Parallel Temple
Services
Lesson 36
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If he [Jesus] were
on Earth, he would not be a
priest, for there are already men
who offer the gifts prescribed by
the law. They serve at a
sanctuary that is a copy and
shadow of what is in heaven. This
is why Moses was warned when he
was about to build the
tabernacle: “See to it that
you make everything according to
the pattern shown you on the
mountain.
- Hebrews
8:4,5
(Insertion mine)
Shortly after the
Exodus, God commanded Israel to
observe six religious services
each year that are parallels of
six processes within the Plan of
Salvation. After the time of King
David, males were required to
attend three of these religious
services in Jerusalem. These
three feasts were associated with
three crop harvests. (Exodus
23:14-17) God designed these
earthy events so that
participants would consider the
real events that would take place
in Heaven. The six services were:
1. The Feast of
Passover*
2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread
3. The Feast of Weeks or
"Pentecost"*
4. The Feast of Trumpets
5. The Day of Atonement
6. The Feast of Ingathering or
“Tabernacles”*
7. Attendance was required in
Jerusalem.
The first three services took
place in the spring and the last
took place in the fall. The
timing of these services was very
specific.
End Time Parallels
As we examine these six services,
we will focus on how they shadow
key events that transpire within
the Plan of Salvation. When God
implemented these six services,
He already knew how He was going
to bring the drama of sin to an
end. So, the story of
Israel’s miraculous
deliverance from slavery in Egypt
contains several important
parallels about the saints being
delivered from the bondage of
sin. Think about this. God knows
the end from the beginning. He
did marvelous things long ago
that prove to be awesome
parallels of coming events! With
this thought in mind, let us
consider the story of the night
the Lord passed over Egypt.
The Lord said to Moses,
“Tell the whole community of
Israel that on the tenth day of
this month each man is to take a
lamb for his family, one for each
household. If any household is
too small for a whole lamb, they
must share one with their nearest
neighbor, having taken into
account the number of people
there are. You are to determine
the amount of lamb needed in
accordance with what each person
will eat. The animals you choose
must be year-old males without
defect, and you may take them
from the sheep or the goats. Take
care of them until the fourteenth
day of the month, when all the
people of the community of Israel
must slaughter them at twilight.
Then they are to take some of the
blood and put it on the sides and
tops of the doorframes of the
house where they eat the lambs.
That same night they are to eat
the meat roasted over the fire,
along with bitter herbs, and
bread made without yeast. Do not
eat the meat raw or cooked in
water, but roast it over the
fire-head, legs and inner parts.
Do not leave any of it till
morning; if some is left till
morning, you must burn it. This
is how you are to eat it: with
your cloak tucked into your belt,
your sandals on your feet and
your staff in your hand. Eat it
in haste; it is the Lord’s
Passover. On that same night I
will pass through Egypt and
strike down every firstborn-both
men and animals-and I will bring
judgment on all the gods of
Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood
will be a sign for you on the
houses where you are; and when I
see the blood, I will pass over
you. No destructive plague will
touch you when I strike
Egypt.” (Exodus 12:3-13)
The Rest of the Story
“The Israelites did just
what the Lord commanded Moses and
Aaron. At midnight the Lord
struck down all the firstborn in
Egypt, from the firstborn of
Pharaoh, who sat on the throne,
to the firstborn of the prisoner,
who was in the dungeon, and the
firstborn of all the livestock as
well. Pharaoh and all his
officials and all the Egyptians
got up during the night, and
there was loud wailing in Egypt,
for there was not a house without
someone dead. During the night
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron
and said, ‘Up! Leave my
people, you and the Israelites!
Go, worship the Lord as you have
requested. Take your flocks and
herds, as you have said, and go.
And also bless me.’ The
Egyptians urged the people to
hurry and leave the country.
‘For otherwise,’ they
said, ‘we will all
die!’” (Exodus
12:28-33)
The Passover described in Exodus
12 occurred in 1437 B.C. For
centuries the Jews have observed
the Feast of Passover to
commemorate their deliverance
from Egypt. However, the Feast of
Passover is more inclusive than
that. It is a parallel of what
God plans to do at the end of
time. Consider these seven
parallels:
1. First Passover –
God’s people were
miraculously delivered from
slavery.
End-time Parallel (ETP) –
Gods people will be sealed and
then physically delivered from
the bondage of mortality.
2. First Passover – Everyone
in Egypt was notified that the
firstborn (man and beast) had
been placed under the curse of
death. This announcement produced
two groups of people: believers
and unbelievers. Believers put
blood on their doorposts.
