THE FALL  of  the

UNITED STATES

Chapter 8
GOD’S HOLY DAYS REVEAL HIS PLAN

THIS BOOK HAS FOCUSED upon those things that are leading up to a third world war. Mankind’s history has been riddled with wars over the past 6,000 years. But now, we are at the threshold of entering a new age where there will be no more wars—ever!

Although scholars and educators debate how long mankind has been on earth, God reveals that we are now at the end of 6,000 years of self-rule. He then reveals that we are about to enter a new and exciting age in the next 1,000 years where His Kingdom is going to reign on earth over all nations.

During this age that is about to be ushered in, there will not be any form of manmade government that will rule. God is going to remove all forms of human socialism, totalitarianism, communism, oligarchies, aristocracies, dictatorships, democracies, and any other type of human devised government.

Through the millennia, the world has not known why God created mankind or what His plan is for having done so. Yet the very thing that mankind has refused to do, not observing God’s weekly and annual Holy Days, is the very thing that reveals His plan and purpose for creating us. Mankind’s insistence upon keeping its own holiday observances is the very thing that has kept it in darkness.

God’s Holy Days reveal why mankind was given an initial temporary human life to live, and from the beginning, He has purposed that most all of mankind will actually live a physical life twice. He set aside 7,000 years for all humans to be born, and during this same period of time all will die. Yet He has set aside another 100 years that follow in which the vast majority of all who have ever lived will be resurrected to physical life once again.

God’s Holy Days are exciting once a person comes to understand His purpose for such an incredible plan that spans 7,100 years. This time span of human existence is fully revealed through these Holy Days. Then what lies beyond is even more incredible and awesome beyond human imagination.

It was on Passover night of the day Christ would be put to death that he said to his Father in one of his prayers, “Your word is truth.” God is the source of all that is true and absolute. This book has set out to illuminate truths that He has revealed through His Church.

The Reason for Religious Confusion

As this book has shown, there are many conflicting ideas about God and what His purpose is for the creation of human life. People are confused and often conflicted as to what really happens at death and what happens afterward. If there is life after death, then what kind of life is it?

Long ago, God gave mankind specific days that they were to observe and set aside for holy use and purpose. These days were given to reveal what His purpose and plan is for giving life to us and of what lies beyond death. Learning what these days are about leads to great understanding of God Himself and why He created physical, temporarily existing human life.

The reason most of humanity does not know or understand God and His plan and purpose for its existence is because it does not know about the observance of these days, and therefore, it cannot learn what these days reveal. That is the very reason God commanded mankind to keep and observe these days in the way He has shown so that it can come to truly know Him and His love for His creation.

Instead, mankind’s nature is one of resisting God, and one of changing the truth about God to be something that is more palatable to a basic selfish nature that seeks to please self in whatever way it chooses to live life. Mankind does not want someone telling it how life should be lived, so it has worked to make religion and ideas about God easier for such a pride-filled nature to accept.

It seems so contrary to sound thinking that mankind would resist and reject God’s instruction about how life should be lived. After all, He created us and He knows what will produce healthy relationships and peace, as well as happy and productive lives. Even a parent can see how one’s own child can resist them as they work to teach them what they believe is best for them. God’s wisdom and love are infinitely far beyond any human parent, and He knows absolutely what is best for us, yet He is resisted by His children.

The place to begin developing a true and meaningful relationship with God is in a person’s obedience to the observance of His Sabbaths. The overview of God’s plan is contained in the weekly Sabbath. Then, even more detail and specifics about that plan are contained in the annual Sabbaths that God also commanded to be observed in the manner He has shown.

Calendars Have Created Confusion

Before looking more closely at the command to keep the 7^th day weekly Sabbath that follows Friday, the 6^th day of the week, it is first needful to understand how calendars around the world vary concerning the placement of the days of the week. This has caused much confusion when it comes to someone trying to understand when to observe God’s Sabbath.

Most people today don’t know that calendars in most nations have been altered to be different than what God has shown concerning how to keep a yearly record of time. There has been great effort throughout history to change the cycle of the Biblical 7^th day Sabbath. The motive behind this is what has been the catalyst for many in changing dates and times, although most people are unaware of this.

In recent history, nations have tried to standardize measurement systems throughout the world. Certainly, in this modern age of technology, manufacturing, and invention, it is good when standardization can be implemented, especially when focusing on worldwide commerce. Vast numbers of measuring systems have now been standardized. As an example, many nations have accepted the metric system, and yet some few still stubbornly refuse.

However, when it has come to the standardization for marking time, there has always been much confusion and disagreement. The United Nations in recent history has played a great part in all this. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) set out to standardize the calendar in a publication called ISO 8601:1988, and as stated in the title, it was published in 1988. In this system, the weekly cycle established that Sunday is the seventh day of the week and Monday is the first day of the week.

Even before this change was made in 1988, several countries in Europe had already done so. What many have failed to understand in partaking of such standardization is that there has actually been a conspiratorial purpose that was involved in making these changes. This change by many has been masqueraded as an effort to establish a workweek where the first five days of the weekly cycle begin on Monday and end on Friday. Thus, the last two days of the weekly cycle are Saturday on the 6^th day of the week, which would make Sunday the 7^th day of the week.

