Buildontherock: Pentecost in the Plan

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Table of Contents:

Pentecost in the Plan
The Meaning of Pentecost
Pentecost means God's presence
Present within us
Two ministrations
Written In Hearts
the spirit empowers the heart with the love
Present Among Us
The Firstfruits

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Pentecost in the Plan

author: buildontherock

published: 2021-01-06 last updated: 2022-06-10

Pentecost is linked to the Passover season and Tabernacles season. Everything starts with Passover. It is like the story of a damsel in distress. Passover is the price that is paid for her life and freedom and without that she has no hope at all. Passover breaks her bonds but she still has to escape the domain of her captors. Her environment of sin (Egypt) will be with her until she is given a new identity at the Red Sea. She will emerge on the other side with a passport to freedom. Her enslaver (Pharaoh) Satan will pursue her until the end so she needs to be in a hurry to go in order to remain one step ahead, which is demonstrated by unleavened bread. The plan for Pentecost fits smoothly into the greater Pattern for life given by God.

Pentecost in the Plan

Having escaped the clutches of her former owner and captor she gets a new identity at the Red Sea, a free woman of significant means, which permits her to be married. She discovers that the prince that rescued her did it because he wants to marry her. She agrees and is to be married at Sinai on Pentecost.

The marriage takes place in the wilderness, a time and place of austerity, but the prince provides her daily needs and as a princess she is now entitled to life in a marvellous kingdom if she can reach it.

The Meaning of Pentecost

The Jews have a perception of counting to Pentecost that is from an older covenant than Christians but ours is better. From the book of Acts we know that it somehow boils down to the Holy Spirit but can we be more precise than that? Look at what Ephesians says.

Ephesians 2:14-19 KJV For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; ¹⁵ Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; ¹⁶ And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: ¹⁷ And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. ¹⁹ Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

This is the essence of Pentecost. The power to create others that are fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God. It involves the Holy Spirit and the Bride. Without Pentecost there would be no Church, there would be no acceptance of what was done at Passover. At Passover the separation between God and a Group of people (Jews and Gentiles) was removed but the new relationship did not begin until Pentecost. It was at Pentecost that the new relationship was sealed. The bride was offered up in marriage and accepted and the covenant was sealed by the Holy Spirit. We are given access by the Holy Spirit. We are now one family, one bride through the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost starts with the Wave Sheaf. Once it has been threshed out it becomes the Omer, the first of Firstfruits. It then has to be ground into fine flour and mixed with sweet incense which has the prayers of the saints. It is this first of the Firstfruits (His acceptance) that actually occurred on the day that Christ was resurrected. It is from His acceptance as groom that we count down to our salvation on the day of Pentecost as bride. Pentecost is when the two loaves are waved together; one is Christ and the other is the Church. This is the first harvest and there will be another during the Feast of Tabernacles in the Fall.

Deuteronomy 16:16 [KJV] Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

Exodus 23:14-16 [KJV] Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. ¹⁵ Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) ¹⁶ And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

You can see from the preceding scriptures that God called this feast the feast of weeks and the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours. In the first title it is established as the count while the second defines the limits of the barley harvest. The barley harvest starts with the first omer and ends with the second. God said in Leviticus 23:17 [KJV], Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves.... This is not grain from the wheat harvest which would just be starting but the last of the barley which they reaped.

The counterfeit messiah wants us to count from the day of the Sun-god. That invalidates everything that Christ has done to save us. The sign, which is three days and three nights (Matthew 12:38-42, Mark 8:12), is linked to the resurrection. It is what validates the resurrection. The threshing of the Wave Sheaf represents what Christ went through to become our Omer. Satan wants us to disregard that sign (the only one that Christ gave) and that threshing as though it did not occur and count our salvation from his holiday, Sunday, the day of the Sun-god. The Sun-god Pentecost does not even always fall in the Passover week. It disregards Passover. Notice that if Unleavened bread begins on a Sunday the Sun-god omer has no link to Passover at all. In God's own words of II Corinthians 6:14-18 [KJV], Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? [15] And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? [16] And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [17] Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, [18] And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. God does not link with the Sun-god and He does not want us to have anything to do with the trinitarian Pentecost with its ties to the Sun-god, but to keep His Pentecost pure and Holy.

Pentecost means God's presence

We must always bear in mind that Pentecost is a celebration of a future event not something that happened in the first century AD. The Pentecost celebration existed before Acts 2, that was just a shadow of things to come. When we think of Pentecost we must think resurrection. Although the instruction to keep Pentecost is first mentioned in Exodus 23+24 the longest explanation is in Leviticus.

Leviticus 23:10-15 KJV Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: ¹¹And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹²And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord. ¹³And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. ¹⁴And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ¹⁵And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:

Apparently the word count in v15 has more significance in its meaning than is captured in the King James translation. The Hebrew word is caphar and according to Mickelson's Dictionary:

caphar;: a primitive root; properly to score with a mark as a tally or record, i.e. (by implication) to inscribe, and also to enumerate; intensitive to recount, i.e. celebrate :- commune, (ac-) count, declare, number, + penknife, reckon, scribe, shew forth, speak, talk, tell (out), writer

The Jews have traditionally clung to this meaning and have prescribed what should be done as the days are counted off.