ETP – The inhabitants of the
world will be notified they are
under the curse of death. There
will be two groups of people:
believers and unbelievers. The
believers accept Christ’s
atonement and will obey the
message that the 144,000 will
proclaim.
3. First
Passover – God kept His
covenant with Abraham and took
Abraham’s Descendants to the
“Promised Land.”
ETP – Jesus will keep His
promise and return to Earth at
the appointed time. He will take
the saints to the “Promised
Land,” that is, the Earth
made new.
4. First Passover –
There was a Sabbath rest test in
Egypt and persecution before the
Exodus.
ETP – There will be a
Sabbath rest test and persecution
for the inhabitants of Earth
before the great Exodus of the
saints at the Second Coming.
5. First Passover – God
“passed over” every
house in Egypt and He checked the
doorposts of every house to see
who believed His word.
ETP – God will “pass
over” every human being and
save each person who believes His
word.
6. First Passover – God sent
ten plagues upon a defiant Egypt.
ETP – God will send 14
plagues upon a defiant Earth
during the Great Tribulation
(seven first plagues called seven
trumpets and seven last plagues
called seven bowls).
7. First Passover – God
destroyed Pharaoh and his army
with water.
ETP – God will destroy the
Antichrist and his armies with
fire.
The Passover is an end-time
parallel of God’s judgments
of man. The judgment of mankind
is a topic of utmost importance
and yet, few people know anything
about it. The Bible says,
“For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of
Christ, that each one may receive
what is due him for the things
done in the body, whether good or
bad.” (2 Corinthians
5:10) For now, simply
remember that the observance of a
Passover feast was far more
significant than merely
celebrating an escape from
Pharaoh and Egypt. God not only
sees the past, but also knows
where He is going and wants His
children to know His plans!
The Feast of Unleavened Bread
“Celebrate the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, because it was
on this very day that I brought
your divisions out of Egypt.
Celebrate this day as a lasting
ordinance for the generations to
come. In the first month you are
to eat bread made without yeast,
from the evening of the
fourteenth day until the evening
of the twenty-first day. For
seven days no yeast is to be
found in your houses. And
whosoever eats anything with
yeast in it must be cut off from
the community of Israel, whether
he is alien or native-born. Eat
nothing made of yeast. Wherever
you live, you must eat unleavened
bread.” (Exodus 12:17-20)
The observance of Passover and
the Feast of Unleavened Bread are
inseparably joined. The Passover
was celebrated on the 15th
day of the first month and the
Feast of Unleavened Bread began
on the same day. The term
“feast” may be
misleading since God required
Israel to search their homes for
yeast and then dispose of it.
They were to eat yeast-free bread
for seven days. The Hebrews
understood that yeast produces
fermentation. Consequently, a bit
of yeast will “infect”
the batter. (1 Corinthians 5:6-8)
On the other hand, unleavened
bread has no yeast. God aligned
the Feast of Passover and the
Feasts of Unleavened Bread
because He wanted Israel to see
the connection between
deliverance and purity of heart.
God’s goodness and grace do
not lessen His demands for a pure
heart. (Revelation 21:27; 22:15)
This is why sinners need the
sealing so badly! The Hebrews was
to thoroughly search their homes
for yeast and remove any trace of
it before Passover began. The
Feast of Unleavened Bread was to
remind them that they needed to
be constantly on guard against
the yeast of sin in their homes
and lives. We still need to guard
against the yeast of sin,
especially as we wait for the
final “Passover” and
appearing of our Lord. We must
search our heart often and remove
any known sin. The devil is a
master of gradualism. Sin creeps
in slowly and steadily. Sin will
overtake an individual, as well
as a whole nation, if it is not
firmly resisted. The history of
Israel (indeed, all nations)
confirms this point.
In the Scriptures, the figurative
use of yeast represents the
fermenting process of sin and is
demonstrated to be vain, foolish,
even intoxicating ideas of man.
(Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1; Revelation
18:3) Men and women may try to
excuse sin, justify sin, defend
sin, rename sin, promote sin,
exalt sin or extol the benefits
of sin, but make no mistake-sin
is deadly! God hates sin and He
forbade the Jews from presenting
any offering to Him that
contained yeast! (Exodus 23:18)
Jesus warned His
disciples,’”But be on
your guard against the yeast of
the Pharisees and
Sadducees.’ Then they
understood that he was not
telling them to guard against the
yeast used in bread, but against
the teaching of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.” (Matthew
16:11-12) These words are
certainly applicable today. There
are seven religious systems in
the world today. Each one is full
of yeast. The doctrines are not
acceptable to God. In the last
days, the servants of God, the
144,000, will present the
unleavened bread of life to the
world and every person on Earth
will have an opportunity to
choose life or reject the truth.
