Events From Mt. Sinai to Mt. Sion

Greetings brethren everywhere. Time certainly flies by; it seems as though we just got done with the Feast of Unleavened Bread and I still remember being able to travel and visit all the brethren, and wished I could do a whole lot more traveling, but I can't do traveling and accomplish the things that we need to get done.

And there are just so many things that we are doing right now and right after the Feast of Pentecost here, you're going to get a big mailing in which we will have the booklets:

• Christmas: The Greatest Story Never Told
• The One Babylon, The Mother of Harlots
• The translation for the book of Hebrews

So we are trying to really produce in-depth material so that everyone will have the things they need:

• for study
• to learn
• to know
• to understand the Bible

and realize the things that God has called us to.

Living in the age that we do when we have the whole Bible for us, so we can study it, learn it and know it! God certainly wants us to apply ourselves and use our minds as guided by His Holy Spirit to understand His Word to go forward in everything that we do.

So, with this Feast of Pentecost, as you know, we always take up an offering for the Feast of Pentecost and it's very important that we understand that at these times we do. As you know, we do not send out letters asking for money and we do not beg and ask for money. We just ask that before God with God's love that He has given you and your love for Him and your understanding of the Word of God that you will do what you can do in a way that's pleasing to God. And remember what Jesus said, that He always did the things which pleased God!

So, we need to be able to do the same thing and that also applies to whatever we give in a way of offerings and tithes and things like this.

Deut. 16—here it talks about the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, which is another determination for the Feast of Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles. It says that

Deuteronomy 16:16: "…And they shall not appear before the LORD empty, every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God, which He has given you (vs 16-17).

So, you need to always, when you're giving an offering, to understand what it is that God has blessed you with. Sometimes the blessings that you have may not necessarily be blessings in abundance and blessings in material things. They may be spiritual blessings!

Some of those spiritual blessings may end up being trials, because all of the promises of God include all of the good things, but also all of the difficult things that come along in our lives. So, you need to calculate all of those things in when you're reckoning to give an offering to God and then give willingly from the heart, not because it's commanded, but:

• because you love God
• you desire to
• giving in a way that's going to be in abundance enough so that you can help other brethren
• help them recover themselves from the difficulties and problems that we've been going through these last few years.

We have been able to do that in a good number of cases and God is helping us and adding to us step-by-step, bit-by-bit in the way that God wants us to. We are not going to be overwhelmed, but yet, we're still working right up to the maximum that we can work to accomplish what we need to do. This is not just something of one man or just a few, but it's all of us together.

I'm sure that God is preparing us for the future, because we yet do not know what the future is going to bring in detail as we go down through the next few years. But I'm convinced that God is not going to turn back and close down the doors permanently for reaching out to new people in the world. That has to be done and we will do it in the time that God opens the door.

But one of the most important things we need to do is to have the whole body of brethren where:

• they love God
• they believe God
• they are firm in the Truth
• they know and understand the Truth
• they live the Truth
• they can explain the Truth to other people

I think God is going to open the door because just as it is right now with what we are doing, we are all involved in it. I think that we are all going to be involved in it in reaching out to the world. So, just keep that in mind and the things that we do and going down in time in the future.

(pause for the offering)

As you know, we are told every Feast to preach in season, and of course, that command is for all of those who teach the Word of God and for all of those of us who keep the Holy Days; that it is to be in season!

In these times we are to preach a message that God has given us for these days. Every year God adds more understanding to us what we need to know, gives us greater understanding of what we already know and I think we're going to see that again this year as we did last year and as we will every year. God adds a little bit more to us so we can understand!

Lev. 23, as you know, is where all of the Holy Days are. Here is the only place where it tells us definitively how to count Pentecost!

In the book of Deuteronomy we find that you are to number seven weeks but that is not the full count to Pentecost. Pentecost means fifty. Pentecost in the Greek—'pemptos'—means fiftieth.

Lev. 23 we know that it starts out with the weekly Sabbath and then the Passover and then the first and last day of Unleavened Bread and then we have a particular command beginning here in v 9. I want to read this in the Schocken Bible so that you will be able to have a greater understanding of it. And if you don't have a Schocken Bible, let me just hold it up here so you can see the front of it. It is Schocken Bible Volume One: The Five Books of Moses. The translator is Everett Fox. (You can get this from Christian Book Distributors or from other Bible stores, as well.}

PDF version at: https://theschockenbible.neocities.org/pdf/The%20Five%20Books%20of%20Moses.pdf

Now he is very good in translating because what he does, he has taken the text from the Ben Asher, Ben Naphtali family, of Hebrew text, which are the most accurate by the way, and are the ones from which the King James was translated. But he puts it in more of a literal reading and cadence to the reading so it really is excellent in being able to help you understand the things concerning the Holy Days.

As you have seen or maybe you haven't, but you probably will when it covers the things concerning Passover and the timing of it in morning and evening and dawn and between the two evenings, he translates all of that exactly correctly and leaves absolutely no doubt as to the timing of the beginning of Passover.

Leviticus 23:9 (SB): "YHWH [the Lord] spoke unto Moshe [Moses] saying: 'Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: "When you enter the land that I am giving you…"'" (vs 9-10).

So this ceremony was not done until they had entered the land. All during the wilderness they were wandering; they did not have the Wave Sheaf Offering. They had to wait until they got into the land and you harvest its harvest!

They did as we find in Josh. 5. They harvested it and they waved the Wave Sheaf Offering. You are to bring the Premier Sheaf of your harvest to the priest.

Now the premier means the very first of the firstfruits, the very finest, the very best! Later it was that they had a special place where they planted the barley for this Wave Sheaf Offering when it was waved at the temple so that it would be absolutely #1, the best.

When they waved it, it was actually picturing the acceptance of Jesus Christ by God the Father as the First of the firstfruits!

Verse 11: "He is to elevate the sheaf before the presence of YHVH, for acceptance for you…"

So not just to wave it, but to elevate it, symbolizing more in the sense of resurrection.

"…on the morrow of the Sabbath the priest is to elevate it" (v 11).

When does the morrow after the Sabbath begin? It begins at sunset! When the seventh day ends, the first day begins, so we are talking about a whole day.