The site Judaism 101 on the subject The Counting of the Omer, http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayb.htm (accessed 2010) says:

According to the Torah (Lev. 23:15), we are obligated to count the days from Passover to Shavu'ot. This period is known as the Counting of the Omer. An omer is a unit of measure. On the second day of Passover, in the days of the Temple, an omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as an offering. This grain offering was referred to as the Omer.
Every night, from the second night of Passover to the night before Shavu'ot, we recite a blessing and state the count of the omer in both weeks and days. So on the 16th day, you would say "Today is sixteen days, which is two weeks and two days of the Omer." The Orthodox Union has a chart that provides the transliterated Hebrew and English text of the counting day-by-day.
The counting is intended to remind us of the link between Passover, which commemorates the Exodus, and Shavu'ot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah. It reminds us that the redemption from slavery was not complete until we received the Torah.

God's law in Israel is what made them His and established His presence. He was present there in the Shekina (dwelling) fire but touched everyone through His Law. Israel was different from any other nation because of God's Law.

Deuteronomy 4:6-8 [KJV] Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. ⁷ For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? ⁸ And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

Notice the last paragraph from the The Counting of the Omer extract. Pentecost reminds them that their redemption was not complete until they received the Law. This is still true today for Christians but there are some changes.

Present within us

The Law demonstrates God's presence within us. Again this is about something future. We have the beginnings of God's law written in us but this transformation will take place in the future. Right now it is taking place in stages as the Holy Spirit comes upon people to a greater and greater degree but it is still very tiny. First we had a symbolic representation in the difference between the Sinai Law (God's Law) and the Egyptian Law (the laws of Phaoraoh/Satan). In the future it will be the difference between fully transformed by the Holy Spirit from the law of and nature of Satan to the nature of God.

Two ministrations

On the first Pentecost, the Law was given; 3,000 people died for worshipping the golden calf.

Exodus 32:28 [KJV] And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

This ushered in the ministration of death

2 Corinthians 3:7 [KJV] But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

On the first Pentecost of the New Covenant 3,000 people received the Holy Spirit and were added to the Church of Jesus Christ. This ushered in the ministration of life

Acts 2:41 [KJV] Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Now if those who came close to God in the administration of death radiated glory, can we imagine how much more amazing those who come close in the present one will be?

Written In Hearts

These events demonstrate that times have changed. There is far more to Pentecost for Christians than was there for the Jews. The administration has changed to a more glorious one and we need to fully appreciate the change and praise our creator for providing it.

The first written evidence of distinctive Hebrew, the Gezer calendar, dates back to the 10th century BC at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, the traditional time of the reign of David and Solomon. You can check for it on wikipedia.

The earliest extant documented papyrus comes from Egypts 1st Dynasty but some believe it may have been used as early as 4,000 B.C. It's use continued until about the 11th century AD. You can also check that on wikipedia.

The first Dynasty is dated at 3,000 B.C.

HOLMAN BIBLE DICTIONARY : Exodus ~ The Date of the Exodus
The Bible does not give an incontrovertible date for the Exodus. 1 Kings 6:1 says, In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomons reign over Israel, in the month of Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. But this verse refers primarily to the beginning of the building of Solomons Temple and only in a general way to the time of the Exodus. We do not know the precise dates of Solomons reign. If we use 961 B.C. as the beginning of Solomons reign, his fourth year would be 957 B.C. If we take the 480 years of 1 Kings 6:1 literally, the Exodus would be dated in 1437 B.C. Exodus 1:11 says, however, that the Israelites in Egypt built the store cities of Pithom and Raamses for Pharaoh. Evidently the name Raamses was not used in Egypt before 1300 B.C. If one of the store cities was named for a king by that name, the Exodus could not have happened before 1300 B.C. Thus some scholars believe the Exodus must have taken place after 1300 B.C.

Notice how the Exodus is dated. Not by God's word but by some arbitrary hypothesis. Anyhow, all of this is to say that ink writing and papyrus existed at the time of the Ten Commandments (more than 480 years before the reign of Solomon). God wrote in stone because He wanted to.

Our relationship with God is based on covenants. The old covenant/understanding was based on inflexible stone words.

2 Corinthians 3:3 [KJV] Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

The new is based on spirit presence in pliable hearts (fleshy tables as we just saw).

Jeremiah 31:33 [KJV] But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Zechariah 7:12 [KJV] Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.

The present or new agreement is a spiritual one that only functions as a seed or beginning. And according to Hebrews 12 this seed is the human spirit (spirit of just men), the core of the man, made perfect (by the enhancements of the Holy Spirit). This spirit was shed abroad at Pentecost as related in Acts chapter 2 where people's minds were opened to understand when they did not even know the language. That is something that could not be written in words. The disciples were given power to spread the gospel and extend the family even under those conditions, i.e. where there was nothing to read and comprehend by intellect. It was written in their hearts, their being.

Hebrews 12:23 [KJV] To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Acts 2:1-4 (KJV) And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 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. ³ And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

the spirit empowers the heart with the love

In order to inherit the promises Israel needed to enter into a covenant or come into an understanding. Those under the Old Covenant promised to keep the agreement.

Exodus 19:5-8 KJV Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: ⁶And 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. ⁷And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. ⁸And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.

But God knew that their best efforts would fall short. He lamented that they did not have the heart to keep their promise

Deuteronomy 5:29 [KJV] O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

In the New Covenant this changes completely because of what happens at Pentecost.

