:17 And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
Of course, ancient Israel’s celebration of the feast of Ingathering had no spiritual meaning for them nor could it as they were without God’s Spirit which is the only way God’s spiritual truth can be known. It was a time of rejoicing because of the abundance of their crops which ensured they would not starve in the coming winter months.
However, for God’s NT spiritual nation of Israel, God’s 6th annual holy day refers to the time when Christ will gather Israel and bring it back to the Promised Land; minister to them for 3 1/2 years and make the New Covenant with those of Israel who commit themselves to obeying Him. It is not celebrating the Millennium as a time of peace, prosperity, security and abundance supposedly brought about by the massive conversion of just about everyone as God pours out of His Spirit upon all flesh which is what was taught by the WCG.
Indeed, all men will be called and consequently there will be a greater number of converts than at the time when God’s Spirit was only given to individuals specially chosen by God from the foundation of the world but overall, though more than before will be called during the Millennium, it will not be the many that will become and stay converted. (See the Administration of God’s Plan of Salvation During the Millennium for a detailed explanation of this topic.)
Christ plainly tells us in verses that need no interpretation that many are called and few are chosen (Matt 22:14) and that of the few chosen, there are few that remain faithful (Matt 7:13). Given these Scriptures, it is not logically possible to think that there will come a time in God’s plan of salvation where all but a few hardheaded individual will become and remain converted resulting in a wonderful world of peace, safety, security, abundance and joy.
Also, it is doubtful that NT Christians are to live in booths or tabernacles to properly celebrate God’s 6th annual Holy Day period and even if they are to do so, as per Neh 8:16, there would be no need to leave their homes but in a symbolic way i.e., by erecting a tent in a backyard as in the days of Nehemiah and spending some time in it every day. Nehemiah knew how the 6th annual holy day was to be celebrated.
The Feast of Ingathering is what is most applicable to God’s NT Spirit-begotten nation as it looks forward to the ingathering of God’s elect during the Millennium which is indeed one of the steps followed by God in bringing salvation to mankind while the feast of tabernacles which was a reminder of the time of severe punishment of ancient Israel for its disobedience, isn’t a step in God’s plan of salvation.
The gathering of Israel scattered across the nations is the first step in a greater gathering that will occur once God’s Millennial church is established at the making of the New Covenant at the end of Christ’s 3 1/2 year ministry with the remnant of end time Israel returned from captivity.
All those living during the Millennium will be called as God will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. It is the beginning of the time of the great ingathering which will start with all those living during the Millennium who can be saved i.e., with all those that will follow and remain faithful to God’s calling. This process will continue throughout the Millennium and become complete during the Last Great Day when all those since the beginning of mankind who have not been called will be resurrected to flesh-and-blood existence and be called. God’s Millennial Church will continue into the Last Great Day ministering to the new converts. By the end of the Last Great Day all of mankind will have been called and given the opportunity to be saved. It will complete the time of God’s great ingathering of all those who can be saved and of God’s plan of salvation for mankind.
Dwelling in booths in the desert for 40 years was physical punishment for a physical people and once Judah returned from its captivity and dwelt in Jerusalem it was only observed symbolically (Neh 8:16) during the Feast of Ingathering; the people did not leave their homes to dwell in tents in the desert. The OT feast of Tabernacles does not teach anything about how God is proceeding to save mankind and is not a step in God’s plan of salvation for mankind while the Feast of Ingathering represents the the next to final step in that plan.
There therefore does not remain a requirement for NT Christians to dwell in booths but in a symbolic way as was done in the days of Nehemiah when Israel was back in the Promised Land following its captivity under the Persian Empire. The requirement is to rather celebrate the Feast of Ingathering in its spiritual dimension where the ministry would teach during the 7 days of the feast how God will administer His plan of salvation during the Millennium. There is a great abundance of topics that could be covered during the 6th annual Holy Day which were not covered all that much if at all by the ministry in the days of the WCG under HWA and which could include the following subjects: Israel’s Critical Role in God’s Plan of Salvation ; When and Why will God Again Choose Israel? ; Mass Conversion of the Nations during the Millennium?; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth ; Administration of God’s Plan of Salvation During the Millennium
There is a great deal of wonderful and fascinating information about the meaning of God’s 6th annual Holy Day period which was never taught by the ministry; which most members of God’s Church unfortunately continue to be unaware of and to which, in most instances, it is impossible to share with them as they are still babes-in-Christ unable to understand the meat of the Bible. (Are You Spiritually Mature?)