Uniquely so, such a change gives all new generations the false assurance that when they read about God’s Sabbath being on the seventh day of the week, then Sunday seems perfectly appropriate. Nevertheless, that would be a wrong assumption.

The timing for the weekly Sabbath of God has never been lost in Judaism. Christ concurred with the Jews concerning the fact that the day they were observing as the seventh day of the week was indeed the weekly Sabbath God had commanded. Before, and ever since that time, the Jews have always known the correct day for the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath.

Only a handful of nations today have a calendar that shows what is true, which corresponds to the true weekly cycle. On those calendars, Sunday is correctly listed as the first day of the week and Saturday is the seventh, which is the true time for the observance of God’s Sabbath.

However, calendars that begin the weekly cycle with Monday are incorrect as they list Sunday as the seventh day, and yet this is the calendar that most nations use. Sunday is not the Biblical seventh day of the week. It is not God’s 7^th day Sabbath.

Changing the cycle of the week is nothing new. Throughout the world, it has been shuffled around many times over the centuries. However, whenever mankind engages in such practices, they work against what God established long ago. From the beginning of the counting of time on earth, God gave a basic weekly cycle of seven days within the months of each yearly cycle.

WEEKLY SABBATH

Our Creator

A true and right relationship with the One Eternal Self-Existing Almighty God can only begin as a person comes to the point that they will humble themselves before Him and observe the true weekly Sabbath that He commanded. No one can have a true relationship with God unless they observe and worship Him at the times that He has revealed they should. Anything else is disobedience and blasphemy against God.

This book has clearly shown times that are false and times that are true. God desires that His creation listen to Him and worship Him truthfully just as Christ said.

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).

There is no other way to worship God. He requires it be done in truth. So as these verses show, there is a time coming when the world will begin to practice worshipping God in the truth. That will begin worldwide in the Millennium once Christ returns. Some few did begin such worship in Christ’s time and continued doing so within God’s Church once it became established in 31 AD.

God reveals the importance of the weekly Sabbath day and how it became established. It has everything to do with the very purpose for why He created mankind. The weekly Sabbath is to remind everyone of the very creation week in which mankind was created and that He is our Creator!

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the multitude in them. On the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it [set apart for holy use and purpose], because that on it He rested from all His work which He created and had done” (Genesis 2:1-3).

Although it is explained in much greater detail in the literature from God’s Church, many people think that this account of creation being spoken of in Genesis 1 and 2 is about the time when God created the earth and universe itself. That is simply not true. The earth was created at least hundreds of thousands of years, and perhaps even millions of years earlier. That should be easy to understand by scientific evidence itself.

Living creatures and plant life existed on the earth after it was first created, and there is an exceedingly vast amount of fossil evidence to this truth that exists all over this earth. However, people have not known that Satan at one time destroyed all life on earth after he had rebelled against God. The devastation he brought happened in an instant as he tried to destroy the earth itself.

Satan possessed the power to rip apart vast regions of the earth, shaking it off its normal orbit and rotation, as well as completely darkening the atmosphere itself. As a result of what happened so quickly within the atmosphere of the earth, temperatures dropped so low that plant life and animal life froze completely within an instant.

So when one begins to read about what God did during those first six days, it isn’t describing the earth being created at that time. It had not been completely destroyed, so it was already there. It had remained uninhabitable for tens of thousands of years, and perhaps hundreds of thousands.

The context of Genesis 1 and 2 is one of the earth already being here and of God remolding and refashioning it so that life could be created upon it once again. Then, on that sixth and last day of creating, God created temporarily existing human life comprised of physical matter. As God reveals throughout scripture, this is the beginning stage in the pinnacle of His creation.

“For in six days the Lord made [to do, accomplish, perform—His work]theheaven 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” (Exodus 20:11).

The word here most often translated as “made” does not mean “create,” but is a word that simply means “to do, to perform, to accomplish” work that one has set out to complete. God did, or accomplished, work that He set out to do within those six days, and then He rested on the seventh. He accomplished what He desired to do in the heaven (the atmosphere), the earth, and the waters of the earth. That is exactly what is being stated in this verse.

The verses that precede this are God’s command that the weekly seventh day is to be observed as a Sabbath and kept holy—as the true holy day of the week. The first lesson that the weekly Sabbath day should teach us is what this verse states about God: He is the one who created life once again on the earth—He is our Creator. If one cannot grasp or believe that God created us, then why listen to anything He says; but if He is our Creator, then indeed we had better listen closely.

God Established Time

The weekly Sabbath is on the seventh day of the week, and it has been since the days of Adam and Eve. Just as the week was established in the creation week to be seven days, so was God’s plan for mankind set to encompass a period of 7,000 years.

The first six days were set aside for mankind to do his own work, but the seventh day was God’s time—the Sabbath. Mankind has also been allotted 6,000 years to live its own way, but like the seventh-day Sabbath, the last 1,000 years belong to God, and it is to be lived God’s way! It is God’s time!

Few believe the story about God delivering Noah into a new world. We live at a time when people find it even harder to believe that God is about to deliver mankind into a new world again, but this time where the Kingdom of God will rule all nations. Yet that time is exactly what is rapidly approaching! It will be the establishment of the Millennium—1,000 years of the Kingdom of God ruling over mankind.