1 John 3:9 [KJV] Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

God promised a time when it would actually be written in their hearts. We are moving from a situation of dealing with God as cold hard words and far off (they could not even touch the mountain).

Exodus 19:12-13 KJV And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: ¹³There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.

Hebrews 12:16-24 KJV Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. ¹⁷For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. ¹⁸For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, ¹⁹And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: ²⁰(For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: ²¹And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) ²²But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, ²³To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, ²⁴And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Now we are to know Him on a more personal level where He becomes an essential part of our daily thoughts and actions but that is still not Pentecost. What's next? In the future when the covenant reaches its pinnacle we will have him in body (spiritual body) and interact like with like.

Matthew 5:8 [KJV] Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

We will see him face to face. Moses could not at that time and in fact no man could

John 1:18 [KJV] No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Revelation 21:3 [KJV] 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.

Notice what surrounds (v12) of 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 KJV Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. ²And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. ³And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. ⁴Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, ⁵Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; ⁶Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; ⁷Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ⁸Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. ⁹For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. ¹¹When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹²For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. ¹³And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Before we see God face to face we will be filled with a great capacity to love. Our heart is normally like the heart of Pharoah (it is his ways that we learn in Egypt and bring with us in our hearts) and that is where God has to write his law.

Exodus 9:12 [KJV] And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken unto Moses.

It is the absence of God's love - which comes with His law - that hardens ones heart. If God does not give us His love we will be just like Pharaoh. It is the absence of heat that makes water cold and hardens it to form ice.

1 John 2:14-17 (KJV) I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. ¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Exodus 14:8 [KJV] And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.

Israel came out of Egypt, in other words they were Egyptians. God brought them out but in order to become the new nation under God in the Promise Land they needed to get Egypt out of them. To get out the old law He replaced it with a new law.

Present Among Us

The flame indicates God's presence among us. Note how at the New Testament Pentecost the manifestation of the flaming presence of God is not positioned over a tent as in the Old Testament. God led his people by that fire and it eventually rested on the Tabernacle. The tabernacle was supposed to be in the midst of the people but after they sinned God moved it outside the camp and only Moses could enter. At Mount Sinai, the people once again had the opportunity to interact with God directly but they rejected it. In the New Testament time (Acts 2:3) it is over PEOPLE. They are the new tabernacle and the temple of God. The temple contained the presence of God in its most holy place just as Christians do in our hearts. God's presence descended on it as it descends on us to bring us His presence. In the future it will be poured out on all.

Joel 2:28-29 KJV And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: ²⁹And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

Acts 2:17-18 KJV And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: ¹⁸And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

God demonstrated his presence in the burning bush by fire when Moses alone was redeemed. God came to Mount Sinai in fire. The Holy Spirit came on the disciples in fire. God rested on the tabernacle and lead his people as a pillar of fire.

Exodus 19:18 [KJV] And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

God's presence will refine us like fire.

Zechhariah 13:9 [KJV] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Until we can no longer sin (1 John 3:9). A different heart will make a lot of difference.

Hosea 2:18 [KJV] And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

Zechariah 13:2-4 KJV And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. ³And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. ⁴And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:

We are looking forward to a time when God will soften the hearts of the Pharaohs of this world and enter a covenant with them. He will enter a covenant with Egypt (the gateway to Africa). Instead of Pharaoh throwing out Israel notice what God will bring about:

Isaiah 19:19, 23-24 KJV In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. . .²³In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. ²⁴In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:

These are examples of God's Spirit working among men to bring change. The Africans (Egypt) and the Europeans (Assyria) will serve God as a united front. God used symbolic means to show us the function of His Spirit. Through His Spirit He will be with (among) us and in us. Pentecost is the Fulfilment of that day and we will see later that the wave sheaf adds further support to this.

The Firstfruits

The Bible shows that God represents salvation as three harvests and hence we must come to Him and not be empty. Not empty means that our lives must be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2) because that is the only sacrifice in the New Testament. The first harvest in Israel was barley. It starts with Christ as the first of that harvest and the remainder of the harvest is those resurrected as the firstfruits at the resurrection. Barley is the toughest grain and these are those that have to show that they are toughest. The second harvest is another harvest that is tough, wheat, and these are those resurrected at the end of the millennium after Satan is released for a short while. The final resurrection is tender grapes which comes at the white throne Judgement. In the first wave offering Christ is accepted as savoir and kinsman redeemer which is the bridegroom. In the second omer He is accepted along with the bride and that begins the New Testament Church in earnest. That is at Pentecost and represents the full union of Christ and the Church, the called out ones.

In dealing with the first Omer I explained why I believe that it does not depend on the weekly Sabbath but on Passover. Christ dies as our savoir and is resurrected as our kinsman redeemer, the husband of the bride. Boaz and Ruth show us that it had to be accepted in the gate and hence Christ had to be accepted by God before He could marry the bride and redeem us. In any case the situation had to be brought to the men in the gate.

Ruth 4:1-2 KJV Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down. ² And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.

Ruth 4:6-10 KJV And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it. ⁷ Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel. ⁸ Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. ⁹ And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelechs, and all that was Chilions and Mahlons, of the hand of Naomi. ¹⁰ Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.

