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Anticipating Christian Pentecost

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The Feast of Pentecost has two fulfillments, symbolized by Israel’s early rain and latter rain. In the early rain God gave us the Holy Spirit as ‘the earnest of our inheritance.’ In the latter rain we’re going to experience ‘the manifestation of the sons of God.’

Early and Latter Rains

People in ancient Israel understood agricultural examples. They knew:

  • The early rain came in the autumn. It softened the hardened earth, enabling farmers to plow and plant their seeds.
  • The latter rain came in the spring. It ripened the grain, just in time before the big harvest.

The Early Rain Pentecost

The apostle James directly connects this symbol of Israel’s early and latter rains to the Lord’s return.

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the early and latter rains. You too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.

James 5:7-8

The first century Pentecostal outpouring of God’s Spirit was the early rain.

photo by e-watchman.com/jesus/

In the early rain God gave us the Holy Spirit as ‘the earnest of our inheritance.’

The Earnest of Our Inheritance

ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession

Ephesians 1:14

This raises two questions:

  1. The definition of earnest?
  2. What is our inheritance?

Earnest of Our Inheritance?

An earnest is a pledge or down payment. It proves the buyer’s full intent to complete a transaction. In this case, it is God’s guarantee to us that He has accepted us and He will bring us into our inheritance.

What is Our Inheritance?

If the Spirit’s Pentecostal outpouring 2000 years ago was the earnest (or pledge) of our inheritance, what will our full inheritance look like?

Our Inheritance Includes Redemption

The Spirit of God is now “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.”

Redemption is: “The purchase back of something that had been lost, by the payment of a ransom.”

https://biblehub.com/topical/r/redemption.htm
How Were We Redeemed?

What did God pay for our ransom? God redeemed us by the blood of Jesus. At the throne of YHWH in heaven, this is the song the elders sing to the resurrected and glorified Lamb of God:

Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You redeemed for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.

Revelation 5:9
What are we redeemed from?

Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Titus 2:14

The Greek word for iniquity literally means ‘without law.’ It means living outside the boundaries of God’s moral will for us. Since the early rain of Pentecost we have the Holy Spirit to guide us out of iniquity and into holiness.

What are we redeemed to?

One of the Holy Spirit’s primary roles today is to fulfill Jeremiah’s prophecy of the New Covenant:

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.

But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Therefore, since Pentecost, as we walk according to the Holy Spirit’s leading in our heart God ‘redeems us from all iniquity, purifying to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.’ (Titus 2:14)

Our Inheritance Includes Sonship

all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Romans 8:14
Inherit All of Creation
Inherit All of Creation

The sons of God will inherit all of creation:

And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.” And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.

Revelation 21:5-8
Jesus’ Younger Brothers

For eternity Jesus will look upon these sons of God, whom the Spirit conforms to Jesus’ image, as His younger brothers.

be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

Romans 8:29
Summary of Our Inheritance

Therefore, if you walk in the Spirit you will overcome iniquity and God will conform you to His image. Then, you will inherit all things and be recognized throughout creation as a son of Almighty God, a brother of Jesus. This is your inheritance if you choose to become a son of God.

The Hope of Redemption

The early rain Pentecost gave us the earnest of our inheritance, but we earnestly desire the total consummation of our redemption, the redemption of our bodies. As Paul wrote,

We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Romans 8:22-23

The latter rain Pentecost will soon bring us closer to this goal.

The Latter Rain Pentecost

In the early rain Pentecost God gave us the Holy Spirit as (1) the earnest of our inheritance, and (2) an indwelling guide to conform us into His moral image.

For almost 2000 years Jesus patiently waits for the latter rain Pentecost to bring his bride to spiritual maturity, “to the full measure of the stature of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13) His wait is almost over.