It should be clear that God set apart the seventh day by personally sanctifying it. God didn’t do that for any other day of the week. The Biblical definition for being sanctified means to be set apart for holy use and purpose. God didn’t set apart the sixth day (Friday) or the first day (Sunday) for holy use and purpose. God’s purpose from the beginning was to set apart the seventh day for all time, as a weekly Sabbath for mankind. God established the cycles for time, and He told mankind how to observe those cycles.

“Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament [Heb.—expanse]of the heaven [atmosphere, sky]to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs [for the “marking” of time], and seasons [Heb.— appointed times], and for days, and years’” (Genesis 1:14).

The Hebrew word for “seasons” means “appointed times,” much like we speak today of appointments. Time is exact. God made the keeping of time a calculable factor of life. We can establish and set specific moments in time for any purpose we choose. From the very beginning of creation week, God established specific times that He personally set for mankind, which are to be appointments that we should keep with Him. The weekly Sabbath is one such appointment that never changes. Every seventh day mankind should keep this appointment with God! God even magnifies that point.

“The Eternal spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, The feasts [Heb.— “appointed times” and not the Hebrew word for “feasts”] of the Eternal, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations [Heb.—commanded assemblies], even these are My feasts [Heb.—appointed times]. Six days work shall be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation [Heb.—commanded assembly]. You shall do no work because it is the Sabbath of the Eternal in all your dwelling places. These are the feasts [appointed times] of the Eternal, even holy convocations [commanded assemblies], which you shall proclaim in their seasons [Heb.— appointed times]. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even [after sundown]is the Eternal’s Passover. On the fifteenth day [an annual Holy Day—annual Sabbath] of the same month is the Feast [this word in Hebrew does mean “feast”] of Unleavened Bread unto the Eternal. Seven days you must eat unleavened bread’” (Leviticus 23:1-6).

Traditional Christianity has tried to do away with this command concerning the seventh-day Sabbath and the annual Sabbaths that are listed here. They find no fault with nine of the ten commandments, but they have tried to “do away with” the fourth commandment that says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”(Exodus 20:8). Either they have sought to do away with the command of the Sabbath or they say the weekly Sabbath is now Sunday, but God said that observing the seventh-day Sabbath is a perpetual covenant! (Exodus 31:15-17).

The Catholic Church has altered this basic commandment in their listing of the Ten Commandments to read, “Remember to keep holy the LORD’S Day.” Many in traditional Christianity have adopted this thinking about the Lord’s Day which they recognize and teach as being Sunday, which is actually the first day of the week.

It was the Catholic Church in the 300s AD that first began to teach that the command to keep the Sabbath was changed to Sunday (the first day of the week)—the Lord’s Day. The Roman Empire at that time even outlawed such an observance on the seventh day of the week. Most all of traditional Christianity since has accepted that change which the Catholic Church states was not a matter of scriptural authority, but of the authority of the Pope who declared it.

The Levitical system, with its laws regarding ceremonies and sacrifices, was changed through Joshua the Christ from what is commonly referred to as Old Testament times to New Testament times—the time of the establishment of God’s Church. Christ’s sacrifice did away with the necessity for observing animal sacrifices. It also did away with the need of this Levitical system that had a priesthood that served in the physical temple in all of its work concerning the service of the temple and in officiating in the sacrificial system.

Christ now serves as High Priest in the spiritual temple of God, and he fulfilled the sacrificial system, thus ending any need for it to continue. But Christ did not do away with the laws of God as many in traditional Christianity claim. He only did away with the laws pertaining to the Levitical system.

The law of God contained in the Ten Commandments has never been changed. The apostles and New Testament church observed the seventh-day Sabbath and annual Sabbaths. The apostle Paul, some thirty years after the death of Joshua the Christ, taught God’s people the importance of observing the Sabbath, Passover, and Holy Days.

“For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh day in this way, ‘And God did rest the seventh day from all His works’” (Hebrews 4:4).

Paul was explaining that Israel had refused to hear God’s instruction and that they were incapable of doing so because they lacked the faith that is made possible only by receiving God’s spirit. Paul was explaining that a specific day was set aside for people to hear God’s voice—His instruction.

“Again, He limits a certain day [God “designated” or “limited” a specific day—He sanctified the seventh day], saying through David, ‘Today,’ after such a long time; as it has been said, ‘Today if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts’” (Heb. 4:7).

Paul then got more specific as he explained even more about this to the Church. Traditional Christianity has not understood what Paul was teaching and they have even mistranslated this because they do not recognize the importance of this day that God commands to be kept, and they certainly do not grasp what it pictures.

“For if Joshua [the Old Testament Joshua who led the children of Israel into the promised land] had given them rest, then He [God] would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a Sabbath [not the word for “rest” as most translate this, but this is the Greek word “Sabbatismos,” which means Sabbath] for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest [into God’s weekly seventh-day Sabbath rest] has himself also ceased from his works [ceased from his own carnal ways by seeking to live God’s ways] as God did from His [when God rested on the seventh day from His work of creation]. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest [the rest of the Sabbath day], lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience” (Heb. 4:8-11).