So Passover and the first Omer are linked by Passover being the cost and the Omer representing that cost being accepted in the gate, but the next omer waved on Pentecost represents the union of Christ and the Church being also accepted in the gate.

I was just talking earlier about God present within and among us; but who is us? Pentecost is actually determined by the day of the sheaf of first of Firstfruits called the Omer. Once this has been threshed out it becomes the Omer. It is the first of the Firstfruits and it actually occurred on the day that Christ was resurrected. It is connected to Passover by the sign of Johah. It makes you wonder if God did not deliberately put it on Sunday so that only those who do not see the spiritual significance would carelessly attach themselves to the Sun-god and be deceived. It is from the true messiahs resurrection that we count down to our salvation on the day of Pentecost not from the day of the false messiah, the Sun-god. Pentecost is when the two loaves are waved together; one representing Christ and the other the Church. The Church is the Firstfruits and Christ is the First of the Firstfruits, both united forever at Pentecost. The Resurrection or Omer day is not designated as a Holy Day in the Bible but it is part of the Feast. We saw earlier that this day was the day following the First Day of Unleavened bread. Does this have any special significance? Israel was described as God's firstfruits (Jeremiah 2:3). Christ in His resurrection is described as the firstfruits of them that slept (1 Cor. 15:20; 1 Cor. 15:23). The Holy Spirit in this dispensation is spoken of as a firstfruits (Romans 8:23), making us a kind of firstfruits (James 1:18) too. The remnant within Israel is described as firstfruits (Romans 11:16), as are the 144,000 of the tribulation period (Revelation 14:4). The first converts of an area were designated firstfruits (Romans 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:15). The firstborn son of married people was believed to represent the prime of human vigor (Genesis 49:3; Psalm 78:51). All the firstborn of Israel, both of man and beast, belonged to God (Exodus 13:2; Exodus 13:15). Whether firstfruits (of vegetation) or firstborn (of creatures) the connection with dedication to God and blessing is inescapable.

Compare Exodus 19:5-6 with 1 Peter 2:9

Exodus 19:5-6 KJV Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: ⁶And 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.

1 Peter 2:9 [KJV] But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

In the same place that the covenant was given there was a special blessing offered to firstfruits. Being firstfruits is special because something special is made from or comes from firstfruits. In Old Testament Israel the leadership of the family who became the leadership or strength of Israel came from firstfruits. It was always a male because Christ is male and He is the first of Firstfruits, inheritance always comes through the male. Christ as the first inherits all things, His inheritance is greatest.

EASTONS 1897 BIBLE DICTIONARY on Birthright says:

Birthright: (1.) This word denotes the special privileges and advantages belonging to the first-born son among the Jews. He became the priest of the family. Thus Reuben was the first-born of the patriarchs, and so the priesthood of the tribes belonged to him. That honour was, however, transferred by God from Reuben to Levi (Numbers 3:12-13; Numbers 8:18).; (2.) The first-born son had allotted to him also a double portion of the paternal inheritance (Deut. 21:15-17). Reuben was, because of his undutiful conduct, deprived of his birth-right (Genesis 49:4; 1 Chron. 5:1). Esau transferred his birth-right to Jacob (Genesis 25:33).; (3.) The first-born inherited the judicial authority of his father, whatever it might be (2 Chron. 21:3). By divine appointment, however, David excluded Adonijah in favour of Solomon

So we see that Christ as first of the first is supreme but the other firstfruits are also wonderfully blessed. Now notice how Pentecost was determined

Deuteronomy 16:9-10 KJV Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. ¹⁰ And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:

The purpose of this feast was to commemorate the COMPLETION of the barley harvest, the FIRST harvest period and the beginning of the wheat harvest it seems. Its distinguishing feature was the offering of two leavened loaves. Since there is no mention of anything else harvested and they had to bring this offering out of their habitation, it appears that these loaves were made of barley. The firstfruits are taken out of the total harvest.

Leviticus 23:17 [KJV] Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.

Our savior described the process that takes place over a harvest period. He used wheat in the description. I do not believe that the wheat (which it seems followed the barley harvest) is the issue but only the process.

Matthew 13:39 [KJV] The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

I have vacillated between two opinions. The first is that the wheat represents those saints not with Christ at His coming but that are resurrected from those in the millennium before the valley of dry bones. The second is that the wheat are those which come out of the valley of dry bones and all others resurrected in the same fashion. I now tend to believe that the wheat are those who come from the valley of dry bones. God uses each harvest to have its own focus on His plan. The focus of Pentecost is that some are taken from the whole to be the bride. Those represented at Pentecost are called firstfruits to the Lord but they come at the end of the barley harvest (which starts with Christ and includes the Church at his coming in addition to the saints from those that live during the millennium). The question becomes why two loaves (Leviticus 23:17)? My answer is because it must be plural. One represents Christ and the other the Church. Christ was crucified at the foundation of the world and from that moment technically the Church began. There was no waiting until a Sabbath but the process of harvesting began as soon as men got a messiah, repented and had sin (represented by Egypt at Passover) taken out of their lives by that messiah. The harvest was accepted as ready at Pentecost. In one sense then the means of growth begins at Passover but maturity comes at Pentecost. Fruit are no use unless they mature and people don't marry unless they mature.