Unfortunately, there are still people who don't know how to count Pentecost. Year after year, after year we have laboriously gone through and shown how to count it and show the things that are necessary to understand it. Still some people are following the Pharisaic reckoning of the 6th of Sivan, and some still believe in a Monday Pentecost, which both, brethren are just foolishness when you really understand it! They're serving their own self-righteous means to accomplish it! You'll see that when I read it here.

But if people want to run off and do their own self-righteous thing, God has given them the choice to do so. But they're going to have to pay the penalty:

• for not believing God
• for not loving God
• for not keeping His Word

Verse 12[transcriber's correction]: "And you are to perform a sacrifice on the day of the elevating the sheaf: a sheep wholly sound, in its (first year) as an offering to the YHVH, and its grain-gift: two tenths measures of flour mixed with oil, a fire-offering to YHVH of soothing savor; and its poured offering of wine: a fourth of a hin" (vs 12-13)—that is a liquid container!

Verse 14: "Now bread and parched grain or groats, you are not to eat until that same day…"

So, all the time during the wilderness for the 40 years that they were wandering, they had manna. They didn't have any grain, they didn't have any regular bread as we understand it today. And right after they offered the Wave Sheaf Offering (Jos. 5), then the manna ceased the next day.

"…you are not to eat it until that same day, until you have brought the near-offering of your God—(it is)… [this offering he's talking about] …a law for the ages into your generations,  throughout your settlements" (v 14).

Verse 15—listen to how it is translated here by Everett Fox: "Now you are to number for yourselves… [that is count] …from the morrow of the Sabbath… [and that begins the whole day at sunset] …from the day that you bring the wave, the elevated sheaf… [offering] …seven Sabbaths of days…"

Now let's stop right here and mention something. Those who believe in a Monday Pentecost do not start counting until after the Wave Sheaf Offering is waved. And then they say, well you can't count that day because that's only a partial day. But that is foolish reasoning. That is only self-righteous justification to keep a Monday Pentecost, which there never should have been a Monday Pentecost ever.

You cannot follow the rest of the commands here and have a Monday Pentecost. Because if you don't count that first day of the week, if you go from Sabbath into Monday, you leave out a day. You cannot have complete weeks. You have parts of weeks! You have broken weeks!

Verse 15: "Now you are to number [count] for yourselves, from the morrow of the Sabbath… [after the Sabbath] …from the day that you brought the elevated sheaf, seven Sabbaths of days… [that "from" means you are to count that day] …whole (weeks) are they to be."

You can't have whole weeks or complete weeks if you split off that first day of the week and start counting with a Monday.

"…whole weeks they are to be; until the morrow… [after or] …of the seventh Sabbath you are to number—fifty days…" (vs 15-16).

Now if you have a Monday Pentecost, you cannot have Pentecost on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath! It is an impossibility!

What people are trying to do with this is to have their own little self-righteous interpretation contrary to the word of God and they are going to miss a great deal of understanding and Truth that God will give.

Did we not miss a lot of understanding of Pentecost when years ago we used to keep it on a Monday? Yes we did! We never understood that the first resurrection was really on Pentecost; we missed the whole point of it. So, we need to understand that.

Now then he gives what they are to do on this fiftieth day:

"…then you are to bring a grain-gift [offering] of new crops to YHVH. From your settlements. You are to bring bread as an elevation offering… [a wave offering ] ...two (loaves of) two-tenths measures of flour they are to be, leavened you are to bake them…" (vs 16-17).

Now this is the only bread offering in all of the offerings given in the Old Testament where it was to be leavened. We know that during the Feast of Unleavened Bread that leaven is pictured as a type of sin. Here leaven also shows, not necessarily just a type of sin, but when you take and put leaven into something and bake it you permanently change the nature of that bread!

So, this is showing here that when we come before God the acceptance of the two wave sheafs these are for those who are in the resurrection from the covenant before Christ came and those with the covenant of Christ afterwards. So you can have Old Testament and New Testament Church: those people who attain to the first resurrection.

These are "…as firstfruits unto YHVH" (v 17).

We are going to see that is what we are called. We are called the firstfruits of God.

Verse 18: "And you are to bring near along… [with it] …with the bread seven sheep, wholly sound, a year old, and one bull, a young of the herd, and rams, two and they shall be an offering up for YHVH, with their grain-gift… [offering] …and their poured offerings, a fire offering of a soothing savor… [or sweet smelling savor] to YHVH. And you are to perform as sacrifice: one hairy goat for a hattat [sin offering] …and two sheep a year old for a peace offering of shalom (vs 18-19).

Verse 20: "The priest is to elevate them together with the bread of the firstfruits as an elevation offering before the presence of YHVH, together with the two sheep. They are to be a Holy portion for YHVH, for the priest. And you are to make a proclamation on that same day…" (vs 20-21).

Which day? The 50th day; not the 49th, not the 41st , but the 50th day!

"…a proclamation of Holiness… [or a Holy Day, Holy convocation] …there shall be for you. any kind of servile work you are not to do—a law for the ages throughout your settlements into your generations" (v 21).

Then he goes on with the rest of it showing that they were not to glean the fields but leave the gleaning for the poor. That's all tied up with the story of the book of Ruth.

Now let's understand that there is far more meaning to the Day of Pentecost than we have understood in the past. Now recently I did a sermon entitled Genesis 15 and the Timing of the Death of Christ's Deathwhere I showed that the covenant sacrifices given in Gen. 15 actually portrayed the timing of the death of Jesus Christ when He died on the cross.

It actually happened the same day on the 14th day of the 1st month. We also tied in Gen. 22 the offering of Isaac as a sacrifice and the substitute sacrifice that was given to him with the ram that was caught into thicket.

Gen. 17—let's look at the covenant that God gave coming down to the children of Israel and we are going to see many parallels here. We do not know if this was on Pentecost or on the day that later became Pentecost or not. But here we are going to find some very important things for us to realize in relationship to

• Isaac and the covenant that was given here in Gen. 17
• the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai
• then our relationship with God as firstfruits coming to Mount Sion in heaven above
• and  how that ties into the first resurrection

Genesis 17:1(FV): "And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am the Almighty God!...."—El Shaddai the covenant name which Abraham knew God by. It was not YHVH.