Paul was explaining that Joshua (who led Israel after Moses’ death) was not able to give God’s people the kind of rest that the keeping of the Sabbath pictures (foreshadows). After Israel had been in the wilderness for forty years and then led into the physical promised land by Joshua, they were not delivered into the time of rest which the seventh-day Sabbath actually pictures. Paul was explaining that God’s people had not yet entered into that rest that is pictured in the last 1,000 years (the Millennium) where God’s government will reign under the Messiah—the spiritual rest that begins during the Millennium that Joshua the Christ will lead God’s people into.

Through observing God’s weekly Sabbath, one is able to learn what God is teaching through such observance, even as one is taught weekly about God’s plan and purpose. It is on the Sabbaths that God teaches His people and leads them into greater and continuing spiritual growth concerning His way of life.

The Sabbaths of God (weekly and annual) are an identification—a sign—of God’s people because only His people know them and keep them in spirit and in truth as He commands.

“Sanctify [set apart for holy use]my Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, so that you may know that I am the Eternal your God” (Ezekiel 20:20).

One must begin to observe God’s commanded Sabbaths if one wants to truly come to know God.

The seventh day of each week is the day that people are to rest from their normal work routines because it is commanded that there is to be no customary work done on any Sabbath. This is also true with annual Sabbaths (High Days—annual Holy Days). No customary work is to be done on those days.

The weekly Sabbath and the annual Sabbaths are to be kept or set apart for holy use and purpose by those who observe them. That is what is meant when God said to sanctify His Sabbaths. Although the weekly Sabbath is always on the seventh day of the week, commanded annual observances can fall on different days of the week, except for one, which is Pentecost.

Sabbaths are set aside for people to focus more on God during those days. They are to come together with others in what God describes as holy convocations. This is time that is set aside for people to listen to what God’s ministers teach them during those occasions. It is then that family and friends can spend more time together with others who also have set aside these times to observe.

PASSOVER

The First Annual Observance

It has been shown how the weekly Sabbath foreshadows a basic outline of God’s 7,000-year plan for mankind. However, it is the annual commanded observances that fill in the details about that great plan and expound upon it far more fully.

God gave mankind a weekly “appointed time” and annual “appointed times” for us to keep with Him. The first annual observance is not an annual Sabbath, but it is to be observed first before any of the annual Holy Day Sabbaths. This appointed time that is commanded to be observed is Passover.

Passover is a commanded assembly that is observed after sunset at the beginning of the Passover day. It is not a Sabbath, and therefore, not a Holy Day or High Day, and work may be done on that day. It is unique in this regard as an annual observance of a commanded assembly.

God’s plan of salvation begins with this day. Without receiving the Passover, Joshua the Christ, one cannot enter into a relationship with God. Accepting Joshua as our Passover and then observing Passover annually, allows one to begin the process of salvation that will produce the blessings God wants for everyone. The annual Holy Days that follow reveal that plan of salvation, but one cannot be included in that plan until the Passover is first received. This is the reason the Passover is the first annual observance.

The proper timing for observing God’s Passover has been misunderstood, misrepresented, twisted, and deceitfully changed by many over the centuries. The right time for observing Passover has been attacked much like the timing of the weekly Sabbath has always been under attack.

It has been Satan’s desire to deceive mankind into believing anything other than the truth about God’s weekly Sabbath and the observance of Passover. The reason for this is that these observances are the basic foundation and the starting point for developing a true and right relationship with God.

It was the newly organized church that falsely called themselves Christian in the Roman Empire under Constantine that changed the weekly Sabbath observance from Saturday to Sunday. They then outlawed Passover, and its observance was replaced by an annual holiday called Easter.

God’s Church has literature that gives a very exact and detailed accounting of the proper timing for Passover for any who might want to research this further. It can be found on the Publication page in an article entitled “The Timing of Passover” (www.cog-pkg.org).

The importance of the true timing for the observance of Passover is the primary means by which one can begin to know the true Messiah and to begin recognizing those things that are false. It is by this same means that you can identify false teachers, false religions, and any organization that condones false teachings. It should be noted that even Judaism, which should know better, observes Passover incorrectly by observing incorrect timing and teaching incorrect meaning and symbolism, which changed what God gave.

Leviticus 23 lists all of God’s appointed times. The annual observances begin with Passover.

“In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Eternal’s Passover” (Leviticus 23:5).

Many are familiar with the story of the exodus out of Egypt. It was at this time that God gave the Passover observance to the Israelites.

“The Eternal spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ‘This month shall be unto you the beginning of months [it begins in the spring in the Northern Hemisphere]. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, “In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the household of their fathers, a lamb for a household... Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats’” (Exodus 12:1-3, 5).

This lamb without blemish was symbolic of Joshua the Christ who was without sin. The apostle Peter explained this to the Church by saying:

“Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold from your vain conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot” (1 Pet. 1:18-19).

The account in Exodus continues by showing what would symbolize the shed blood of the Messiah until he came to fulfill it. The Israelites were to kill a lamb for their Passover observance. They were to let the blood of the lamb spill out upon the earth and on that first observance in Egypt they were to take some of the blood and put it on the side post and upper doorposts of their homes. Christ’s blood would also be spilled on the earth because he would fulfill the symbolism of these lambs, as the true Lamb of God.