God’s 6th annual holy day celebrates the time when God will begin the work of ingathering by pouring out of His Spirit upon all flesh. He will make His Spirit available to all men during the Millennium and give them their opportunity for salvation. All will then be free to follow or not their calling and become inheritors of God’s Kingdom or lose their salvation. It is a major step that is the beginning of the finalization of God’s master plan of salvation.
The last annual holy day, the Last Great Day, will complete the ingathering process and bring God’s plan of salvation to a close.
The Last Great Day — Great White Throne Judgment
The Last Great Day is God’s 7th annual holy day that follows immediately after the Feast of Ingathering.
Lev 23:34 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.
Lev 23:35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Lev 23:36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
This is the time when Christ said if anyone thirsts let him come unto me and rivers of living water will pour out of his belly.
Joh 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, [the eight day] Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
This was also the time when the priest poured out water in the temple which was symbolic of God’s Spirit that would be available to or poured out on all those in the Second Resurrection to flesh-and-blood existence of the Last Great Day.
In NT times, this feast day looks to a time in the future when all those who have never known God’s truth will be resurrected and called. They will all live for a 100 years and then be judged at the end of that time period in the Great White Throne Judgment.
Isa 65:20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
In NT time, the actual accomplishment of the Last Great Day and the Great White Throne judgment are still in our future. The Great White Throne judgment is the time when God gathers up His elect as described in the Parable of the Tares in Matth 13.
When the 100 years are up, the Third Resurrection will occur of all those who have died and had not followed their calling or who turned away from it. They will be resurrected to flesh-and-blood existence and suffer the second death in the Lake of Fire with those of the Last Great Day resurrection who did not follow their calling or who turned away from it. It is also the time when at the end of the Last Great Day, all those called, chosen and faithful during the Millennium and the Last Great Day are resurrected/transformed to glorified spirit life just before the coming of the Lake of Fire which consumes the wicked and is the second death from which no resurrection is possible.
There are a lot of things occurring during and especially at the end of the Last Great Day when the third resurrection and the Great White Throne judgment occur which have never been covered fully and in any detail by the ministry. For a complete explanation of what will happen during the Last Great Day I would refer you to the following study available on this site as it would take up too much space to repeat it all in this study: When are God’s Millennial Saints Resurrected and Will They Appear to the Unconverted?
I highly recommend you take the time to read this study, you will be glad you did.
The Last Great day completes God’s gathering of His elect. All humanity will have been called and given an opportunity for salvation. All those who rejected God’s calling or turned away from it will die the second death in the Lake of Fire which is the beginning of the process that God will use in creating a new heaven and a new earth.
The Last Great Day is the last step in God’s plan of salvation for mankind which brings to a close the 7,000 years allotted to mankind by God at the time of the creation of Adam and Eve.
God’s Plan of Salvation
We can now do a quick summary of God’s Holy Day and demonstrate how they are an excellent description of the steps being followed by God in administering His plan of salvation for mankind.
- Passover is the first step. A perfect sacrifice was needed that would make possible forgiveness of the sins of mankind conditional upon men repenting, believing and remaining faithful until the end of their natural lives to the truth given them by God.
- The Days of Unleavened Bread is the second step and it has to be taken by the newly converted Christian. After having had his sins forgiven by the application of the grace that abounded from Christ’s death on the stake, he must never go back to deciding right and wrong according to his own personal standards of right and wrong as he did before his conversion. He must remain humble before God and fully trust Him to define right and wrong for him. He is then an unleavened lump which makes it possible him to be under grace. Then God does not impute any sin to him and God the Father and Christ dwell in him.
- Pentecost celebrates and memorializes the foundation of God’s New Testament Spirit-begotten church which is to never die out as long as there are human beings alive on the earth. It is the instrument God uses to teach newcomers to the faith, the very same foundational truths given the apostles.
- The feast of Trumpets announces Christ’s Second Coming for the purpose of restoring (restitution) all things to those who are to constitute God’s Church during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. Christ will have a 3 1/2 year ministry with the remnant of end-time Israel which He will have gathered from the nations of the world where they had been scattered and He will resettle them in the original Promised Land. The New Covenant will be made with those who accept their calling at the end of the end of Christ’s 3 1/2 year ministry to them. The Church that existed at the time of Christ’s 2nd Coming became glorified spirit beings and the Bride of Christ, and ceased to be on the earth.
- Atonement teaches Christians that one day they will be one with God as God the Father and Christ are one. They will be God beings sharing fully in the very nature of God as immortal spirit beings while retaining their personality, individuality and mind power in the same way Christ and God are separate and distinct beings with their own minds and yet are both God beings. It will be a very great time of incredible rejoicing.