Revelation’s story indicates
that many, if not the majority of
people, will reject the bread of
Heaven because they prefer soft
bread; doctrines fermented with
the yeast of sin.
Three
Presentations of First
fruits
Passover always
occurs in the spring, between
April 3 and May 2. On the Sunday
following Passover, the high
priest presented the “first
fruits” of the winter
harvest before the Lord.
(Leviticus 23:11) This
presentation of first fruits
(wheat, barley, oil and wine) was
a shadow of a resurrected Jesus
presenting Himself before the
Father. Jesus is the firstborn of
the dead, the preeminent One
risen from the tomb. (Revelation
1:5) Because the first fruits at
Passover were always presented on
Sunday, so Jesus presented
Himself to the Father on Sunday
morning as the First fruits of
the dead. (John 20:17)
Consider the elements of the
Passover feast: The Passover Lamb
represents Jesus, the Lamb of
God. The yeast-free bread eaten
at Passover represents a sinless
Jesus, the unleavened Bread of
Life that came down from Heaven.
(John 6:35) The life and
teachings of Jesus have no
impurity or fermentation in them.
The unfermented wine used at
Passover represents the pure
blood of Jesus that was shed for
our sins. (Luke 22:20) Jesus
could not be a perfect substitute
for us if there had been any sin
in His life.
The first harvest of the year
occurred at the time of Passover.
As a winter harvest, it was also
the smallest harvest. This
harvest foreshadows the ascension
of Jesus with a small, but
triumphant group of people who
were resurrected from the cold
winter of death. This group
indicates the 24 elders mentioned
in Revelation. (Matthew 27:
52,53; Ephesians 4:8; Revelation
4:4; 1 Corinthians 15:20) The 24
elders, two witnesses from each
of the twelve tribes, are
representatives of the human
race. These 24 elders were taken
to Heaven in A.D.30.to serve as
human observers in Heaven’s
court. They will testify to all
the saints in the days to come
about the courtroom process when
Jesus “passed-over” the
records of every person to
determine their eternal destiny.
The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
“Count off fifty days up to
the day after the seventh
Sabbath, and then present an
offering of new grain to the
Lord. From wherever you live,
bring two loaves made of
two-tenths of an ephah of fine
flour, baked with yeast, as a
wave offering of first fruits to
the Lord.” (Leviticus
23:16,17) The Feast of Weeks was
celebrated at the time of the
spring harvest. The spring
harvest was larger than the
winter harvest at Passover. This
one-day feast occurred in late
spring or early summer
(June/July). In Christ’s
day, this feast was called
“Pentecost” because the
Greek word for Pentecost means
“fiftieth day.” The
count of fifty days began with
the waving of first fruits on
Sunday after Passover. The count
of fifty days included seven
seventh day Sabbaths (or seven
full weeks). Then, on the 50th
day (always on a Sunday), the
Feast of [seven] Weeks was
celebrated with a presentation of
first fruits from the spring
harvest.
Farmers understand that when
there is zero rainfall there is
zero harvest. This feast
illustrates the essential work of
the Holy Spirit. The work of the
Holy Spirit is to soften and
influence the human heart toward
spiritual matters. (1 Corinthians
2:14) Unless a person is born of
the Spirit, he or she cannot
enter the kingdom of God. (John
3:5) This feast demonstrates that
God is able to bring life, even a
bountiful harvest, from the cold
soil of a carnal heart if
individuals will open up and
receive the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit. God wanted the Jews
to understand that men may work
the soil of the heart and plant
seeds of truth, but it is only
through the power of the Spirit
of God that spiritual life
occurs. The beauty of the shadow
of this feast is that even though
the human heart may be cold or
even dead to spiritual things,
God can produce a wonderful
transformation through the power
of the Spirit!
Acts 2 records a wonderful event
that illustrates the shadow of
this feast. Ten days after Jesus
ascended, the Holy Spirit
descended on the disciples at
Pentecost and 3,000 people became
baptized believers in Christ that
day! (Acts 2:41) This harvest of
souls came from the toil of
Christ Himself. He had traveled
from village to village, healing
the sick, lame and blind. He had
preached freedom to people
ensnared by twisted religion and
superstition and He removed the
yeast of foolish dogma with pure
words of life. The disciples and
these 3,000 baptized believers
were the first fruits from the
gospel of Christ. (Matthew
7:28,29) Their conversion was the
result of the work of the Holy
Spirit!