What to Expect in the Latter Rain Pentecost

  1. The latter rain Pentecost will ripen the Bride of Christ into maturity, “to the full measure of the stature of Christ.”
  2. The latter rain Pentecost will result in the glorious ‘manifestation of the sons of God.’ They are the 144000 ‘firstfruits’ of the global harvest at the end of this age.
photo from heartlight.org

Pentecost is a ‘Firstfruits’ Festival

The Feast of Pentecost is also known by other names, one of which is ‘Firstfruits.’ Here’s a list of names for the Feast of Pentecost:

  • Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10, 16)
    • This is because (every year) Pentecost is celebrated 50 days (7 Sabbath weeks plus one day) after the day God resurrected Jesus’ body from death.
    • Feast of Shavuot (Hebrew word for Weeks)
  • Feast of the Harvest of the Firstfruits (Exodus 23:16)
  • Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest (Exodus 34:22, Numbers 28:26)

Caution: Don’t Confuse the Two Firstfruits Festivals

The reason why Pentecost is also called a Firstfruits festival is that Pentecost is an extension of Jesus’ resurrection. Let me explain…

There are two festivals called Firstfruits, and they’re related via Jesus’ resurrection.

  1. Leviticus 23: 9-14 This Firstfruits festival occurs during the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus fulfilled this barley Firstfruits festival by His resurrection.
  2. Leviticus 23:15-21 Then, 50 days after the resurrection, the Pentecost ‘Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest’ festival began to be fulfilled in the ‘early rain’ outpouring of the Holy Spirit into the disciples in Jerusalem. I say it ‘began to be fulfilled’ because Pentecost has more fulfillment coming in the latter rain outpouring of God’s glory.

The barley Firstfruits festival celebrates the Messiah’s resurrection. It’s also the event that triggers the 50-day countdown to Pentecost, which is the wheat Firstfruits festival.

Jesus said His resurrection is what enables God to send His Holy Spirit to us. So, Pentecost is dependent on (and triggered by) the resurrection.

But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

John 16:7

In summary, there are two Firstfruits festivals (50 days apart) and both are related to Jesus’ resurrection.

Pentecost as ‘Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest’

One Firstfruit versus Many Firstfruits

The Barley Firstfruit Festival is a Single, Unleavened Offering

There is one sheaf of barley in the barley Firstfruits festival. Since this festival occurs during the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread, we can be absolutely certain this offering is unleavened.

This single sheaf represents the sinless state of our Passover sacrifice, Jesus. YHWH resurrected Jesus’ sinless body, fulfilling this festival.

The Wheat Firstfruit Festival (Pentecost) is a Multiple, Leavened Offering

In contrast to the single sheaf of unleavened barley, two leavened loaves of wheat bread represent multiple wheat Firstfruits with imperfections in their lives.

Two Leavened Loaves

Bring two loaves of bread from your dwellings as a wave offering, each made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with leaven, as the firstfruits to the LORD.

Leviticus 23:15-17

Jesus was the single, unleavened firstfruit offering in the barley Firstfruits festival.

Since the barley Firstfruit represented a person, I assume these two leavened loaves also represent people. If so, we can learn two things from the two leavened loaves:

  1. It’s a group — not just one person.
  2. They’re not totally perfect and holy. There is leaven in their lives, which represents imperfection.

Who Are the Pentecost ‘Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest?’

Exodus 34:22 calls Pentecost the ‘Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest’ . So, who are represented by the two leavened loaves? What group of imperfect people will be the ‘firstfruits of the wheat harvest?’

The Book of Revelation gives us the answer… in the end-time, angels ‘seal’ 144000 disciples of Jesus in chapter 7. They’re called the “firstfruits to God and the Lamb” in Revelation 14:4.

I believe Pentecost’s two leavened loaves represent the 144000 disciples of Jesus in the Book of Revelation. There’s leaven in their lives, so they’re not yet perfect like Jesus. But, like King David, God looks on their pure heart.

Arise, Shine!

They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been redeemed from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And no lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

Revelation 14:4-5

For much more detail about the latter rain Pentecostal blessing of the 144000, sometimes called ‘the manifestation of the sons of God,’ watch the video or read my free book at Arise, Shine!