“They shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it” (Exodus 12:7).

“For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt of both man and animal. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Eternal. The blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are, and when I see the blood I will pass over you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt” (Verses 12-13).

This pictures what Joshua the Christ would fulfill for mankind. He is our Passover and by His blood we can be saved from the penalty of sin, which is eternal death—a final judgment for all time.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Joshua the Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

The penalty for sins that are not forgiven is death—eternal judgment—eternal death from which one can never be resurrected to life again.

Joshua the Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, was God’s Passover sacrifice given to mankind whereby we can be saved from death. The penalty of death passes over us. This is where we must begin in God’s plan of salvation. It begins with Joshua the Christ. All of us face the death penalty for our sins until we accept the sacrifice of Christ to remove them, as we repent of our sins. Only the blood of Christ, in our stead, can remove that penalty. This is God’s Passover sacrifice for us.

“Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).

We must be forgiven of our sins in order to enter into a relationship with God the Father. Only upon repentance and baptism can we begin the process of being delivered from the pull of our own selfish human nature and the power of Satan that holds mankind in darkness and deception. This is God’s plan of deliverance from spiritual Egypt.

“He [God] has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

God’s Church observes this annual memorial in the very same way Christ did, on Passover night, with his disciples after he had his last supper with them. Nearly 20 years after the death of Christ, the apostle Paul gave instruction to God’s Church in Corinth regarding the importance of how to observe the annual Passover.

“For I have received from the Lord that which also I delivered unto you [how to observe Passover], that the Lord Joshua on the same night [the Passover night] in which he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘Take and eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me’ [each year at Passover time]. After the same manner also he took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:23- 26).

In this instruction to the Church (the spiritual Israel of God), Joshua the Christ instituted the symbols for Passover on the same night the Passover lamb was killed, roasted, and eaten. On the night of the fourteenth day of the first month, the Israelites were to observe this annual occasion by killing the lamb and eating it. Now the Church of God is to partake annually of the symbols of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Lamb of God. The flesh is symbolized by eating a piece of unleavened bread, and the blood is symbolized by drinking a small amount of wine.

As explained earlier, God gave man the means for dividing one day from another by beginning a new day at the very moment the sun sets on the previous day. The nighttime portion of the observance of Passover is at the beginning of that day. The activities that were to follow during the daylight portion of that same Passover day were also fulfilled in Joshua the Christ.

When Israel kept the Passover, the families were to kill and eat the lamb and this is described in scripture as “the sacrifice of the Eternal’s Passover.” Both the eating of the lamb by the Israelites on the night of the fourteenth, and later, the Church’s observance of partaking of the symbols of the bread and wine are symbolic of God giving His Son to be sacrificed for mankind. It also pictures the Messiah’s own agreement to give his life as that sacrifice. God the Father and Joshua the Christ willingly gave this sacrifice to mankind, and it was therefore truly “the sacrifice of the Eternal’s Passover.”

However, the actual time Christ died was in the mid-afternoon on the Passover day. This too fulfilled activities the Israelites were busy carrying out during that same period of time once they began observing Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread that followed. During the afternoon portion of Passover, the Israelites were preparing for the first day of the annual observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread that would follow after sunset on Passover.

The actual killing of the sacrificial animals and their preparation for this feast to follow took place throughout the afternoon of Passover day. But the feasting and the actual offerings upon the altar could not begin until after sunset, once the Holy Day began.

Those animals that were killed during the afternoon of Passover, in preparation for the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, are referred to in scripture as the “Passover offerings.” So when scripture spoke of “killing the Passover,” it included those things symbolized by the “Eternal’s Passover” that was killed and eaten on the night of the fourteenth as well as the symbolism contained in the killing of those animals on the afternoon of the Passover that were to be feasted upon and offered up to God after sunset.

The entirety of Passover in both the night and daytime portions has great meaning in all the symbolism that Joshua the Christ actually fulfilled in his life and death.

THE ANNUAL SABBATHS—ANNUAL HOLY DAYS

THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD

Once we have received the Passover sacrifice of Joshua the Christ to pay the penalty for our sins, we can move forward in God’s plan for us. The next area of focus is the meaning of the observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The first day and the seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread are annual Sabbaths, annual Holy Days. The first annual Sabbath, which is the first day of Unleavened Bread, begins immediately after sunset on Passover day.

“On the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto the Eternal. You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. In the first day you shall have a holy convocation [like the weekly Sabbath, this day is also a “commanded assembly”]. You shall do no customary work [occupational or regular work] in it [it is a Sabbath day]. But you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Eternal seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation [Heb.— “commanded assembly”], and you shall do no customary work in it” (Leviticus 23:6-8).

This entire “appointed time” is one week in length. During this week we are to eat unleavened bread. We are to have no leavening in our homes during this period and we are to refrain from eating baked products, such as breads and cakes that contain leavening agents.

The symbolism, in this observance, is that leaven “puffs up” just like one’s pride puffs up. Leaven is symbolic of sin. Leaven is symbolic of an “expression of pride” against the laws of God. We tend to live as we please rather than express God’s will in our lives. Eating unleavened bread symbolizes our desire to obey God and eat of His way of life, the spiritual unleavened bread of life.

