 |
Parallel Temple Services
Lesson 36
page 1 of 2
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 Israels 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 Lords 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 Gods 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 Christs
atonement and will obey the message that the
144,000 will proclaim.
3. First Passover God
kept His covenant with Abraham and took
Abrahams 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
Gods 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. Gods 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. Revelations 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 Heavens 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
Christs 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!
Gods 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 Earths 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!

l page 1 l page 2 l
|