Here's the command: "…Walk before Me and be perfect" (v 1).

We find similar commands in: Matthew 5:48: "Therefore, you shall be perfect, even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect." That's the whole goal as Christians!

Genesis 17:2: "And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."

Here is the covenant coming down to physical Israel and then also by extension we will see there are things that pertain to spiritual Israel or the Church.

Verse 3: "And Abram fell on his face. And God talked with him, saying, 'As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you'" (vs 3-6).

Now here we are talking about the physical nation of Israel and the physical progeny that would come.

Verse 7: "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant…"

This covenant was to be renewed every generation. In other words, every year it came along it renewed it for those people at that time which also every year included a new generation as it was going down in time.

"…to be God to you and to your seed after you. And I will give the land to you in which you are a sojourner, and to your seed after you, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. And I will be their God.' And God said to Abraham, 'And you shall keep My covenant…" (vs 7-9).

Now let's understand something very important. Whenever there is a covenant there are laws, there are statutes, there are judgements. Beginning with the covenant that was with

• Adam and Eve
• Abel
• Enoch
• Noah
• Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
• Israel
• for us in the Church today

We are to keep that covenant, which is the promise and we are to keep our word:let our yes be yes and our no be no. So, we are to keep this covenant.

Verse 9: "And God said to Abraham, 'And you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you in their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you. Every male child among you shall be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin. And it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. And a son of eight days shall be circumcised among you, every male child in your generations; he that is born in the house, or bought with silver of any foreigner who is not of your seed'" (vs 9-12)

So even those who would come into the land of Israel, even in the household of Abraham, right here before Israel even came about they were all to be circumcised.

Verse 13: "He that is born in your house, and he that is bought with your silver, must be circumcised. And My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant."

Now I want you to understand how we are going through everlasting covenant, everlasting covenant, everlasting covenant! Now the physical comes first as we have seen and circumcision is required today' but a greater circumcision not just in the flesh the greater circumcision is the complete burial into the watery grave conjoining with the death of Jesus Christ!

Then you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands through the receiving of the Holy Spirit, which we will see when we come to Acts the second chapter. This is very important for us to realize as we are going along.

Verse 14: "'And the uncircumcised male child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people—for he has broken My covenant.' And God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. And I will bless her…'" (vs 14-16).

Of course, then Sarah becomes a type of the Church. Isaac is the child by promise just like we are the children of promise.

Verse 16: "And I will bless her, and give you a son also of her. Yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations—kings of people shall be from her."

As we are reading this, I want you to think about our ultimate responsibility in the Kingdom of God as being kings and priests are ruling and reigning with Christ!

Verse 17: "And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart, 'Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?' And Abraham said to God, 'Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!' And God said, 'Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed. And you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time in the next year'" (vs 17-21).

Now we don't know if this was on the day that later became Pentecost, but let's carry this forward now as we go ahead with this. We will see how that on Pentecost then the fulfillment of this beginning in Exo. 19 that God begins to carry this through to the for the children of Israel.

So then they were circumcised all of them and later Isaac was born. Isaac was circumcised on the eighth day.

Exo. 19—let's see the proposal that God gave to Israel. Now let's understand something that's very important here that we need to realize as we are going through. You always have the physical and then the spiritual that always follows in the Bible and that's the pattern that is followed here with this!

• we have the physical child Isaac, we have the physical circumcision
• then we have the physical nation which came from Isaac
• then we come to the New Testament and we find that Isaac is a type of the child of promise because he was a promise of which we are
• then the spiritual promises will come down to us

Here are the physical promises beginning in Exo. 19 and we know and we can show and have proved we did last year and the year before, so I'm not going to go through it this year. But the Ten Commandments were given on the Day of Pentecost in the third month!

Now we've got a complete sermon on that and a complete chart showing everything on how that took place in a step-by-step manner and we also show that Pentecost could not be on the sixth of Sivan and that Pentecost could not be on a Monday because of the circumstances involved here in Exo. 19.

Exodus 19:1: "In the third month when the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on the same day… [the same day of the week that they left Egypt, which was a Thursday] …they came to the wilderness of Sinai; for they had journeyed from Rephidim, and came to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness. And Israel camped there in front of the mount" (vs 1-2).

Verse 3: "And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto Myself. Now, therefore, IF you will obey My voice indeed…'" (vs 3-5).

This is the very first commandment of any covenant that God gives: "…IF you will obey My voice indeed…'" Adam and Eve didn't do that. They decided to obey their own thoughts rather than the voice of God. Of course, what we have here are the words of the voice of God. So everything starts out with God by obeying His voice!

Verse 5: "Now, therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant… [that always goes hand-in-hand' …then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a Holy nation….: (vs 5-6).

So, here's the overall proposal that is given. Whenever there's a covenant that is given as we've seen in each of the covenants of God, there is the overall proposal that is given which then is accepted. God gives a proposal and then whoever the proposal is given to then they accept it.

It's always contingent upon obeying the voice of God! Now that's very important because the Ten Commandments were spoken by God; His words!

Let's go on showing the purpose of Israel for the whole world!

"…'These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.' And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words, which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together and said, 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do.' And Moses returned the words of the people to the LORD" (vs 6-8).

Verse 9: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Lo, I come to you in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.' And Moses told the words of the people to the LORD. And the LORD said to Moses, 'Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes'" (vs 9-10).

They would have to wash their clothes today because that was on a Friday that they would wash their clothes in preparation for meeting God. They were sanctified by keeping the Sabbath. Then they were ready to meet God the next morning. That's how the events took place.

Verse 11: "'And be ready for the third day… [which then would be first day of the week, a Sunday Pentecost] …for on the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. And you shall set bounds for the people round about, saying, "Take heed to yourselves. Do not go up into the mountain, or touch the border of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be surely put to death. There shall not be a hand to touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through with an arrow; whether beast or man, it shall not live." When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come up to the mountain'" (vs 11-13).

Verse 14: "And Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people. And they washed their clothes."

Now that doesn't mean they washed every stitch of clothing that they had. That means they washed a set of clothing that they would come and meet God in. So, they were to be specially dressed for this occasion.

Think about that when it talks about the Church being clothed in fine linen. Think about that in relationship to the warning to the Laodiceans that they are naked. They are not clothed! You can't come before God unclothed. That's why we have to be clothed in Christ! So here they had to have a special set of clothes all washed and cleaned.