This symbolism is also about Joshua the Christ who was without sin—unleavened. The Church pictures this on Passover night when unleavened bread is eaten as a symbol of Christ’s broken body. Joshua described much of this process in the Book of John.

With this fundamental understanding of the observance of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, consider how revealing the following scriptures truly are.

“They then said to him, ‘What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?’ Joshua answered and said unto them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom He has sent.’ Therefore they said to him, ‘What sign do you show then, that we may see, and believe you? What do you work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

“Then Joshua said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you that bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life unto the world.’ Then they said to him, ‘Lord, evermore give us that bread.’ Then Joshua said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes on me shall never thirst. But I said to you, that you also have seen me, and do not believe. All whom the Father gives me shall come to me, and he who comes to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from out of heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me’” (John 6:28-38).

“Then the Jews murmured about him because he said, ‘I am the bread which came down from out of heaven.’ So they said, ‘Is not this Joshua, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? Then how is it that he says, “I came down from out of heaven?”’ Joshua therefore answered and said to them, ‘Do not murmur among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day’” (John 6:41-44).

“‘I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from out of heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from out of heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. Now the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’ The Jews therefore argued among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ Then Joshua said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, except you eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you’” (John 6:48-53).

Joshua the Christ explained that if someone did not receive the Passover (“eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood”) they could not have the life of God dwelling in them (“you have no life in you”) through the power of His spirit. They were yet in sin until this could be a reality in their life. One must first receive the Passover in order to come out of sin and live God’s way of life—become unleavened. Only those who become baptized by accepting Joshua as their Passover can themselves then observe the annual Passover.

After we are baptized and our sins are forgiven, we are to begin changing our lives. Contrary to the teaching of traditional Christianity, we are not to remain the way we are by simply accepting grace, but we are to change by becoming a new creature (Gk.– “creation”) in God (2 Cor. 5:17). We are not to continue living the same way we did before baptism; however, we will have that same nature in us which we will have to fight against all our lives.

Receiving the Passover, Joshua the Christ, into our lives at baptism is only the beginning of a life-long process of repentance and fight to conquer and overcome our nature. Observing Passover each year is the acknowledgment of our need to continually repent, come out of sin, and to draw closer in unity and oneness with God and His Son.

Paul corrected the Corinthians in a matter that involved two people in their midst who were flaunting their disobedience before the Church. The Church was preparing to observe the Passover season and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so Paul used this occasion to show them their error.

“Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Corinthians 5:6)?

Paul was addressing their cavalier attitude toward their actions of willingly ignoring sin (their “boasting”). He explained that sin is like a very small amount of leaven (yeast) that can spread throughout dough to make it rise—become puffed up. The lesson was that if sin is not addressed it can quickly grow and spread throughout the Church.

“Therefore purge out [Gk.— cleanse thoroughly] the old leaven, that you may become a new lump, even as you are unleavened, for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7).

They were being instructed to get rid of the leaven—to get rid of the sin—so that they could become a new lump of bread—a new body—in order to live a new way of life by being renewed in God’s way through obedience.

They were not fully working to get rid of the sin in their lives. Humans will always find leaven (sin), but we are to get rid of it when it is revealed to us. This verse is also speaking of the fact that they were spiritually observing the Feast of Unleavened Bread and as part of that observance had removed physical leavening from their homes for this period of time— “as you are unleavened (physically).”

“Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven [sin], neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:8).

Traditional Christianity does not teach about these verses that were given long after Christ had died as our Passover, and how they reveal that we are to continue observing God’s command to keep the annual Holy Days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Paul explained how these days were to be kept in the spirit of what they teach and that our lives are to become unleavened—absent of sin—by living truthfully before God in true obedience to Him in His way of life.

Although those in traditional Christianity teach that the laws of the Old Testament are done away, it should be obvious that they are not. It should be obvious by such verses that the early Church of the New Testament kept the annual Feast of Unleavened Bread. Other scriptures also show how they observed the weekly seventh-day Sabbath and other annual Holy Days as well.

Obedience to God in these matters was just a way of life for the Church. Different accounts throughout scripture reflect that truth. The New Testament is not written in the same way as the Old Testament when Israel was first given the law of God. The period of the New Testament is simply a witness of how the Church sought to live by the law of God that He had given them so long ago. It is not written to convince people of the validity of the law of God; that fact is simply taken for granted.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread teaches us that after baptism and forgiveness of sin through Christ we are to begin a journey out of spiritual Egypt—out of sin and the bondage it holds over our lives. We are to begin a process of change with a new way of living. When scripture speaks of being converted, it means we are to change from our old ways of carnal human nature to the new way of righteousness in God’s way of life. Baptism is only the beginning of the process of coming out of sin. It follows with a life-long and continual process of repentance in order to continue in the journey of coming out of sin.

Churches in this world fail to tell this truth. Instead, they teach that we are under grace by the sacrifice of Christ and that the law has been done away. They believe grace means being free from the law of God. But that is not the “grace” that is actually revealed throughout scripture.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? [Paul is asking... if the law is done away through grace, then should we sin even more so that God’s grace might be even greater in our lives?] Certainly not! How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer in it? Do you not know that so many of us as were baptized [Gk.– “fully immersed in water”] into Joshua the Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life [by obedience to God’s way of life]. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man [our previous life before baptism] is nailed to the pole with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed [Gk.– “done away with”], that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:1-6).