Welcome! Article Comments Catalog Table of Contents: Pentecost in the Plan The Meaning of Pentecost Pentecost means God's presence Present within us Two ministrations Written In Hearts the spirit empowers the heart with the love Present Among Us The Firstfruits	faq about Home log in register
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	Pentecost in the Plan
	author: buildontherock published: 2021-01-06 last updated: 2022-06-10
	Pentecost is linked to the Passover season and Tabernacles season. Everything starts with Passover. It is like the story of a damsel in distress. Passover is the price that is paid for her life and freedom and without that she has no hope at all. Passover breaks her bonds but she still has to escape the domain of her captors. Her environment of sin (Egypt) will be with her until she is given a new identity at the Red Sea. She will emerge on the other side with a passport to freedom. Her enslaver (Pharaoh) Satan will pursue her until the end so she needs to be in a hurry to go in order to remain one step ahead, which is demonstrated by unleavened bread. The plan for Pentecost fits smoothly into the greater Pattern for life given by God. Pentecost in the Plan Having escaped the clutches of her former owner and captor she gets a new identity at the Red Sea, a free woman of significant means, which permits her to be married. She discovers that the prince that rescued her did it because he wants to marry her. She agrees and is to be married at Sinai on Pentecost. The marriage takes place in the wilderness, a time and place of austerity, but the prince provides her daily needs and as a princess she is now entitled to life in a marvellous kingdom if she can reach it. The Meaning of Pentecost The Jews have a perception of counting to Pentecost that is from an older covenant than Christians but ours is better. From the book of Acts we know that it somehow boils down to the Holy Spirit but can we be more precise than that? Look at what Ephesians says. Ephesians 2:14-19 KJV For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; ¹⁵ Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; ¹⁶ And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: ¹⁷ And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. ¹⁹ Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; This is the essence of Pentecost. The power to create others that are fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God. It involves the Holy Spirit and the Bride. Without Pentecost there would be no Church, there would be no acceptance of what was done at Passover. At Passover the separation between God and a Group of people (Jews and Gentiles) was removed but the new relationship did not begin until Pentecost. It was at Pentecost that the new relationship was sealed. The bride was offered up in marriage and accepted and the covenant was sealed by the Holy Spirit. We are given access by the Holy Spirit. We are now one family, one bride through the Holy Spirit. Pentecost starts with the Wave Sheaf. Once it has been threshed out it becomes the Omer, the first of Firstfruits. It then has to be ground into fine flour and mixed with sweet incense which has the prayers of the saints. It is this first of the Firstfruits (His acceptance) that actually occurred on the day that Christ was resurrected. It is from His acceptance as groom that we count down to our salvation on the day of Pentecost as bride. Pentecost is when the two loaves are waved together; one is Christ and the other is the Church. This is the first harvest and there will be another during the Feast of Tabernacles in the Fall. Deuteronomy 16:16 [KJV] Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty: Exodus 23:14-16 [KJV] Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. ¹⁵ Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) ¹⁶ And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. You can see from the preceding scriptures that God called this feast the feast of weeks and the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours. In the first title it is established as the count while the second defines the limits of the barley harvest. The barley harvest starts with the first omer and ends with the second. God said in Leviticus 23:17 [KJV], Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves.... This is not grain from the wheat harvest which would just be starting but the last of the barley which they reaped. The counterfeit messiah wants us to count from the day of the Sun-god. That invalidates everything that Christ has done to save us. The sign, which is three days and three nights (Matthew 12:38-42, Mark 8:12), is linked to the resurrection. It is what validates the resurrection. The threshing of the Wave Sheaf represents what Christ went through to become our Omer. Satan wants us to disregard that sign (the only one that Christ gave) and that threshing as though it did not occur and count our salvation from his holiday, Sunday, the day of the Sun-god. The Sun-god Pentecost does not even always fall in the Passover week. It disregards Passover. Notice that if Unleavened bread begins on a Sunday the Sun-god omer has no link to Passover at all. In God's own words of II Corinthians 6:14-18 [KJV], Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? [15] And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? [16] And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [17] Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, [18] And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. God does not link with the Sun-god and He does not want us to have anything to do with the trinitarian Pentecost with its ties to the Sun-god, but to keep His Pentecost pure and Holy. Pentecost means God's presence We must always bear in mind that Pentecost is a celebration of a future event not something that happened in the first century AD. The Pentecost celebration existed before Acts 2, that was just a shadow of things to come. When we think of Pentecost we must think resurrection. Although the instruction to keep Pentecost is first mentioned in Exodus 23+24 the longest explanation is in Leviticus. Leviticus 23:10-15 KJV Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: ¹¹And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹²And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord. ¹³And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. ¹⁴And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ¹⁵And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Apparently the word count in v15 has more significance in its meaning than is captured in the King James translation. The Hebrew word is caphar and according to Mickelson's Dictionary: Mickelson's Enhanced Strong's Dictionaries of the Greek and Hebrew Testaments (M-Strong): caphar; a primitive root; properly to score with a mark as a tally or record, i.e. (by implication) to inscribe, and also to enumerate; intensitive to recount, i.e. celebrate :- commune, (ac-) count, declare, number, + penknife, reckon, scribe, shew forth, speak, talk, tell (out), writer The Jews have traditionally clung to this meaning and have prescribed what should be done as the days are counted off. The site Judaism 101 on the subject The Counting of the Omer, http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayb.htm (accessed 2010) says: According to the Torah (Lev. 23:15), we are obligated to count the days from Passover to Shavu'ot. This period is known as the Counting of the Omer. An omer is a unit of measure. On the second day of Passover, in the days of the Temple, an omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as an offering. This grain offering was referred to as the Omer. Every night, from the second night of Passover to the night before Shavu'ot, we recite a blessing and state the count of the omer in both weeks and days. So on the 16th day, you would say "Today is sixteen days, which is two weeks and two days of the Omer." The Orthodox Union has a chart that provides the transliterated Hebrew and English text of the counting day-by-day. The counting is intended to remind us of the link between Passover, which commemorates the Exodus, and Shavu'ot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah. It reminds us that the redemption from slavery was not complete until we received the Torah. God's law in Israel is what made them His and established His presence. He was present there in the Shekina (dwelling) fire but touched everyone through His Law. Israel was different from any other nation because of God's Law. Deuteronomy 4:6-8 [KJV] Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. ⁷ For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? ⁸ And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Notice the last paragraph from the The Counting of the Omer extract. Pentecost reminds them that their redemption was not complete until they received the Law. This is still true today for Christians but there are some changes. Present within us The Law demonstrates God's presence within us. Again this is about something future. We have the beginnings of God's law written in us but this transformation will take place in the future. Right now it is taking place in stages as the Holy Spirit comes upon people to a greater and greater degree but it is still very tiny. First we had a symbolic representation in the difference between the Sinai Law (God's Law) and the Egyptian Law (the laws of Phaoraoh/Satan). In the future it will be the difference between fully transformed by the Holy Spirit from the law of and nature of Satan to the nature of God. Two ministrations On the first Pentecost, the Law was given; 3,000 people died for worshipping the golden calf. Exodus 32:28 [KJV] And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. This ushered in the ministration of death 2 Corinthians 3:7 [KJV] But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: On the first Pentecost of the New Covenant 3,000 people received the Holy Spirit and were added to the Church of Jesus Christ. This ushered in the ministration of life Acts 2:41 [KJV] Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Now if those who came close to God in the administration of death radiated glory, can we imagine how much more amazing those who come close in the present one will be? 2 Corinthians 3:7 [KJV] But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: Written In Hearts These events demonstrate that times have changed. There is far more to Pentecost for Christians than was there for the Jews. The administration has changed to a more glorious one and we need to fully appreciate the change and praise our creator for providing it. The first written evidence of distinctive Hebrew, the Gezer calendar, dates back to the 10th century BC at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, the traditional time of the reign of David and Solomon. You can check for it on wikipedia. The earliest extant documented papyrus comes from Egypts 1st Dynasty but some believe it may have been used as early as 4,000 B.C. It's use continued until about the 11th century AD. You can also check that on wikipedia. The first Dynasty is dated at 3,000 B.C. HOLMAN BIBLE DICTIONARY : Exodus ~ The Date of the Exodus The Bible does not give an incontrovertible date for the Exodus. 1 Kings 6:1 says, In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomons reign over Israel, in the month of Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. But this verse refers primarily to the beginning of the building of Solomons Temple and only in a general way to the time of the Exodus. We do not know the precise dates of Solomons reign. If we use 961 B.C. as the beginning of Solomons reign, his fourth year would be 957 B.C. If we take the 480 years of 1 Kings 6:1 literally, the Exodus would be dated in 1437 B.C. Exodus 1:11 says, however, that the Israelites in Egypt built the store cities of Pithom and Raamses for Pharaoh. Evidently the name Raamses was not used in Egypt before 1300 B.C. If one of the store cities was named for a king by that name, the Exodus could not have happened before 1300 B.C. Thus some scholars believe the Exodus must have taken place after 1300 B.C. Notice how the Exodus is dated. Not by God's word but by some arbitrary hypothesis. Anyhow, all of this is to say that ink writing and papyrus existed at the time of the Ten Commandments (more than 480 years before the reign of Solomon). God wrote in stone because He wanted to. Our relationship with God is based on covenants. The old covenant/understanding was based on inflexible stone words. 2 Corinthians 3:3 [KJV] Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. The new is based on spirit presence in pliable hearts (fleshy tables as we just saw). Jeremiah 31:33 [KJV] But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. Zechariah 7:12 [KJV] Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts. The present or new agreement is a spiritual one that only functions as a seed or beginning. And according to Hebrews 12 this seed is the human spirit (spirit of just men), the core of the man, made perfect (by the enhancements of the Holy Spirit). This spirit was shed abroad at Pentecost as related in Acts chapter 2 where people's minds were opened to understand when they did not even know the language. That is something that could not be written in words. The disciples were given power to spread the gospel and extend the family even under those conditions, i.e. where there was nothing to read and comprehend by intellect. It was written in their hearts, their being. Hebrews 12:23 [KJV] To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, Acts 2:1-4 (KJV) And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 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. ³ And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. the spirit empowers the heart with the love In order to inherit the promises Israel needed to enter into a covenant or come into an understanding. Those under the Old Covenant promised to keep the agreement. Exodus 19:5-8 KJV Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: ⁶And 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. ⁷And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. ⁸And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord. But God knew that their best efforts would fall short. He lamented that they did not have the heart to keep their promise Deuteronomy 5:29 [KJV] O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! In the New Covenant this changes completely because of what happens at Pentecost. 