Verse 15: "And he said to the people, 'Be ready for the third day. Do not approach a woman.' And it came to pass on the third day in the morning…" (vs 15-16).

Now isn't that interesting? Because we find that in the morning God did something, as we will see in Acts 2, a very profound thing. Here this is the mountain of God. Later we will see that was the Temple of God where it was done.

"…that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain. And the sound of the trumpet was exceedingly…" (v 16).

Now isn't it interesting that on Pentecost a trumpet is blown. We need to keep that in mind also.

"…exceedingly loud so that all the people in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God. And they stood at the base of the mountain. And Mount Sinai was smoking…" (vs 16-18).

It was just like coming up to a volcano and seeing all of the dark clouds covering the mountain. It's shaking and the trumpet blowing just like walking up to an edge of a volcano as it were. That would make your hair stand on end, wouldn't it? I tell you what a fearful sight and sound that must have been! You know that God wanted to really impress upon the minds of the people.

Think of all that God had done with bringing them out of the land of Egypt. Bringing all of the signs and plagues and wonders that he did in Egypt.

• giving them manna
• giving them quail
• giving them water

as they were on their way to Mount Sinai, and they get here and this great and spectacular event takes place.

But how quickly did they turn aside? They couldn't even last 40 days and 40 nights while Moses was getting all of the detailed instructions on how to make the tabernacle and the ark and all of those things. But brethren you see there's also a lesson for us:

The reason that we need to be renewed every year by the Holy Days, every Sabbath, by the Sabbath is because spiritual knowledge does not stay in a physical brain! It must be renewed constantly!

Now I'll come back here to this site at Mount Sinai. We're going to see that that will be significant in our relationship to God when we come to Heb. 12.

Verse 19: "And when the sound of the trumpet sounded long, and became very strong, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. And the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the LORD said to Moses, 'Go down….'" (vs 19-21).

He just got up there but God says, now go down. I want you to make sure with these people.

"'…Command the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. And let the priests also, who come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.' And Moses said to the LORD, 'The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You commanded us, saying, "Set bounds around the mountain, and sanctify it."' And the LORD said to him, 'Away! Get you down, and only you shall come up, you and Aaron with you…'" (vs 21-24). That would be a little later that we will see when they did that!

"…But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest He break forth upon them' (v 24)

So, Moses went down, spoke to the people and spoke unto them. And then God did His speaking. Now remember, God said over here, 'IF you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant!'

That's the whole basis of every covenant that God gives. Jesus said:

IF you love Me keep My Commandments, IF you love Me keep My words, and these words are not Mine but the words of the Father.

So, we have the same thing here. Now then, God spoke ALL these words. This is a good time to really see:

• Do you know the Ten Commandments?
• Have you memorized them by heart?
• Do you live by them in the way that God wants you to live by them?

We're finding that there are many people who are pulling the same thing that the Israelites did back then; they're doing it today. So, let's look at it here. All the Commandments of God hinge on this first one. Since God is love, all the Law and Commandments hang on loving the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and being!

So, He begins to tell them: Exodus 20:1: "And God spoke all these words, saying, 'I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage'" (vs 1-2).

It's out of the civilization and out of slavery; those are two very important things. People can be brought out of Egypt but they can also be left in slavery. So, God is saying the same thing to us. We are not of this world and we are not in bondage to sin!

FIRST COMMANDMENT

Verse 3: "You shall have no other gods before Me."

When you have another god before God, you are actually taking that right up into the presence of God and saying, 'this is my god,' which is a great affrontry to God.

SECOND COMMANDMENT

Verse 4: "You shall not make for yourselves any graven image, or any likeness of anythingthat is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me… [very important phrase there; IF you don't love God, you hate God, there is no in between] …but showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My Commandments" (vs 4-6).

Right here is exactly the same thing that Jesus said back in John 14:15, 'IF you love Me, keep My Commandments.' Here it is right here: "…to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments."

Therefore, that is showing anything that God has spoken with His voice becomes a command because God speaks and it is. Just remember that. It doesn't matter what it is, but:

• when God speaks, it is
• when God speaks, it is Truth
• when God speaks, it is right

That's something we really need to grasp and understand. That is all a part of:

• of faith
• of grace
• of loving God
• of believing Him

and truly, truly living by every Word of God!

THIRD COMMANDMENT

Verse 7: "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain…"

People are taking it in vain right and left today while they think they are keeping the Commandments of God. When they have this doctrine and that doctrine and the other doctrine and every wind of doctrine saying that, 'Oh, this is what God wants.' No, it isn't! If it isn't here—in the Bible—it isn't what God wants. Just like we need the simplest thing in the world to understand. Take Passover. Nowhere does the Bible say it is the 15th! Nowhere! Yet, people believe it.

• they are taking the name of the Lord in vain when they say that it is
• they're taking the name of the Lord in vain when they say God didn't mean this, He meant the other

That's the message of the serpent in the garden!  'God didn't mean that, he meant something else.'

Verse 7: "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." In other words, whoever does that is going to be responsible to God!

FOURTH COMMANDMENT

Now this is next to the longest commandment. The longest commandment is the idolatry commandment.

Verse 8: "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy."

The Sabbath goes all the way back to creation. The Sabbath with Adam and Eve began the covenant with Adam and Eve when they fellowshipped and walked and talked with God in person!

Verse 8: "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter; your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your livestock, nor the stranger within your gates" (vs 8-10).

Why? Because you're honoring the fact of God's creation!

Verse 11: "For in six days the LORD made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath Day and sanctified it." No other day is Holy except the Holy Days of God!

Let's continue on with the Ten Commandments, and it's good that we review these and understand that these were given on the Day of Pentecost, and this is part of the preaching in season.

Just finished with the Sabbath Day that God blessed the Sabbath Day, the seventh day! God has always made sure that whatever calendar it is, that seventh day is always there for Sabbath!

Now, there are those who have changed it a bit in Europe where they have made Sunday the seventh day, but that is just a recent invention.

FIFTH COMMANDMENT

Verse 12: "Honor your father and your mother…"

This is the transition between God to humans, and the first thing with humans is your father and your mother, meaning that God had to have a hand in the fact that you were born and your parents, your father and mother, were the ones who brought you into the world.

"…so that your days may be long upon the land, which the LORD your God gives you" (v 12).

There's an absolute blessing and promise with that, that if you honor your father and mother, your days will be long. One of the best ways of honoring your father and mother is to love God and obey Him! Now, you think on that.

SIXTH—TENTH COMMANDMENTS:

Verse 13: "You shall not murder."
Verse 14: "You shall not commit adultery."
Verse 15: "You shall not steal."
Verse 16: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

Verse 17: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."

That ties right around and comes back to the first Commandment, because covetousness then is setting up an idol in your heart, which then takes you away from God!

Paul said clearly that 'covetousness is idolatry,' which means that it's another God before the true God. Now, notice the people's reaction. The very first thing that God said do—OBEY MY VOICE—and He gave them the Ten Commandments clear, absolutely with great force and great power right on the Day of Pentecost!

Verse 18: "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw, they trembled and stood afar off. And they said to Moses, 'You speak with us, and we will hear. But let not God speak with us, lest we die'" (vs 18-19).

And that's the way that people get around obeying God. That's why when we come to Deut. 5 where He repeats the Ten Commandments again, He says:

Oh, that there would be such heart in them that they would fear me and keep My Commandments always.

That's why with the New Covenant there has to be a change of heart, not a change of the Laws:

• a change in the priest laws
• a change in the sacrificial laws

but not any other Laws! All of those have to result in a change of heart. That's why there's:

• the calling
• the baptism
• the rising to walk in newness of life

Then God gave all the statutes and judgments. When we come to Exo.24 we find that Moses had another thing that he had to do.

Exodus 24:1: "And He said to Moses, 'Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship afar off.'"

So, God says, 'Now I want some witnesses to this.' You always have a witness to the covenant, so this is it right here.

Verse 2: "'And Moses alone shall come near the LORD, but they shall not come near. Neither shall the people go up with him.' And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD…" (vs 2-3).

Now the words of the covenant, the words of the Lord, remember it's all based on the words of God and the voice of God!

"…and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, 'All the words which the LORD has said, we will do'" (v 3)

Now when you say we will do, you're pledging to God that you will! Now what were they also doing? This was also a marriage covenant agreement. And they were saying, yes we will. God said, 'I'm your Husband.' Israel said, 'we're your wife, we will do.'

Verse 4: "And Moses wrote all the words…"

They're always written, brethren. All the words of any covenant are written down. It is not a covenant unless it's written down.

"…of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar at the base of the mountain and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of bullocks to the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar" (vs 4-6). Now remember this started out with a Passover lamb.

What did they do as individuals with the Passover lamb? They caught part of the blood, put it in a basin, and they put it on the two side posts and a lintel over the door in the houses where they ate the Passover!

That began the whole process, now this ends the whole process here. It's the same way with us. Our process begins with the Passover and it also ends with the resurrection coming to God in Mount Sion in heaven above, as we will see.

Verse 7: "And he took the Book of the Covenant, and read in the ears of the people. And they said, 'All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.' And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, 'Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning ALL these words.'" (vs 7-8).

• What is the blood of the New Covenant? Jesus Christ!
• What are the words of the New Covenant? The New Testament, which incorporates all the Commandments of God, which we are to keep and to do!

Verse 9: "And Moses went up, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the heavens in clearness" (vs 9-10),

Now here is a Sea of Glass, which God stood on, and that was between where the seventy of the elders of the children of Israel were, where Nadab and Abihu and Aaron were, and then God was above that. Then they were there. They actually had a meal with God to confirm everything that was done. Now this becomes important because we will see there are some parallels for us which follow Pentecost after the resurrection in the New Testament.

Much like this: We come up to God but then we're brought right into the presence of Christ.

Verse 11: "And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay his hands. Also they saw God, and ate and drank." So, whenever there's a feast then it is confirmed.

Verse 12: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Come up to Me in the mountain, and be there. And I will give you tablets of stone, and the law, and Commandments which I have written, so that you may teach them.'" So, Moses went up!

Now let's come to the New Testament. Let's see what happened. Now here in the First Covenant the giving of the Law was on Pentecost. Now let's come to Acts 2 and the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given. Now we have the power given to keep the Commandments of God. We have the Holy Spirit given to give us the heart that we need, which is the circumcision of the heart. That confirms the covenant that began with Christ and the apostles on the Passover night.

So, there is the parallel from Passover to Pentecost, from Passover to Pentecost, Old Testament/New Testament.

Acts 2—note our booklet {truthofGod.org}: The True Meaning of Acts 2:1, be sure and get it. I'm not going to explain it here; it's a very technical paper showing and proving beyond any shadow of doubt whatsoever that this was the 50th day, not the 51st day.

This was during the accomplishing of the 50th day, not after the 50th day had come to an end.

Acts 1:1: "And when the Day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day, was being fulfilled… [which means during the accomplishing of the Day of Pentecost, the 50th day] …they were all with one accord in the same place"—just like the children of Israel at the mountain!

Now here are the disciples of Christ at the temple, and it's important that it started at the temple. Do you think that any of those in Judea would have accepted Christ as Savior if it would have been accomplished, say over in over in 'Boswana land,' if we could use that? And then they would come in and say, 'I have a message from God.' They would say, no, you don't have a message from God, because this is God's Temple, this is where God operates.'

So, that's where God began because God wanted to show His authority coming right from the temple. Remember how all of this started with John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a Levite, the son of a priest, so God used His own authority to begin preparing for the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Now then, in bringing the Apostles the power and spirit of the Holy Spirit, it begins right at the temple, and God puts His presence there spiritually so that all would know this is from God, not what men are doing.

Verse 2: "And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a powerful wind, and filled the whole house where they were sitting."

Remember on the Feast of Pentecost there is always a trumpet blown, and I believe that as the priest were blowing the trumpet at the temple to begin the ceremonies for the Day of Pentecost, this mighty wind came and it was the power of the Holy Spirit!

Verse 3: "And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit; and they began to speak with other languages" (vs 3-4)—tongues!