It isn’t the law of God that is done away, but it is the “old man of sin” that is to be done away. We are to come out of the watery grave of baptism and begin living a new life as a new creature (Gk.– “creation”) in God, just as Paul told the Ephesians “...that you put off concerning your former conduct the old self, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. But become renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness”(Eph. 4:22-24).

Coming out of spiritual Egypt and becoming unleavened in our lives is a life-long battle. As Paul explained in Romans 7, there is a constant battle against the carnal human mind that is in us, but this phase of God’s plan shows us the beginning of a process of becoming free from bondage as we enter into a war of fighting against sin. We have to fight against our carnal human nature and strive to live by God’s true way of righteousness. It is through this process, this struggle, that holy righteous character can be developed within us.

Just as God commands us to put leavening out of our homes and to eat only unleavened bread during the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, He also tells us to put leavening (sin) out of our lives and eat only of the true unleavened bread of life which comes in and through Joshua the Christ

PENTECOST

The next step in God’s plan of salvation is pictured by Pentecost, which is also known as the Feast of Firstfruits. Pentecost in Greek means to “count fifty.” The date for keeping this appointed time with God can only be known if we understand and observe the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. God very specifically tells when to begin counting, from within a period of time inside the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so one can know when to convene before Him on this third annual Sabbath.

God’s plan proceeds forward in an orderly and continuous manner. Each consecutive Holy Day progressively reveals more about the process through which mankind is able to receive salvation and become part of God’s spiritual Family. Again, all of God’s annual Holy Day observances are listed and commanded in the Book of Leviticus.

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap the harvest of it, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits beginning of your harvest unto the priest. [Some have incorrectly translated this word from Hebrew as “firstfruits.” However, it simply means the “first” or “beginning.”] He shall wave the sheaf before the Eternal, to be accepted for you. On the day after the Sabbath [the weekly Sabbath] the priest shall wave it’” (Leviticus 23:10-11).

One cannot fully know when or how to observe Pentecost unless they understand God’s instruction given in these verses that showed the Israelites how they were to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As these verses continue, one should begin to grasp how God has tied together the importance for what is revealed in the meaning for observing Unleavened Bread with that of observing the Holy Day that follows, which is Pentecost.

The period of time being spoken of in these verses is the Passover season, specifically during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The smaller early harvest in Israel began in the springtime, but the larger fall harvest, which is also pictured symbolically in God’s plan of salvation, will be covered later in a different annual Sabbath.

In Israel, many spring crops are ready to be harvested before Passover. Israel was given very specific instructions regarding the ceremonies concerning this early harvest that they were to observe during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

“You shall eat no bread, or roasted grain, or green ears, until that very day when you have brought the offering unto your God. This shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings” (Lev. 23:14).

As part of this instruction, the Israelites were told to bring a sheaf of the first (of the beginning) of this harvest. It was to be used later in a ceremony that would take place during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Although harvesting could begin before this time, they could not eat any of the new harvest until this ceremony was observed. All the symbolism contained in this entire process is awesomely revealing.

This sheaf was to be waved before God as an offering during this ceremony that was always held on the first day of the week (Sunday) during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The “Wave Sheaf Offering” was symbolic of Joshua the Christ. Christ was to be presented to God to be “accepted” for us, which fulfilled this symbolism when he was received of the Father after his resurrection.

We have already covered the fact that Joshua the Christ was resurrected from the dead at the end of the seventh-day Sabbath. However, Christ did not ascend to God until several hours later on the first day of the week on that following morning. Notice this story as Mary had come to the tomb in the early morning of the first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Mary Magdalene wondered where Joshua’s body had been taken, as it was not in the tomb, and she did not know that he already had been resurrected from the dead the previous evening just before sunset on the weekly Sabbath.

“Now Mary stood outside at the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting there, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Joshua had lain. They said to her, ‘Woman, why do you weep?’ She answered them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned around, and saw Joshua standing there, but did not know that it was Joshua. Then Joshua said to her, ‘Woman, why do you weep? Whom do you seek?’ She thought he was the gardener, and said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Joshua said unto her, ‘Mary.’ Then she turned herself and said to him, ‘rabboni,’ which is to say, teacher. Joshua said to her, ‘Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended unto my Father. Now go to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, even to my God, and your God’” (John 20:11-17).

Then the story flow that follows is contained in Matthew’s account where he is speaking of what happened next as Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, were walking back to tell the disciples what Joshua had said to Mary. It is important to note the timing of this and the distinction that is made between this occasion and the previous one when Christ first told the women not to touch him.

“Now as they were on their way to tell his disciples, behold, Joshua met them, saying, ‘Greeting.’ Now they went and held fast to him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then Joshua said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go tell my brethren that they are to go into Galilee, and there they shall see me’” (Matthew 28:9-10).

So Mary Magdalene was the first on that Sunday morning to whom Joshua the Christ appeared, and he spoke to her twice: once at the tomb, and then again as she was on her way back to tell the disciples what Christ had told her to say to them.