Christian Pentecost – Conclusion

The Feast of Pentecost has two fulfillments, symbolized by Israel’s early rain and latter rain.

The Early Rain

In the early rain Pentecost, almost 2000 years ago, God gave us the Holy Spirit as ‘the earnest of our inheritance.’

The Latter Rain

  1. The latter rain Pentecost will ripen the Bride of Christ into maturity, “to the full measure of the stature of Christ.”
  2. The latter rain Pentecost will result in the glorious ‘manifestation of the sons of God.’ They are the 144000 ‘firstfruits’ of the global harvest at the end of this age.

What Do You Think?

Did this article answer all your questions on this topic? Please leave a comment below and tell me:

  • Did this article satisfy you?
  • Or, did it leave you wanting more?

Related Questions and Answers

Q: Where can I find more information about Pentecost’s history and Jewish traditions, etc?

A: I recommend Hebrew4Christians.com as an excellent resource for this kind of information.

A Christian View of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

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For Christians, what is the significance of Passover Week, which is the Feast of Unleavened Bread? I’ve studied God’s ‘appointed times’ for many years but recently I discovered some new information that greatly expanded my understanding and appreciation of this mandatory event in God’s annual calendar.

Table set for the Feast of Unleavened Bread

So, what is the Christian significance of Passover Week? During the Feast of Unleavened Bread Christians should:

  • ‘Eat’ the Passover Lamb
  • Identify and remove leaven: man-made traditions and teachings
  • Prepare for the ‘Greater Exodus’ that is coming in our future

In chapter 23 of the Biblical book of Leviticus, God commanded His people to celebrate seven ‘appointed times’ every year. These events are prophetic types that reveal God’s plan for mankind’s redemption and the re-establishment of His kingdom over all the earth. The 7 ‘appointed times’ are:

  1. Passover (or Pesach)
  2. Unleavened Bread
  3. Firstfruits
  4. Pentecost
  5. Trumpets
  6. Atonement
  7. Tabernacles

Click the Passover link above to read my detailed article about Passover itself.

But in this article I’ll focus on the Week after Passover, and how the Feast of Unleavened Bread applies to us today.

Eat the Passover Lamb

For an excellent introduction to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, including an excellent timeline for Jesus’ final week on earth, I recommend this video:

The Old Testament Passover Experience and Its Symbolism

Here is the Old Testament passage where God ordained the Passover Feast of Unleavened Bread, from Exodus 12:1-17:

“Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year.

Select a Passover Lamb

Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household. If the household is too small for a whole lamb, they are to share with the nearest neighbor, based on the number of people, and apportion the lamb accordingly.

Your lamb must be an unblemished-year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats. You must care for it until the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. They are to take some of the blood and put it on the two sideposts and tops of the doorframes of the houses in which they eat the lambs.

Eat the Roasted Passover Lamb that Night

They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Do not eat any of the meat raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over the fire—its head and legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it until morning; before the morning you must burn up any part that is left over.

Be Ready to Travel

This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover. On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.

The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

A Perpetual 7-Day Memorial

And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you are to remove the yeast from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.

On the first day, you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals—that is all you may do.

So you are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must observe this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.

Passover and the Exodus from Egypt

If you’ve seen The Ten Commandments movie, starring Charleton Heston, you know the first Passover happened when the death angel killed all the firstborn children and animals of the Egyptians. The death angel ‘passed over’ each Israelite family that applied an innocent lamb’s blood to the doorposts of their houses.

That evening, the Israelites roasted and ate the sacrificial lambs, along with bread that didn’t have time to leaven, just before they hurriedly departed Egypt and miraculously crossed the Red Sea.

The Passover Commemoration

In Exodus 12 (above) and Leviticus chapter 23, God told Israel to commemorate their deliverance from Egyptian bondage every year by sacrificing a lamb on the 14th of Nisan (the first month) and eating it’s roasted flesh that evening.