Now these are comprehensible languages for the preaching of the Gospel so that those who didn't speak that particular language would understand in their own language. So, it was a double miracle, a miracle of hearing and a miracle of speaking!

"…as the Spirit gave them the words to proclaim. Now, there were many Jews who were sojourning in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven" (vs 4-5).

Remember the buildup of Christ and the crucifixion and all of the things that took place, and remember Christ resurrected, and that message went out everywhere as I said concerning when Lazarus was raised from the dead; 'the feet and the tongue are faster than the phone.' I'm sure that all the Jews in all the countries heard great and tremendous things had happened. At the temple the veil was rent in the front and they still had not had it repaired by Pentecost.

So this is a great and mammoth event, and now the power of the Holy Spirit coming like a mighty rushing wind and then speaking in these languages so that all could hear.

Verse 12: "And they were all amazed and greatly perplexed, saying to one another, 'What does this mean?'"

What would it mean to you if you were there? Just picture yourself there at the temple on this Day of Pentecost. What would it mean to you? A great and new and startling and fantastic event was taking place!

Verse 13: "But others were mocking and saying… [there are always the cynics] …'They are full of new wine.' Then Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke out to them: 'Men, Jews, and all those of you who inhabit Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words. For these are not drunken as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel" (vs 13-16).

Now we bring in toward the end-time. So, this ties in:

• the time of the giving of the Ten Commandments
• down to the giving of the Holy Spirit
• then down to the end-time with what the Prophet Joel gave

Verse 17: "'And it shall come to pass in the last days,' says God, 'that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh… [that hasn't happened, yet, but it's going to; this was a type] …and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and even upon My servants and upon My handmaids will I pour out My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy; and I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapors of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved'" (vs 17-21).

Now that's going to happen, as we're going to see, with the children of Israel right in the middle of the of the Tribulation. Then Peter talks about Jesus:

Verse 22: "Men, Israelites, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarean, a Man sent forth to you by God, as demonstrated by works of power and wonders and signs…"—which was for 3-1/2 years, the greatest miracles that were done:

• healing the sick
• raising the dead
• feeding the four thousand
• feeding the five thousand
• those that rose out of the graves after Jesus was resurrected

great signs and wonders!

• How many of those were right there hearing Peter speak when he spoke?
• How many of them were really convicted in heart when all of this took place?

You can read the rest of the sermon talking about how that God would not allow Jesus to see corruption and that it was not David, but Christ!

Verse 34: "'For David has not ascended into the heavens, but he himself said, "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand until I have made Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.'" Therefore, let all the house of Israel know with full assurance… [without a doubt] … that God has made this same Jesus, Whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ'" (vs 34-36).

Now you know the priests were standing there listening to this, as well as all of the other people. You know those who planned the crucifixion of Jesus Christ heard this. Now what were they going to do? Well you can read the book of Acts and how the conflict even intensified beginning with the Day of Pentecost!

Verse 37: "Now, after hearing this, they were cut to the heart; and they said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you yourselves shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'" (vs 37-38). Now we have the Holy Spirit:

• to give us the strength
• to give us the power
• to keep the Commandments of God
• to have the Laws of God written into our heart and mind; inscribed right within our very being

because this was the promise that was given:

Verse 39: "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all those who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God may call." They understood that God was going to call them!

Verse 40: "And with many other words he earnestly testified and exhorted, saying, 'Be saved from this perverse generation.' Then those who joyfully received his message were baptized; and about three thousand souls were added that day" (vs 40-41).

That's amazing, brethren, that is absolutely amazing!

Heb. 12—let's see the parallel here with us and how this ties in. Remember we have Gen. 17, Exo. 19-24 then we have Acts 2. I want you to see the parallel with these as it is in the promise given to Abraham through Isaac and then down to us!

I'm going to do I'm going to read this out of the translation I did in the book of Hebrews, because it's a little more clear.

{transcriber's note, this eventually became part of The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version, used in this transcription}

Now we are coming to the Mountain of God:

• when we pray
• when we study God's Word
• when we think on God's way

We are having, with the Spirit of God, where we have the authority to come right into the Holiest of all. That's what Paul wrote about in the book of Hebrews; that we have a High Priest:

• Who is greater than anything on the earth
• Who is greater than any temple
• Who is greater than any animal sacrifices
• Who is risen from the dead
• Who is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, forever!

Hebrews 12:18: "For you have not come to the mount that could be touched and that burned with fire, nor to gloominess, and fearful darkness, and the whirlwind; and to the sound of the trumpet, and to the voice of the words, which those who heard, begged that the word not be spoken directly to them. (For they could not endure what was being commanded: 'And if even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned, or shot through with an arrow'; and so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, 'I am greatly afraid and trembling'). But you have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem; and to an innumerable company of angels" (vs 18-22).

Brethren, think of that! Think about that when you pray think of that that God is giving you that opportunity to come to Him directly!

• that's what's so profound with the New Covenant
• that's why it's a new and living way

Not a religion! But for converted people! 'Religion is for unconverted people who want a disciplinary way of life apart from God! This is not a religion! What we have is a living way of God! Please understand that!

Verse 23: "To the joyous festival gathering… [that means the resurrection for the Church on the Day of Pentecost] …and to the Church of the Firstborn…"—which we are!

We are going to be the firstborn; Christ is the Firstborn among many brethren! We are the firstfruits, meaning we're the firstborn and we are going to have the inheritance of the firstborn! I mean this is really profound for us!

"…to the Church of the Firstborn, registered in the Book of Life in heaven; and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the just who have been perfected; and to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant; and to sprinkling of the blood of ratification, proclaiming superior things than that of Abel" (vs 23-24).

That's a wonderful thing that we have this privilege to come to God and to do this. Think on that; that's the whole meaning of the Day of Pentecost.

Now then, our relationship with God is coming to heavenly Jerusalem today. Now let's go forward with this into the book of Revelation; let's see the fulfillment of the Feast of Pentecost and the resurrection let's go to Rev. 7 because this is where 144,000 of the children of Israel are saved, as well as the great innumerable multitude.

I'm not going to take the time to give all of the prophetic sequence and timetable down to here, but get our series on:

• Daniel/Revelation
• Covenants of God

They will help clarify many things for you {order at truthofGod.org}

But this is approximately two years down into the last three and a half years when Rev. 7 takes place and the sealing of the 144,000.