God’s timing is always
perfect and the event described
in Acts 2 was no exception!
Attendance at Pentecost was
required so Jewish males came to
Jerusalem from many nations.
(Acts 2:9-11) Signs and wonders
verified the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit and Peter boldly took
advantage of the occasion. What a
tremendous opportunity to tell of
a risen Jesus to those Jews who
had gathered from every corner of
the world! As a result of that
Pentecostal event, Israel was
widely and powerfully informed
about the appearing of Messiah,
their corporate guilt for
rejecting and killing Him, and
the ascension of the risen
Savior! Through the convincing
power of the Holy Spirit, 3,000
Jews became convinced that Jesus
was the Messianic fulfillment of
Scripture! (Acts 2:22; Acts
13:48) I also suspect that the
testimony of those resurrected
with Jesus 50 days earlier gave
immutable proof that Jesus was
indeed raised from the dead.
(Matthew 27:52,53)
Passover, Pentecost and
Ingathering
Consider the three presentations
of first fruits. The presentation
of first fruits at Passover
represents a raised Jesus. He is
the firstborn (the preeminent of
men) among those who have died.
(Revelation 1:5) The small winter
harvest at Passover represents a
small group of people that Jesus
took to Heaven at the time of His
ascension including the 24
elders. The second presentation
of first fruits occurred at
Pentecost and these first fruits
from the spring harvest
foreshadowed the disciples and
the 3,000 people that were
baptized at Pentecost in Acts 2.
These were the first Christians.
The Pentecost, recorded in Acts
2, is the only Pentecost that
stands out in the history of
Israel since the initial Exodus.
It is widely known because the
Holy Spirit rained on those
gathered in Jerusalem in A.D.30
to celebrate this Pentecost. The
outpouring of Holy Spirit power
changed hearts and produced
“born again” people.
(Romans 8:5; 1 Peter 4:3-6) Since
that day, the gospel of Christ
has not stopped. The gospel
continues to spread around the
world (Colossians 1:6) and the
reverberations of that Pentecost
continue! The gospel of the
kingdom is still alive and the
early rain of the Holy Spirit is
still producing a harvest. The
time has almost come for
Earth’s final harvest
represented by the Feast of
Ingathering. There is going to be
a powerful out pouring of Holy
Spirit power upon the whole
world. (Joel 2:27,28) The fall
harvest is the largest harvest
and the book of Revelation says
the 144,000 servants of god will
be the first fruits of the final
harvest. (Revelation 14:4) John
also says that the final harvest
will be so great that no one can
count the number of those who
come out of the Great
Tribulation! (Revelation 7:9-14)
God designed these feasts
thousands of years ago because He
wants us to understand His plan
to save us!
The Feast of
Trumpets
The Feast of Trumpets was the
first of three convocations held
in the seventh month of the year.
According to Jewish history, the
seventh new moon of the year (or
Tishri 1) was marked by a very
noisy feast. Priests were
arranged in groups and these
groups took turns throughout the
day sounding their trumpets! Even
after the feast was over, trumpet
blasts could be heart evening and
morning for eight more days. The
Bible simply says, “On the
first day of the seventh month
hold a sacred assembly and do no
work. It is a day for you to
sound the trumpets.”
(Numbers 29:1)
The Old Testament does not
provide much detail about the
Feast of Trumpets. However, we
can easily determine the purpose
for the Feast of Trumpets with a
little investigation. The
sounding of trumpets in ancient
times was the equivalent of
sounding a siren. (Joel 2:1) The
trumpet was used in ancient war
much like the bugle was used in
the Civil War that happened in
the United States in the
1860’s. The sounding of the
trumpets was designed as a
warning to every man, woman and
child that the ultra-serious Day
of Atonement was about to arrive.
God’s love for humanity
moves Him to notify people when
the time of judgment arrives. The
ancient Day of Atonement was
regarded as an extremely solemn
event because that day marked the
end of mercy. God required all
known sins be transferred to the
sanctuary before sundown on the
tenth day of the seventh month.
(Leviticus 16; 23:27-32)
Remember, in ancient Israel a new
day began at evening, so the
evening of the tenth day is
followed by the morning of the
tenth day.
