A Shadow of Things to Come
The Feast of Weeks Part 2
Hebrews 5:5-6
"Previously saying, 'Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them'
(which are offered according to the law), then He said 'Behold, I have come to do your will, oh God.' He takes away the first that He may establish the second."
In my last article I wrote of of the Feast of Weeks. This Feast is commonly called the Pentecost. The name comes from the fact that we must count the weeks, or days, in order to know the time we are to celebrate this feast. The disciples of Jehoshua were in the proper place at the appointed time, and received the gift of the Holy Spirit. The proper counting for this feast day can be found in my previous articles on the Feast of First Fruits.
In my last article I showed that this feast pointed to the beginning of the Spiritual Church of the Creator. The Holy Spirit was given to many, but although it was, and is, a great and needed gift, this was not the so-called event which defines this day. This event was actually the return of the Messiah, in Spirit. The Church is Him, His body, His Spirit, made up of His followers, who are known because they possess His spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:15:
"Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?"
1Corinthians 6:17:
"But he who is joined to the Lord is one Spirit with Him."
1Corinthians 12:27:
"Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually."
Ephesians 1:22-23:
"And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."
There has been too many who have mistakenly believed that receiving the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues was the only purpose for this great feast day. There is so much more.
As stated earlier, it is the day the spirit of Christ himself, formed His body, His church, through His spirit. As He lived so the church must live. As He suffered so the church must suffer. His members are able to perform miracles because He was able to perform them. If you have the Spirit of Jehoshua, you are a part of His body. I do not wish to beat this into the ground, but this is important
Let us move on to what else this feast pointed to. I have stated that one of my goals for this article is to help people understand that the things of this Earth are a mere shadow of the things in heaven. The church is no different. The story of the First church of the Creator can be found in Exodus beginning in chapter 35 continuing to chapter 40. Due to time and space I will not review the entire story but suggest that you read it for yourselves.
This was the physical church, the Tabernacle of Meeting. It was designed by the Creator and given to the children of Israel to build. It was a physical building, a place to go and worship. The spirit of the Creator was present within this building.
Exodus 40:34:
"Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle."
It must be noted that just prior to the tabernacle being built the Creator renewed His covenant with Israel. He tells them to remember His covenant and to keep His feasts. Let us now go forward to see exactly what this means, and how it relates to the good news of His coming Kingdom.
Hebrews 9:1-3:
"Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lamp stand, the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, is the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All."
The first covenant went hand in hand with the first church. The church, or tabernacle, was a physical building, and the first covenant was a physical covenant. Speaking of the first covenant, and the first church, Paul writes,
Hebrews 9:4:
"Which had the golden alter of incense and the Ark of the Covenant....., and the tablets of the covenant."
The tablets of the covenant were the tablets given to Moses by the Creator. These tablets had the Law written on them, and they were placed in the church, in the Holiest place of all.
Hebrews 9:6-8:
"Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was standing."
In my article on the Passover I spoke of how the veil in the tabernacle, which hid the Holiest of All, was torn in two, the night of the crucifixion.
Matthew 27:51:
"And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split."
If the new tabernacle could not be until the first tabernacle was no longer standing, and the only way to have access to the Holiest of All was for the first tabernacle to fall, then this First tabernacle, as with the new tabernacle, is the Messiah.
The first church was a physical building. The law was physically placed into the church in the Ark of the Covenant. The law was the covenant, and the promise was of a physical rest, from slavery. The priests gave physical sacrifices of animals for the forgiveness of sins, and the Creator, through a cloud, was physically with His people. They were to enter into their physical rest by obtaining a physical kingdom. The problem is the physical is not the real thing, but a temporary copy.
Hebrews 10:1:
"For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect."
Hebrews 10:4:
"For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin."
These things which were were only a type of the real things to come.
Hebrews 10:11-12:
"And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool."
The sacrifice of the Messiah was the true sacrifice which blotted out the sins of Man. On the day of Pentecost He returned to begin a second church, a spiritual church. No longer were physical sacrifices needed, but what of a physical building? Remember His covenant, the law, was physically kept, in the building, in the ark.
Hebrews 10:16-18:
“‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them' then He adds, 'Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.' Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin."
The new covenant is spiritual. The laws, or His covenant, will be kept in His church in the Holiest of All, only the covenant will not be written on stone tablets, or kept in an ark and put in a physical building. His new covenant or His laws will be written on the hearts and minds of those who are His, and these members are the church. Not a physical building, but the spiritual body of Christ Himself.
Hebrews 8:10-13:
"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.........In that He says, 'A new covenant,' He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away."
The blood of animals was not sufficient to cleanse away the sins of people, and a physical building was not a proper place for the Spirit of the Creator. It was through His sacrifice that the new covenant was established.
Hebrews 9:15:
"And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."
The Feast of Weeks, or the Day of Pentecost, ushered in a new era for man. The Messiah gave His spirit to His followers so that they may build His church. Not a physical church, but a spiritual church where His laws are kept in the hearts and minds of His people. This is the new covenant. It is one that no man can tear down or destroy, because man did not build it. It is a promise of a true kingdom, one that will come down from heaven with the return of Jehoshua.
This is the Good News. This is the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God. I hope as always this article helped to shed a little understanding on the importance of this feast. These feasts should not be ignored of forgotten for they represent the true plan of the Creator for mankind. There is so much more to the Feasts of Weeks, that time and space will not allow me to finish, so I will continue with this topic in my next article. Until then my friends, please take care.