Revelation 7:3: "Saying, 'Do not damage the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.'"

That can't be us, brethren, none of us can be this 144,000 here in Rev. 7. Now some of us could be of the 144,000 of Rev. 14; but that's another whole story.

Verse 4: "And I heard the number of those who were sealed: one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel."

Israel repents during the Tribulation and then God begins to save them out of the Tribulation beginning with the tribe of Judah and then all of the rest of them.

Since this is going to be salvation for more than just Israel—v 9: "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one was able to number, out of every nation and tribe and people and language, was standing before the Throne…"

Brethren this is talking about the resurrection. When we are resurrected:

• Where are we going to go?
• Are we just going to go up zip-bam right back down to the earth as a Feast of Trumpets resurrection would call for? NO!
• we are going to go up and stand on the Sea of Glass
• we are going to see Christ
• we are going to see God the Father

Now, that's something to look forward to in the meaning of the Day of Pentecost.

This is what it's showing here, when they're resurrected this is what's going to happen to them:

Verse 10: "And they were calling out with a loud voice to Him Who sits on the Throne and to the Lamb, saying, 'The salvation of our God has come.' Then all the angels stood around the Throne, and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the Throne and worshiped God, saying, 'Amen. Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power and strength be to our God into the ages of eternity. Amen.' And one of the elders answered and said to me, 'These who are clothed with white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?'" (vs 10-13).

Just like on Pentecost, what did God say to the children of Israel at Mount Sinai? Wash your clothes and present yourself!

Verse 13: "And one of the elders answered and said to me, 'These who are clothed with white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?' Then I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' And he said to me, 'They are the ones who have come out of the Great Tribulation; and they have washed their robes, and have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the Throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One Who sits on the Throne shall dwell among them" (vs 13-15).

So you see, the Day of Pentecost is a fantastic day! Now I also believe that this sealing of the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude takes place at the next to the last Pentecost before the resurrection.

Let's look at some other things here and let's see how all of this comes together.

Go back to Rev. 4 and see where we find the Sea of Glass and the Throne of God. If John was able to see this in vision while Christ was a human being, should we not as resurrected human beings be able to be on the Sea of Glass, and if we're going to see Christ as He is when He comes, are we not going to see Him as He is? Yes, we are!

Revelation 4:2: "And immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a Throne was set in heaven, and One was sitting on the Throne. And He Who was sitting was in appearance like a jasper stone and a sardius stone; and a rainbow was around the Throne, like an emerald in its appearance" (vs 2-3).

So, this is a gorgeous and a man fantastic magnificent sight!

Verse 4: "And around the Throne were twenty-four thrones; and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments; and they had on their heads golden crowns. And proceeding from the Thronewere lightnings and thunders and voices…" (vs 4-5).

Does that recall anything to your remembrance that we read in Exo. 19; what happened when God came down on Mount Sinai, and also was there not that Sea of Glass, that pavement where God stood? Yes! Just like it is here.

"…and seven lamps of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, were burning before the Throne. And before the Throne was a Sea of Glass, like crystal. And around the Throne and over the Throne were four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind" (vs 5-6)—describes them very much like the cherubim or the seraphim!

Verse 8: "…and day and night they cease not saying, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty…'"

Not only that there was a rainbow, which completely encircled that whole thing, because you see rainbows in their fullness are actually round. Quite a sight!

I want you to think about that when we come back here to Rev. 14 and 15, because when we are resurrected as it says in first Thess. 4 that the trumpet shall sound the dead shall be raised and for the meeting of the Lord in the air!

So this Sea of Glass is going to be in the air it is going to be in the clouds that's how close it's going to be. Now let's see what happens

Revelation 14:14: "And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and one like the Son of man sitting on the cloud, having a golden crown on His head; and in His hand was a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him Who was sitting on the cloud… [in the clouds, I want you to understand that] …'Thrust in your sickle and reap, because the time has come for You to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.'…. [this is the 1st resurrection] …And He Who was sitting on the cloud thrust forth His sickle upon the earth, and the earth was reaped" (vs 14-16).

• the angels are going to take us
• we are going to be caught up into the air
• we are going to meet Christ in the air
• we're going to land on that Sea of Glass
• that's where they're going to take us

We'll see that in Rev.15!

Verse 17: "Then another angel, who also had a sharp sickle, came out of the temple that is in heaven. And out from the altar came another angel, who had authority over fire; and he called with a loud cry to the one who had the sharp sickle, saying, 'Thrust in your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the earth, because her grapes are fully ripe'" (vs 17-18).

This is the harvest of the wicked at the end in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where the blood will run to a bridal's depth on a horse!

Verse 19: "And the angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast its fruit into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood spewed out from the winepress as high as the horses' bridles, to the distance of a thousand six hundred furlongs" (vs 19-20)—180 miles long!

Now then, we have the same parallel; notice we had the first resurrection and then we had the we had the wrath of God being poured out.

In Rev. 15 & 16 we have more details about it following the same parallel.

Revelation 15:1: "Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and awesome: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is filled up. And I saw a Sea of Glass mingled with fire, and those who had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the Sea of Glass, having the lyres of God" (vs 1-2).

So, we're going to be standing there! Remember the beast refers to Satan so that's all down through time not just right at the end-time. Notice when we're resurrected and right there before God

Verse 3: "And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, 'Great and awesome are Your works, Lord God Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the saints. Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You only are Holy; and all the nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been revealed'" (vs 3-4).

What's going to happen while we're on the Sea of Glass?

First of all there is going to be the giving of the rewards. Then is going to be the Marriage of the Lamb First of all we have to have the rewards, 'Well done good and faithful servant.' Then there's going to be the Marriage; Christ is going to marry the Church just like at Sinai all the people said to the Lord, 'We will.'

At this wedding ceremony… I believe that God the Father is going to perform it. Why should He not perform it? That being a wonderful event! There we're all standing there in this great formal ceremony all dressed in white, dressed for the ceremony. All spirit beings filled with the Spirit of God and the love of God.