Christian Passover Seder Table

In Jewish tradition this meal is known as the Passover Seder (pronounced say-der). It is during this “Feast of Unleavened Bread” when the Passover lamb is eaten.

The 15th of Nisan began at sundown, a few hours after the lambs were killed. Unlike our days that begin at midnight, Bible days start at sundown, as in this verse from Genesis chapter one.

“And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.“

Genesis 1:5

A Perpetual Feast

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a permanent ordinance, for all time.

This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to YHWH. This is a law for all time.

Exodus 12:14

God said for His people to celebrate this feast perpetually–for all time. The Roman church in the second and third centuries, especially under Constantine, had no authority to discard Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or to replace them with Good Friday and Easter.

But thankfully, Christians today are re-discovering God’s appointed times and their spiritual application under the New Covenant.

Jesus Is Our Christian Passover

As you learned in the video above, Passover isn’t a day.

In the annual Passover commemoration, “The Lord’s Passover” is the actual sacrifice of our lamb for our sins, whether it’s a yearling sheep, or Jesus, the Lamb of God.

At 3 pm on the 14th of Nisan, the Passover lambs were killed in God’s temple. At exactly the same time, Jesus was dying on the cross as the Lamb of God. Jesus is the Christian Passover.

Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread Fulfills the Old Testament Symbolism

Get rid of the old yeast, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

1 Corinthians 5:7

Jesus not only perfectly fulfilled the symbolism of the Passover Lamb, delivering us from our bondage to sin and the fear of death, but He was sacrificed at exactly the same time as the Jewish priests were sacrificing the Jewish Passover lambs in the temple.

Jesus was buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb just before sundown on Nisan 14. Sundown is the start of Nisan 15, which then begins the (Christian) Feast of Unleavened Bread.

To Live You Must Eat My Flesh | I am the Living Bread

During His ministry Jesus totally astonished all of His followers when He said,

Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh. (John 6:47-51)

At the last supper He said,

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)

Jesus is our Passover sacrifice. Just as the Israelites ate their sacrificial lamb during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so Christians must feed on the Lamb of God–who is now a life-giving Spirit.

“The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.”

1 Corinthians 15:45

Identify and Remove Leaven: Manmade Traditions and Teachings

Many Jews and Christians struggle to understand God’s commandment to purge all the leaven from our houses for one week each year. For an excellent perspective on what leaven is, and what it symbolically represents, watch this video:

In light of the teaching in this video, during the annual Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread God primarily wants us to introspectively examine our hearts to identify and remove any ‘leaven.’ That is, we need to remove every man-made teaching or tradition that contradicts or replaces God’s word.

Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread: Prepare for the ‘Greater Exodus’ in Our Future

Just as the children of Israel fled Egypt in ‘the exodus’ under Moses, the Bible tells us there’s a Greater Exodus in our future.

The ancient exodus from Egypt began during the week after Passover. Then God delivered one people; the people who became the nation of Israel.

But, in a future (Christian) Feast of Unleavened Bread week, God will begin to deliver His people out of all the nations of the earth in the ‘Greater Exodus’. This ‘Greater Exodus’ will totally eclipse and replace the ancient exodus from Egypt in the minds of all God’s people forever.

As Jeremiah prophesied,

Yet behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when men will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’ Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.

Jeremiah 16:14-15

Timing of the Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread–the Greater Exodus

For reasons I explain in #1c and #7 of The Coming Great Tribulation | Sequence Of End Time Events, the Greater Exodus will happen during Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread, just after the great tribulation begins.

The ‘abomination of desolation‘ will initiate the 3.5-year great tribulation. Since the 7th Trumpet at the end of the tribulation will certainly coincide with the autumn feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles, this means the abomination of desolation will coincide with the spring feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread 3.5 years earlier.

Just as God delivered Moses and the Israelites from Egypt on the 15th of Nisan, I expect God will initiate the Greater Exodus in our future on Nisan 15. Just as God told the Israelites the words below, so they will apply to us in the future.