1 John 3:9 [KJV] Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. God promised a time when it would actually be written in their hearts. We are moving from a situation of dealing with God as cold hard words and far off (they could not even touch the mountain). Exodus 19:12-13 KJV And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: ¹³There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. Hebrews 12:16-24 KJV Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. ¹⁷For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. ¹⁸For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, ¹⁹And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: ²⁰(For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: ²¹And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) ²²But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, ²³To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, ²⁴And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Now we are to know Him on a more personal level where He becomes an essential part of our daily thoughts and actions but that is still not Pentecost. What's next? In the future when the covenant reaches its pinnacle we will have him in body (spiritual body) and interact like with like. Matthew 5:8 [KJV] Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. We will see him face to face. Moses could not at that time and in fact no man could John 1:18 [KJV] No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Revelation 21:3 [KJV] 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. Notice what surrounds (v12) of 1 Corinthians 13. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 KJV Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. ²And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. ³And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. ⁴Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, ⁵Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; ⁶Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; ⁷Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ⁸Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. ⁹For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. ¹¹When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹²For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. ¹³And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. Before we see God face to face we will be filled with a great capacity to love. Our heart is normally like the heart of Pharoah (it is his ways that we learn in Egypt and bring with us in our hearts) and that is where God has to write his law. Exodus 9:12 [KJV] And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken unto Moses. It is the absence of God's love - which comes with His law - that hardens ones heart. If God does not give us His love we will be just like Pharaoh. It is the absence of heat that makes water cold and hardens it to form ice. 1 John 2:14-17 (KJV) I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. ¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. Exodus 14:8 [KJV] And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. Israel came out of Egypt, in other words they were Egyptians. God brought them out but in order to become the new nation under God in the Promise Land they needed to get Egypt out of them. To get out the old law He replaced it with a new law. Present Among Us The flame indicates God's presence among us. Note how at the New Testament Pentecost the manifestation of the flaming presence of God is not positioned over a tent as in the Old Testament. God led his people by that fire and it eventually rested on the Tabernacle. The tabernacle was supposed to be in the midst of the people but after they sinned God moved it outside the camp and only Moses could enter. At Mount Sinai, the people once again had the opportunity to interact with God directly but they rejected it. In the New Testament time (Acts 2:3) it is over PEOPLE. They are the new tabernacle and the temple of God. The temple contained the presence of God in its most holy place just as Christians do in our hearts. God's presence descended on it as it descends on us to bring us His presence. In the future it will be poured out on all. Joel 2:28-29 KJV And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: ²⁹And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. Acts 2:17-18 KJV And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: ¹⁸And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: God demonstrated his presence in the burning bush by fire when Moses alone was redeemed. God came to Mount Sinai in fire. The Holy Spirit came on the disciples in fire. God rested on the tabernacle and lead his people as a pillar of fire. Exodus 19:18 [KJV] And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. God's presence will refine us like fire. Zechhariah 13:9 [KJV] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. Until we can no longer sin (1 John 3:9). A different heart will make a lot of difference. Jeremiah 31:33 [KJV] But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. Hosea 2:18 [KJV] And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. Zechariah 13:2-4 KJV And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. ³And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. ⁴And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive: We are looking forward to a time when God will soften the hearts of the Pharaohs of this world and enter a covenant with them. He will enter a covenant with Egypt (the gateway to Africa). Instead of Pharaoh throwing out Israel notice what God will bring about: Isaiah 19:19, 23-24 KJV In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. . .²³In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. ²⁴In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: These are examples of God's Spirit working among men to bring change. The Africans (Egypt) and the Europeans (Assyria) will serve God as a united front. God used symbolic means to show us the function of His Spirit. Through His Spirit He will be with (among) us and in us. Pentecost is the Fulfilment of that day and we will see later that the wave sheaf adds further support to this. The Firstfruits The Bible shows that God represents salvation as three harvests and hence we must come to Him and not be empty. Not empty means that our lives must be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2) because that is the only sacrifice in the New Testament. The first harvest in Israel was barley. It starts with Christ as the first of that harvest and the remainder of the harvest is those resurrected as the firstfruits at the resurrection. Barley is the toughest grain and these are those that have to show that they are toughest. The second harvest is another harvest that is tough, wheat, and these are those resurrected at the end of the millennium after Satan is released for a short while. The final resurrection is tender grapes which comes at the white throne Judgement. In the first wave offering Christ is accepted as savoir and kinsman redeemer which is the bridegroom. In the second omer He is accepted along with the bride and that begins the New Testament Church in earnest. That is at Pentecost and represents the full union of Christ and the Church, the called out ones. In dealing with the first Omer I explained why I believe that it does not depend on the weekly Sabbath but on Passover. Christ dies as our savoir and is resurrected as our kinsman redeemer, the husband of the bride. Boaz and Ruth show us that it had to be accepted in the gate and hence Christ had to be accepted by God before He could marry the bride and redeem us. In any case the situation had to be brought to the men in the gate. Ruth 4:1-2 KJV Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down. ² And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down. Ruth 4:6-10 KJV And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it. ⁷ Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel. ⁸ Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. ⁹ And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelechs, and all that was Chilions and Mahlons, of the hand of Naomi. ¹⁰ Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. So Passover and the first Omer are linked by Passover being the cost and the Omer representing that cost being accepted in the gate, but the next omer waved on Pentecost represents the union of Christ and the Church being also accepted in the gate. I was just talking earlier about God present within and among us; but who is us? Pentecost is actually determined by the day of the sheaf of first of Firstfruits called the Omer. Once this has been threshed out it becomes the Omer. It is the first of the Firstfruits and it actually occurred on the day that Christ was resurrected. It is connected to Passover by the sign of Johah. It makes you wonder if God did not deliberately put it on Sunday so that only those who do not see the spiritual significance would carelessly attach themselves to the Sun-god and be deceived. It is from the true messiahs resurrection that we count down to our salvation on the day of Pentecost not from the day of the false messiah, the Sun-god. Pentecost is when the two loaves are waved together; one representing Christ and the other the Church. The Church is the Firstfruits and Christ is the First of the Firstfruits, both united forever at Pentecost. The Resurrection or Omer day is not designated as a Holy Day in the Bible but it is part of the Feast. We saw earlier that this day was the day following the First Day of Unleavened bread. Does this have any special significance? Israel was described as God's firstfruits (Jeremiah 2:3). Christ in His resurrection is described as the firstfruits of them that slept (1 Cor. 15:20; 1 Cor. 15:23). The Holy Spirit in this dispensation is spoken of as a firstfruits (Romans 8:23), making us a kind of firstfruits (James 1:18) too. The remnant within Israel is described as firstfruits (Romans 11:16), as are the 144,000 of the tribulation period (Revelation 14:4). The first converts of an area were designated firstfruits (Romans 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:15). The firstborn son of married people was believed to represent the prime of human vigor (Genesis 49:3; Psalm 78:51). All the firstborn of Israel, both of man and beast, belonged to God (Exodus 13:2; Exodus 13:15). Whether firstfruits (of vegetation) or firstborn (of creatures) the connection with dedication to God and blessing is inescapable. Compare Exodus 19:5-6 with 1 Peter 2:9 Exodus 19:5-6 KJV Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: ⁶And 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. 1 Peter 2:9 [KJV] But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: In the same place that the covenant was given there was a special blessing offered to firstfruits. Being firstfruits is special because something special is made from or comes from firstfruits. In Old Testament Israel the leadership of the family who became the leadership or strength of Israel came from firstfruits. It was always a male because Christ is male and He is the first of Firstfruits, inheritance always comes through the male. Christ as the first inherits all things, His inheritance is greatest. EASTONS 1897 BIBLE DICTIONARY on Birthright says: EASTON'S 1897 BIBLE DICTIONARY Birthright (1.) This word denotes the special privileges and advantages belonging to the first-born son among the Jews. He became the priest of the family. Thus Reuben was the first-born of the patriarchs, and so the priesthood of the tribes belonged to him. That honour was, however, transferred by God from Reuben to Levi (Numbers 3:12-13; Numbers 8:18). (2.) The first-born son had allotted to him also a double portion of the paternal inheritance (Deut. 21:15-17). Reuben was, because of his undutiful conduct, deprived of his birth-right (Genesis 49:4; 1 Chron. 5:1). Esau transferred his birth-right to Jacob (Genesis 25:33). (3.) The first-born inherited the judicial authority of his father, whatever it might be (2 Chron. 21:3). By divine appointment, however, David excluded Adonijah in favour of Solomon So we see that Christ as first of the first is supreme but the other firstfruits are also wonderfully blessed. Now notice how Pentecost was determined Deuteronomy 16:9-10 KJV Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. ¹⁰ And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: The purpose of this feast was to commemorate the COMPLETION of the barley harvest, the FIRST harvest period and the beginning of the wheat harvest it seems. Its distinguishing feature was the offering of two leavened loaves. Since there is no mention of anything else harvested and they had to bring this offering out of their habitation, it appears that these loaves were made of barley. The firstfruits are taken out of the total harvest. Leviticus 23:17 [KJV] Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord. Our savior described the process that takes place over a harvest period. He used wheat in the description. I do not believe that the wheat (which it seems followed the barley harvest) is the issue but only the process. Matthew 13:39 [KJV] The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. I have vacillated between two opinions. The first is that the wheat represents those saints not with Christ at His coming but that are resurrected from those in the millennium before the valley of dry bones. The second is that the wheat are those which come out of the valley of dry bones and all others resurrected in the same fashion. I now tend to believe that the wheat are those who come from the valley of dry bones. God uses each harvest to have its own focus on His plan. The focus of Pentecost is that some are taken from the whole to be the bride. Those represented at Pentecost are called firstfruits to the Lord but they come at the end of the barley harvest (which starts with Christ and includes the Church at his coming in addition to the saints from those that live during the millennium). The question becomes why two loaves (Leviticus 23:17)? My answer is because it must be plural. One represents Christ and the other the Church. Christ was crucified at the foundation of the world and from that moment technically the Church began. There was no waiting until a Sabbath but the process of harvesting began as soon as men got a messiah, repented and had sin (represented by Egypt at Passover) taken out of their lives by that messiah. The harvest was accepted as ready at Pentecost. In one sense then the means of growth begins at Passover but maturity comes at Pentecost. Fruit are no use unless they mature and people don't marry unless they mature.