• we've met each other
• we've seen each other
• we've seen Paul, Peter, John, Matthew and all of the Apostles
• we've seen those that have been beheaded for the Word of Christ
• we've seen those that have been sawn asunder resurrected back to life

That's going to be some meeting to be up there on the Sea of Glass with Christ and then the announcement is made and the wedding begins.

God the Father gives the words of this covenant, and trust me, brethren, and there is going to be a special covenant marriage between Christ and the Church, which will be forever and ever and ever and that's going to be a wonderful ceremony. God the Father is going to speak those words, and when it's all done we are going to say, 'We will!'

Then God the Father is going to say. 'I pronounce you husband and wife' Now go do the work that you have to do! Then we will get our assignments and then we will know what we are going to do as kings and as priests.

Next the seven last plagues are poured out, because before we can come down to this earth and bring the Kingdom of God, God must execute His judgment and His vengeance:

• upon Babylon the Great
• upon Satan the devil
• upon the false prophet

We read of it here in Rev. 16.

Then the angels containing having the vials of the seven last plagues were given their vials and they went and they poured out their vials.

Revelation 16:2: "And the first angel went and poured out his vial onto the earth…"

Now the punishment of God is coming notice how these follow in parallel the same thing that took place in Egypt with all of the plagues that were poured out by God upon the Egyptian. So God is going to judge this world and judge the evil!

"…and an evil and grievous sore fell upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and upon those who were worshiping his image. And the second angel went and poured out his vial into the sea; and it became blood, like that of a dead man; and every living soul in the sea died" (vs 2-3).

God is going to end this system with a great and fantastic finale, and it's going to be awesome!

Verse 4: "And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers, and into the fountains of waters; and they became blood. Then I heard the angel of the waters say, 'You are righteous, O Lord, Who are, and Who was, even the Holy One, in that You have executed this judgment'" (vs 4-5). That's why all judgment is given to Christ!

Verse 6: "For they have poured out the blood of saints and of prophets…"

Do you know how precious that God looks upon the life of the saints? Look at the judgment coming upon these who killed the Saints! We ought to stop and ask what judgment is going to come upon those

• who have abused the brethren
• who have merchandised the brethren
• who have who've used them for their own implements and tools to perform their own religious works

God's judgment is coming upon them without a doubt!

"'…and You have given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.' And I heard another voice from the altar say, 'Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.' And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given to it to scorch men with fire. Then men were scorched with great heat; and they blasphemed the name of God, Who has authority over these plagues, and did not repent to give Him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became full of darkness…" (vs 6-10)—because that's what it literally was, just like the darkness at Egypt! So thick they could touch it and feel it!

"…and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; yet, they did not repent of their works. And the sixth angel poured out his vial into the great river Euphrates…" (vs 10-12)—preparing the way for the battle of Armageddon! They go out and say:

Let's gather together this where we see over Jerusalem there is this this big thing we can see through it. We can see there are people on it; we can see that's where these plagues are coming from. if we all gather together and get our troops all marshaled together;

• bring your flags
• bring your banners
• bring your tanks
• bring your missiles
• bring your soldiers

If we can blow them out of heaven then all of this will come to an end.

So they are deceived into doing that these are our spirits of demons going out to deceive the kings of the earth and so then we have the very last thing that takes place:

Verse 17[transcriber's correction]: "Then the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the Throne, saying, 'IT IS FINISHED.'"

Just like Jesus Christ said when He died, He said,  'IT IS FINISHED.' Now it is done and we are there to usher in the beginning of the of the great and fantastic new era of God! We are there now to liberate the world, save it from its corruption!

Verse 18: "And there were voices and thunders and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were on the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts; and the cities of the nations fell… [all of their skyscrapers are going to come tumbling to the ground] …and Babylon the Great was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath. And every island disappeared, and no mountains were found; and great hail, each stone the weight of a talent… [180 lbs.] …fell down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague was exceedingly great" (vs 18-21).

Then it shows in Rev. 18 the whole judgment of God against Babylon

• which has caused every evil that there is in the world
• which has killed, murdered and maimed
• which has lied, cheated, stolen and taken

Revelation 19:1: "And after these things I heard the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven… [that's us on the Sea of Glass up in the clouds; that is the first heaven] …saying, 'Hallelujah! The salvation and the glory and the honor and the power belong to the Lord our God. For true and righteous are His judgments; for He hasjudged the great whore, who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and He has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand'" (vs 1-2).

Verse 3: "And they said a second time, 'Hallelujah! And her smoke shall ascend upward into the ages of eternity.' And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, Who sits on the Throne, saying, 'Amen. Hallelujah!'" (vs 3-4).

Verse 5: "And a voice came forth from the Throne, saying, 'Praise our God, all His servants… [that's us right there before God] … and all who fear Him, both small and great.' And I heard a voice like that of a great multitude, and like the sound of many waters, and the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, 'Hallelujah! For the Lord God Almighty has reigned'" (vs 5-6)—and we're reigning with Christ!

Verse 7—what a feast this is going to be: "'Let us be glad and shout with joy; and let us give glory to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.'…. [we are ready for the work with Christ] …And it was granted to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, pure and bright; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he said to me, 'Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And he said to me, 'These are the true words of God'" (vs 7-9).

Then the rest of the story picks up on the Feast of Trumpets!

Scriptures from The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version (except where noted–Schocken Bible)

Scriptural References:

• Deuteronomy 16:16-17

• Leviticus 23:9-21
• Genesis 17:1
• Matthew 5:48
• Genesis 17:2-21
• Exodus 19:1-24
• Exodus 20:1-19
• Exodus 24:1-12
• Acts 2:1-5, 12-22, 34-41
• Hebrews 12:18-24
• Revelation 7:3-4, 9-15
• Revelation 4:2-6, 8
• Revelation 14:14-20
• Revelation 15:1-4
• Revelation 16:2-12, 17-21
• Revelation 19:1-9

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Joshua 5
• Genesis 15; 22
• John 14:5
• Deuteronomy 5
• 1-Thessalonians 4
• Revelation 18

Also referenced:

Schocken Bible Volume One: The Five Books of Moses—translator Everett Fox

from: truthofGod.org

• Message Genesis 15 and the Timing of the Death of Christ's Death
• Booklet: The True Meaning of Acts 2:1

Transcript Books:

• Daniel/Revelation
• Covenants of God

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 6/19/25

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