“This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.“

To learn more about the Greater Exodus, here are two references:

  1. The Sequence of End-Time Events
  2. The video below from Lion & Lamb Ministries

Conclusion: Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread

The perpetual Feast of Unleavened Bread teaches us that we must always remember:

  • Our Passover Lamb’s sacrifice that gives us forgiveness and life
  • To cleanse our mind and heart from the leaven of every man-made teaching or tradition that contradicts or replaces God’s word
  • The deliverance God provides for our souls, as well as our bodies in the future, Greater Exodus.

Christianity’s Golden Calves

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To understand Christianity’s golden calves you need to understand ancient Israel’s golden calves. Then you’ll easily see how the church fell into the same idol-worshiping trap.

Background

Twice in their history, Israel sinned against God by making and worshiping golden calves to represent YHWH.

  1. While Moses was 40 days on Mount Sinai receiving the 10 Commandments, Aaron led the people to melt their gold into an idol (Exodus 32:1-20).
  2. After Solomon fell into idolatry and died, God split the 12 tribes of Israel into two parts; the Northern 10 tribes (under Jeroboam) and the Southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin (under Rehoboam). Jeroboam didn’t want the people of the Northern 10 tribes to worship in God’s temple in Jerusalem. So he set up two golden calves unto YHWH, in the cities of Dan and Bethel. These cities were located at the North and South ends of his kingdom. He claimed this would be more convenient for people to travel to (1 Kings 12:26-30).

Two Precedents: Aaron and Jeroboam

1. They created a calf of gold to represent YHWH

  • Aaron and Jeroboam both said, “These are the gods who brought you out of Egypt.” (Ex 32:4 and 1 Ki 12:28).

2. They Created Alternative Worship Festivals

Aaron and Jeroboam both instituted new worship festivals (Ex 32:5-6 and 1 Ki 12:32-33) as substitutes for God’s appointed festivals (Leviticus 23).

3. God severely judged their compromised, pagan worship.

Judgment for the Golden Calf at Mount Sinai

It came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it…He said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’” So, the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. (Ex 32:19-28)

Judgment for the Golden Calves at Dan and Bethel

Jeroboam and His Family Cursed

“Go, say to Jeroboam, ‘Thus says YHWH, God of Israel, “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you—yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only that which was right in My sight; you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back.

Therefore behold, I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male person, both bond and free in Israel, and I will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone.

“Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat; for YHWH has spoken ”’ “Now you, arise, go to your house. When your feet enter the city the child will die. “All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him something good was found toward YHWH, God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. “Moreover, the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam this day and from now on.

Jeroboam’s Nation (Ten Tribes) Cursed

“For YHWH will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking YHWH to anger. “He will give up Israel on account of the sins of Jeroboam, which he committed and with which he made Israel to sin.”

Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah. As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child died. All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

Christianity’s Golden Calves

For centuries, Christian leaders committed the sin of Aaron and Jeroboam, establishing Christianity’s golden calves. How?

Christianity’s Pagan Festivals

Widespread Ignorance

The vast majority of ‘churches’ totally ignore the 4th commandment and God’s seven ‘appointed times’ in Leviticus 23.

They erroneously believe the Old Testament doesn’t apply to them. As a result, the vast majority of Christians don’t realize God’s plan of redemption is revealed in these 7 festivals.

  • Jesus fulfilled four of these appointed times (Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost).
  • God will soon fulfill the remaining three (Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles) in our future.

Ministerial Malfeasance

Like Jeroboam, church leaders (for the last 1900 years) wanted to keep their people away from Jerusalem (the Hebrew roots of Christianity).

So, as substitutes for YHWH’s appointed ‘Jewish’ festivals, early church leaders adapted pagan festivals as ‘christian.’ These festivals include: Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter, and many others.

A quick google search will verify the thoroughly-pagan roots of these golden calves of Christianity. But trying to make these pagan holidays ‘Christian’ is like putting lipstick on a pig.

Sure, most Christians believe they’re worshiping God during these festivals, because that’s what our ministers taught us. But none of these festivals are in the Bible. And, to make it worse, the seven festivals that are in the Bible the Church totally ignores.