To show the children of Israel
just how serious He was about the
end of mercy, God told Moses that
if any household was found guilty
of unconfessed sin on the Day of
Atonement, that household was to
be cut off from the camp. In
other words, the heritage of each
Jewish family was at stake on the
Day of Atonement. So, the Feast
of Trumpets served as an
impressive announcement that
something very serious was about
to take place. According to
Jewish literature, the priests
warned Israel of the approaching
Day of Atonement for nine days as
they sounded their trumpets
throughout the nation. Although
no work was allowed on the Day of
Atonement, it was unlike the
other annual feasts because it
was truly a day of fasting and
supplication.
The Feast of Trumpets notified
the nation of Israel that only a
few days remained to make sure
everyone was fully reconciled
with each other as well as with
God. The first nine days of
Tishri were dedicated to souls
searching and reflection. Each
person within the household was
to be sure their sins had been
transferred to the Alter of Burnt
Offering. According to Jewish
rabbis, the phrase, “Prepare
to meet thy God, O Israel”
was often spoken during the first
nine days of the seventh month.
Meeting with god was not a causal
matter. The Hebrews understood
that God’s displeasure could
be aroused and fire from God
could consume thousands in a
matter of seconds. (Numbers 16,
Psalm 78:21) They also knew,
however, that God was a God of
love who does not want one person
to be destroyed. (Deuteronomy
7:9; Isaiah 55:6-7; Matthew
18:14)
End-Time Trumpet
Parallel
The parallel between the Feast of
Trumpets and the Seven Trumpets
described in Revelation is
obvious and important. The
sounding of trumpets at the Feast
of Trumpets is a shadow of the
sounding of seven trumpets in
Heaven during the Great
Tribulation. Consider the
parallel for a moment: In ancient
Israel, God terminated the offer
of salvation at sundown on the 10th
day of the seventh month (the Day
of Atonement). In our time, God
will terminate the offer of
salvation when the seventh
trumpet sounds (Revelation 10:7;
11:15-19) God’s love for
humanity moves Him to notify
people when the time of judgment
arrives. Consequently, when the
seven trumpets begin to sound in
Heaven, there will be
corresponding events on Earth.
(Remember the
Heaven-Earth-Linkage-Law?) As the
trumpets judgments fall on earth,
144,000 servants of God will
proclaim to the world, “Fear
God and give Him glory, because
the hour of his judgments has
come. Worship him who made the
heavens, the earth, the sea and
the springs of water.”
(Revelation 14:7) When the
seventh trumpet sounds,
God’s generous offer of
salvation to mankind will be
finished. Everyone will have made
a decision for or against the
gospel by the time the seventh
trumpet sounds. Everyone who
refuses to accept the generous
offer of salvation and the
perfect atonement that is offered
through faith in Christ will be
“cut off” from eternal
life.
The seven trumpets of Revelation
are linked with seven terrible
judgments that will fall on
Earth. These judgments cause the
Great Tribulation. The Bible
predicts four global earthquakes,
meteoric showers of burning hail
that burn up large portions of
Earth, two asteroids impacts,
great darkness covering one-third
of the Earth – caused
perhaps by a large number of
volcano eruptions and more. Jesus
said, “For then there will
be a great distress, unequaled
from the beginning of the world
until now – and never to be
equaled again. If those days had
not been cut short, no one would
survive, but for the sake of the
elect those days will be
shortened.” (Matthew 24:
21,22) Terrible events and
overwhelming suffering will cause
everyone to consider or
reconsider reconciling with their
neighbors and with God. People
who love God and His truth will
repent of wrongdoing. They will
accept the terms and conditions
for salvation that the 144,000
will proclaim. The seventh day
Sabbath will become, as in the
days just before the Exodus, a
great test of faith. People with
hearts like Pharaoh will take
their stand on the side of
rebellion against God.
Even though God’s mercy is
great and His salvation is free,
there is a limit to His Patience
with rebellion and sinners.
God’s willingness to forgive
sinners is beyond comprehension,
however, His patience with
sinners does not last forever.
(See Genesis 6:5-7; Romans 2:5-8;
Revelation 14: 9-10; and
Revelation 18: 4,5.) Those who
love the Lord will come to see
that His holy law declares the
seventh day of the week to be
holy and will obediently submit
to the requirements of the
Almighty. Just as standing for
God’s Sabbath was seen as an
act of rebellion against the
authority of Pharaoh, so in like
manner the saints will be tested.
All who pass the test of faith
will be sealed and delivered from
sin’s destruction. God has
promised to do this! The duration
of the seven trumpets and the
time allocated for sealing the
saints will be 1,260 days. The
144,000 are sealed first.
(Revelation 7:1-4) and others
will be sealed as time passes.
(Revelation 10:7)
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