- The Feast of Ingathering is the time when God begins the process that will lead to the finalization of His plan of salvation. During the Millennium He will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh; all men living during the Millennium will be called and given their first and only opportunity for salvation.
- The Last Great Day is the time when God will call all those who were never called during the previous 6,000 years by resurrecting them to flesh-and-blood existence and making available to them His Spirit. This will complete God’s ingathering process and bring to a close His plan of salvation for mankind at the end of the Last Great Day when occurs the Great White Throne Judgment.
- The Great White Throne Judgment takes place at the end of the Last Great Day and the damned are consumed by the Lake of Fire that engulfs the earth. The faithful of the Millennium and Last Great Day inherit salvation and become part of God’s Kingdom. This ends God’s 7,000 year plan of salvation for mankind.
- God makes all things new. A new heaven and a new earth are created, the new Jerusalem comes down from Heaven and God will dwell with men i.e., with men become glorified spirit beings as the time when the new Jerusalem comes down from heaven is after the new heaven and the new earth have been created.
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Summary of Important Points
God’s Holy Days were instituted during the Old Testament and the reason for their celebration and the manner in which they are celebrated changed even in the Old Testament where there is a distinction that needs to be made between:
- the time Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness
- the time when Israel entered and settled in the Promised Land and
- the time when a remnant of Judah came back from captivity to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and to build the 2nd temple on the site of the first temple that had been destroyed.
These very different physical circumstances are the reason we find that some of the feast days have more than one name as they refer to different time periods in the history of Israel (the wandering years versus the years in the Promised Land vs the return from captivity).
The physical and ceremonial rituals followed by ancient Israel and performed by the Levitical priesthood are no longer applicable to NT Christians.
The feast days in NT times contain information that could never have been known by ancient Israel which remained unconverted as under the Old Covenant they were never given access to God’s Spirit. NT Christians who have God’s Spirit can understand the spiritual message contained in the annual holy days and most of this information is given us in NT Scriptures but not exclusively.
As we have seen together, the annual holy days in NT times are celebrated in a different way than in the OT (OT rituals and ceremonies and animal sacrifices are no longer performed) and their NT meaning in many instances is different from what we have been taught in the WCG.
God’s 6th Annual Holy Day
In closing off this study I would like to do a final review of this feast time.
As previously stated, Tabernacles does not teach anything about how God is proceeding to bring salvation to mankind and is not a step in God’s master plan of salvation for mankind. As indicated in the book of Nehemiah the “tabernacles” aspect of God’s 6th annual holy day was only celebrated in a symbolic way when Judah returned from its captivity to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.
Neh 8:14 And they found written in the law which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month:
Neh 8:15 And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.
Neh 8:16 So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.
Neh 8:17 And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
The people did not leave their towns and cities and go out in the desert to live in booths or anywhere else for that matter; they made booths on the roofs of their houses and in their backyards. They did not travel anywhere; they stayed in their houses, homes and cities and this was in accordance with how God wanted them to celebrate this feast time. And, there was then no talk of God placing His name in a certain place that they were to go to to celebrate the feast. They celebrated the feast where they were.
In NT times, if we follow their example, this would mean there is no need to be away from our homes during the time of the feast. Also, it would stand to reason that when they dwelt in rudimentary booths made on their housetops and in their backyards they didn’t remain in them without interruption as a small and hastily made booth out of branches makes it impossible for them to cook their meals, live with their wives and children, wash their clothes and themselves, take care of their wives and children, etc. The feast of tabernacles was kept symbolically and it is most unlikely that during the feast there was a total abandonment of responsibility for wives, family, personal care and hygiene as would be required if they spent all 7 days of the feast sitting in a small, hastily made rudimentary booth on their rooftop.
Then, at that same time of year when the Feast of Tabernacles occurred, there was the Feast of Ingathering which began to be celebrated once Israel had settled the Promised Land after having been made to wander 40 years in the desert. It coincided with the time when the fall harvests had been completed and the people could rejoice that there would be no famine in the land during the coming winter. God had given them abundant crops and it was a time of thanksgiving to God. That was the time when God, before Israel went off into captivity, would place His name in certain parts of Israel where Israel was to go and celebrate the feast in drink and food and thanksgiving to God.
They would then live in booths or tabernacles (places of temporary residence) as wherever they would go during the feast would not be their homes and there they would use either their money or the goods they had brought with them to celebrate the feast.