Think about it objectively… God rejected Aaron’s golden calf, and Jeroboam’s alternative form of worship at Dan and Bethel. Do you think He will now accept our alternative worship via these man-made holidays?

Judgment Begins with the House of God

Christianity’s Golden Calves: Lawlessness in the Church

Of our time the Apostle Paul wrote, “The Day of the Lord will not come until the great apostasy comes first. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, the wicked one doomed to destruction.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

  • The Greek word translated ‘lawlessness’ is anomia, which literally means “without law”.
  • Christian leaders say they believe the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God. But, by ignoring God’s appointed times in Leviticus 23 and substituting their own festivals, they are literally (even if it’s unintentional) practicing and teaching lawlessness—which is the rejection of God’s Word.

Judgment Against Idolatry

The pattern is clear. Whenever Israel created their own way to worship YHWH, substituting their festivals for the ones YHWH specified, they fell into idolatry and sin. And then YHWH judged them severely.

For centuries the church ignored God’s Word, creating its own ‘worship’ festivals. They substituted their own festivals in place of the ones YHWH appointed for His people.

The Apostle Paul tells us ‘the great apostasy’ will occur in the end time. Paul associates it with the lawlessness of the Antichrist. Let me repeat this key fact–ignoring God’s Word concerning His appointed times fits the Biblical definition of lawlessness.

In 1 Peter 4:17 the Apostle Peter tells us the coming judgment will begin in the house of God.  This judgment is reminiscent of Ezekiel 9:4-10, when God sent His angels to start the judgment in God’s sanctuary–with the church leaders. When the slaughter was completed, only the godly remained in the land.

Similarly, in the parable of the wheat and the tares, Jesus taught,

“The Son of Man will send forth His angels. They will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:41-43)

Christianity’s Golden Calves: What Should You Do?

How can you reject and turn away from Christianity’s golden calves? How can you avoid God’s coming judgment against people who won’t submit to Hid word?

  1. Respect God’s Word above man’s tradition, whether the tradition is Catholic, Protestant, Messianic, or Jewish.
  2. Obey God’s Word, according to the Holy Spirit’s leading. All Old Testament law, etc., must be understood in view of the cross. This perspective ensures you’re following God’s Word according to the New Covenant in Messiah’s blood, preventing you from falling into dead legalism.

In our future, God will remove the lawless tares from His church, leaving His righteous disciples to shine as the sun. Which group will you be in?

The One-World Religion | 2 Thessalonians 2:3 | The Great Falling Away

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The prophesied one-world religion is now here. While its false prophets proclaim world peace and brotherly love with their words, in practice they promote violence and hatred against God’s true followers.

The Bible tells us the one-world religion’s strong delusion will deceive everyone who refuses the love of the truth–those who delight in wickedness. The result is the greatest ‘falling away’ in the history of the church, and this is happening now.

Here’s how the Book of Revelation portrays the one-world religion:

Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.

And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 

And on her forehead a mysterious name was written:BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus.

Revelation 17:1-6

Godly Unity is Good

Psalm 133:1 says, “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!”

It is good and pleasant for born-again brethren to dwell in unity—a unity centered on their shared faith in God and obedience to His Word.

Satanic Unity in a One-World Religion is Bad

But, instead of this holy unity, Satan and the fallen celestial rulers of the present wicked age are building a seductive, counterfeit religious unity, a one-world religion based on their shared rebellion, their desire for power, and lawlessness toward God and his Word.

The current Roman Catholic pope, whom the prophecy of Malachy predicts will be the last pope before Rome is destroyed, is aggressively promoting such a unity between the world’s three major monotheistic religions—Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. Here are just a few news articles supporting this statement:

Roman Catholics with Jews the pope meets with Jewish leaders to discuss a United Nations of Religions.

Protestants ‘Churches’ merging with Roman Catholics Prominent Pastor Rick Warren promotes Protestant/Catholic unity.