There were different feast sites as it would be impossible to bring all of Israel to a single site. But after Israel went into captivity and only a remnant came back to rebuild Jerusalem and the walls of the city, the way they celebrated the feast was as described in Nehemiah.
God in the OT spoke tho His people through the prophets and through them He could communicate to them where He would place His name for the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in the days when people were to leave their homes and travel to the sites where God had placed His name. But, as we have seen, when Judah came back from its captivity to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, they built booths in their backyards and on the roofs of their houses; they were not required to travel anywhere.
In NT times or in the last days in which we are presently living, God no longer has prophets. He speaks to us through Christ in writing, the Bible.
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Even if the requirement to travel remained in NT times, there would be no prophet of God to tell the Church where it would have to go to celebrate the feast.
In Conclusion
As we can see, some of the annual holy days were not celebrated in the same way as Israel went from wandering in the desert to being settled in the Promised Land to being a small remnant returned from captivity to rebuild Jerusalem which had been destroyed by the invading armies. And, there are still more changes that occurred with the foundation of God’s NT Spirit-begotten nation which includes men from all nations who after their conversion do not gather themselves together to live in one geographical location so as to constitute a physical nation; they are a spiritual organism and nation whose members are spread all over the world.
In NT times, none of the annual feast days are celebrated like they were in the Old Testament and none of them mean the same thing for NT Christians as they did for the ancient physical nation of Israel. The meaning of the annual holy days since Christ’s First Coming is spiritual requiring God’s Spirit to be understood. The OT holy day celebrations are reminders to the physical nation of Israel that then existed of significant historical and physical events in the life of their nation where God at times acted to punish or bless them.
Christ who is to be our example in all things, as part of His ministry with his disciples, changed the way the Passover was to be celebrated and its meaning. Passover, from that time forward, would be a memorial of the death and sufferings of Christ for the redemption of the sins of mankind. It would no longer be a way for the physical nation of Israel to remember how their firstborn were saved the night the angel of death went over Egypt.
The days of unleavened bread would no longer be to keep Israel in remembrance of the time they left Egypt; rather they would be a time when God’s spiritual nation of Israel would be reminded not to commit the unpardonable sin so as not to lose their salvation.
The third Annual holy day was celebrated by ancient Israel as the feast of firstfruits but in NT times this day is to be celebrated as Pentecost by God’s spiritual nation of Israel as it is on that day, as related to us in the New Testament, that God founded His New Testament Church with great miracles attending its creation to mark how unique and special was that day for NT Christians.
The feast of Trumpets had no spiritual meaning for OT Israel but we know through NT Scriptures that trumpets signal the 2nd Coming of Christ to restore all things to His people, the remnant of the modern-day nations of Israel returned from their end-time captivity to the original Promised Land. This time of restitution of all things is Christ’s 3 1/2 year ministry with the remnant of end-time Israel. Those that convert and enter into the New Covenant become God’s spiritual nation of Israel and God’s Millennial Church.
Atonement in OT Scriptures is the time when Satan is banished and the chief priest entered the holy of holies coming into the very presence of God. In NT times, Atonement celebrates the time when God and men who inherit salvation will be one with God as God is one with Christ. Atonement is the time when men through a resurrection from the dead to glorified spirit life become God as God is God.
The Feast of Tabernacles was a reminder to physical Israel of the 40 years they spent in the desert because of their disobedience. In NT times, it is the feast of ingathering that is celebrated by spiritual Israel as it points to the time when God will begin His final gathering of men by pouring out of His Spirit upon all flesh during the Millennium which is one of the major steps in God’s plan of salvation. Those that follow their calling and remain faithful will become part of God’s Kingdom at the time of the Third Resurrection.
The 7th holy day is the Last Great Day which will complete God’s ingathering of His saints and bring to a close His plan of salvation for mankind.
There is no doubt as has been discussed all through this study that all the annual feast days need to be celebrated but it is also a sure thing that many aspects of God’s annual holy days as celebrated in the Old Testament are no longer pertinent and binding on New Testament Christians. It is also a sure thing that through no fault of Mr. Armstrong and of the ministry in most instances, there was a lot of very important and meaningful information never taught the Church.
This study is an effort to bring this information to the attention of those who are able to understand it and benefit from it.
Is everything said in this study to be believed unconditionally? Of course not, YOU have to check it out with your Bible and determine for yourselves whether what has been said in this study is effectively supported by the Bible.
That is one of your main responsibilities as a truly converted Christian.
DON’T believe me, don’t believe any man; keep an open mind and check things out with your Bible and then BELIEVE your Bible not men and act accordingly.
God's Spiritual Nation 