Roman Catholics with Orthodox the pope builds bridges with Orthodox leadership.

Roman Catholics with Muslims the pope prays in a Mosque with Muslim leaders.

United Nations Interfaith Harmony Week is held every February. It’s a way to promote harmony between all people regardless of their faith.

The One-World Religion’s Apostasy is Happening Now

The Bible teaches that this effort will succeed, and it will result in “the apostasy” predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4:

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Notice that it’s not an apostasy, but the original Greek text explicitly uses the definite article “the,”  labeling it the apostasy. The one-world religion is the greatest apostasy in world history.

The One-World Religion: The Great Falling Away

People commonly refer to the apostasy of the coming one-world religion as ‘the Great Falling Away.’ This is based on the King James version’s translation of 2 Thessalonians 2:3…

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first…

2 Thessalonians 2:3 NKJV

So, what is this apostasy, ‘the falling away?’

Christianity’s Golden Calves

For centuries, the majority of ‘Christian’ Catholic and Protestant believers have been in varying degrees of descent into complete apostasy. Since they’re ignorant of God’s Biblical commands and calendar, they follow the world’s traditions and calendar instead.

For example, they celebrate the non-Biblical Ash Wednesday and Lent festivals. Then they take their children on Easter egg hunts instead of celebrating the perpetual, Biblically-mandated feasts of Passover, First-fruits, and Unleavened Bread. 

Likewise, they ignore YHWH’s autumn feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles–all of which God is fulfulling in our future. Instead, they substitute Halloween harvest festivals, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

This apostasy will increase in the end time as the majority of churches reject obedience to God’s Word. In its place, they’ll follow this world’s religious leaders (i.e., Kenneth Copeland, the Pope, Dalai Lama, etc.) in accepting a mishmash of humanistic, man-made religious doctrines that Jews, Muslims, and ‘Christians’ can all agree on.

The One-World Religion’s False Prophets and Hirelings

The ‘Christian’ church today is already in ‘the great falling away.’ Its false prophets discard the Old Testament, along with any uncomfortable passages in the New Testament.

Multitudes of pew-warming believers traditionally gather for 1 hour a week, where these false prophets lead them through a weekly religious ‘worship experience.’ The typical worship experience goes like this:

  1. Have people assigned to greet everyone at the front door. Give them coffee and donuts in the foyer while catchy multimedia clips give them various kinds of church-related information.
  2. Start ‘the service’ with an upbeat ‘worship package.’ The last song should evoke strong emotion.
  3. Before the emotion fades, fleece the sheep (harvest their money).
  4. Feed them a feel-good, seeker-friendly message in less than 30 minutes.
  5. Encourage them to bring their friends next week, so that they can feel good too.
  6. Send them home with the false assurance that anything they do is OK because it’s all covered by God’s grace.

If this sounds like your church, you need to seriously question if you’re on on the broad road or the narrow way. Rather than always swimming with the current, we must swim upstream to enter the kingdom of God.

Metrics of Success: Numbers or Obedience?

I attended a protestant Bible College in 1974-1975, where I got to peek behind the curtain of ministerial life. I learned the pecking order for ministerial prestige is always governed, from week to week, by a minister’s number of attendees and offerings.

Whenever two of these hirelings met, they’d ask, “How many are you running?” Then they’d compare their attendance and offering numbers. These numbers automatically determined their rank in the pecking order. Whoever had more people and more offerings had more prestige.

In contrast, (in John chapter 6) when Jesus taught His followers that He is the Bread of Life, most of His followers left Him.  But numbers weren’t His priority.

Therefore, a godly minister’s only metric of success is whether the Living God’s will is being done–whether or not it’s popular.

Forbidden Topics

Today’s ‘Christian’ leaders generally avoid topics like: the feasts of Israel, the 4th Commandment, the blood of Jesus, repentance, discipleship, obedience to God’s Word, persecution, sacrificial suffering, martyrdom, prophecy, God’s judgment, the Antichrist, Armageddon, and God’s expectation of our practical holiness.

As a result of these false shepherds, 99.999% of the people who attend today’s Catholic and Protestant churches are ignorant of what the Bible actually teaches about these things.

Enter through the Narrow Gate

Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13 NASB)

So, if you’re in the Christian mainstream, chances are you’re not going through the small gate on the narrow way that leads to life.

Judgment of the Hirelings

To the false prophets, who are ‘Pied Pipers’ on the broad way to destruction, the prophet Hosea’s words still apply:

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being my priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” (Hosea 4:6)

The result of this ‘lack of knowledge’ is pervasive lawlessness in the church.

Biblical Lawlessness of the One-World Religion

The Bible simply defines lawlessness as not following God’s commandments.  For example, in his war against the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15) King Saul did 99.9% of what God commanded him to do, but he didn’t completely obey God. As a result, God rejected him as king over Israel. In this well-known passage,

Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.

Too Late for Repentance

Then Saul said to Samuel,

I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. “Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”

But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him,

The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.”

Depart from Me, You Who Practice Lawlessness

Likewise, because of their lawlessness and disregard for obeying God’s Word, many of today’s Christians will be surprised when they’re rejected from entering the kingdom of heaven…

Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. 

Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Matthew 7:21-23, NASB

Persecution is Coming from the One-World Religion

Judgment Begins in the House of God

A great shaking and sifting is coming to the Church, and it will reveal God’s true disciples…

I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts.

Haggai 2:7

They will fill God’s temple with the glory of their redemption–which God accomplished in them through Christ Jesus.

For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

1 Peter 4:17

God will first judge His Church, and then He will judge the nations. When He judges the Church, only faithful, obedient disciples will remain standing in His presence. When He judges the nations, nobody will be able to stand.

The one-world religion will soon persecute true Christians, who obey the Bible and seek God’s kingdom first. They’ll label Christians as: mentally ill, violent extremists, terrorists, bigots, etc. The groundwork for these accusations is already laid.

One-World Religion Lays the Groundwork for Christian Persecution

Indeed, the foundation for this persecution has already been laid.

Political Preparation for Persecution

“The Obama administration, including the military over which President Obama presides as commander-in-chief, is engaging in a pattern of behavior targeting traditional Christian believers and their groups as extremists and mocking their beliefs.” (from Frontpagemag.com)

Religious Preparation for Persecution

From the Catholic News Service on 6/25/14:
1. Pope Francis described as “dangerous” the temptation to believe that one can have “a personal, direct, immediate relationship with Jesus Christ without communion with and the mediation of the (Roman Catholic) church.”

  1. In the hyperlinked article below, Pope Francis and retired Israeli president Shimon Peres worked to create a “United Nations of Religions,” but ‘fundamentalist’ believers aren’t welcome.

“There is one type of Christian that Pope Francis does not have anything positive to say about. Pope Francis says that there is not any room for “fundamentalism” in Christianity… Following his first visit to the Middle East as pope last month, the pontiff criticized fundamentalism in Christianity, Islam and Judaism as a form of violence.

“A fundamentalist group, even if it kills no one, even it strikes no one, is violent. The mental structure of fundamentalism is violence in the name of God.”

Pope Francis And Shimon Peres Discuss The Establishment Of A ‘United Nations Of Religions’

Coming One-World Religion: What Should You Do?

To avoid falling into the great apostasy of the coming one-world religion:

  1. Sincerely ask God to forgive you of your sins. Turn away from your sinful nature. Ask Jesus to lead you into a life of obedience and holiness, according to God’s word.
  2. Study and obey the entire Word of God as the antidote to one-world religion delusion.
  3. Fellowship together with other sincere, obedient disciples of Jesus. If your church is following the ‘religious process’ formula above, immediately start searching for another congregation that teaches and expects you to follow the whole Word of God.
  4. Mentally and spiritually prepare for persecution.

It is a trustworthy statement: for if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us.

2 Timothy 2:11-12