In the first account, it states that Christ told her not to touch him as he had not yet ascended to God. This was because he first had to fulfill the symbolism of the Wave Sheaf Offering that was always waved by the high priest on this morning of the first day of the week during the Days of Unleavened Bread. After his resurrection, Christ had to first be received and accepted by God as the Wave Sheaf Offering for mankind.

This was a quick ceremony performed by the high priest. It was also a quick fulfillment as Christ had just talked to Mary at the tomb telling her not to touch him, and then as the two Marys were going back to see the disciples, Joshua appeared to them again, and this time, he allowed them to touch him. He did so because he had now fulfilled the symbolism of the Wave Sheaf Offering.

Joshua the Christ perfectly fulfilled all of the symbolism contained in the Passover observance, and he perfectly fulfilled the symbolism of the Wave Sheaf Offering that was presented to God on the first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Now we can continue with the instructions on how to count Pentecost, as it is given in Leviticus.

“You shall count unto you from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering until seven Sabbaths shall be complete. Even unto the day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days, and you shall offer a new meat offering unto the Eternal” (Leviticus 23:15-16).

The “sheaf of the wave offering,” which represented Joshua the Christ, was a specific part of the ceremonies that were to be carried out during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Therefore, this first day of the week has to fall inside these days of observance to start the count of fifty days.

Again, God is very specific as to the timing of this annual Sabbath of Pentecost. This annual Holy Day was to be counted beginning from a specific day (the first day of the week) within the observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven weekly Sabbaths, from this day, was forty-nine days. Adding one more day, making it a total of fifty days, would bring us to another period of time on the first day of the week. Pentecost always falls on the first day of the week (Sunday on the Roman Calendar), but that day must always be counted from the first day of the week (Sunday) during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Then, in Leviticus, it continues with instruction for the observance of Pentecost.

“From out of your dwellings you shall bring two wave loaves of two- tenths of an ephah [ancient Hebrew dry measurement, approximately equal to a bushel] that shall be of fine flour. These shall be baked with leaven [yeast]. These are the firstfruits unto the Eternal” (Leviticus 23:17).

“The priest shall wave the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Eternal, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Eternal for the priest” (vs. 20).

On this day of Pentecost, the Israelites were to observe this ceremony. The two loaves were symbolic of the firstfruits (the 144,000) of God’s plan. It is about those who will be firstfruits—those first resurrected into the Kingdom of God.

God has a plan of salvation whereby mankind is offered the blessing of becoming a part of His Family—to live in the God Family for all eternity as spirit beings. This Holy Day pictures those whom God called early in His plan to become part of His Family first. As the early spring harvest is referred to in scripture as the “firstfruits of the land,” so are these, the firstfruits of God’s plan, to become part of His Family earlier than the majority of mankind. The much greater fall harvest of the land pictures salvation for the far larger remainder of mankind, which is represented in the last two annual Holy Days.

These firstfruits are symbolized in the ceremony of these two wave loaves. One wave loaf represented those who lived by faith in the coming of a Messiah through whom God would save mankind. It represents those who were faithful that lived through the time that led up to Christ’s first coming as the promised Messiah and our Passover.

The other loaf represents those who have lived faithfully in the acceptance of salvation through our Passover from the time of Christ (after his death) being received as the Wave Sheaf until his second coming.

It was instructed that two lambs be brought along with the wave loaves before God as each lamb represented Christ, a lamb for each of these two periods of time.

As the Wave Sheaf Offering picturing Joshua the Christ is waved to be accepted by God during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so are the two wave loaves to be waved in an offering to be accepted by God on Pentecost. These firstfruits are pictured as being accepted by God and will become part of the God Family when they are resurrected and given eternal life.

There is also symbolism in the fact that these wave loaves are mixed with leaven. Joshua the Christ is always pictured as “unleavened”—being without sin. But these, although accepted by God, are pictured as being leavened—having been mixed with sin. Christ never sinned and he is therefore pictured as being unleavened. All mankind has sinned, so they are pictured as being leavened.

These wave loaves picture the 144,000 that God has called and chosen out of all mankind in the first 6,000 years of man on earth. They are resurrected to eternal life as spirit beings in the God Family—in the Kingdom of God—when Joshua the Christ returns. God has revealed that the wave loaves are offered up on a Pentecost, and this represents the 144,000 who come with Christ at his return.

Notice how these two loaves of the firstfruits are described in Revelation.

“Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. Then I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers with their harps. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders, and no one could learn that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins [speaking of that which is spiritual]. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among mankind, being firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb” (Rev. 14:1-4).

These firstfruits are redeemed from among mankind during the first 6,000 years. They were brought out of sin—forgiven of sin— cleansed before God through Joshua the Christ. This 144,000 referred to as “firstfruits” in Revelation 14:4 are the same ones spoken of that have been “redeemed to God” by the blood of Christ (Revelation 5:9) as well as those that “have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14).

Just as these two loaves are made from a very small amount of the grain from the “firstfruits of the land,” so are the 144,000 very small compared to all the billions of people that have lived during this same 6,000-year period of time.

As people come to better understand the plan of God revealed through His Sabbaths, they can begin to understand why so few are spoken of in the Old Testament as having a genuine relationship with God. The Old Testament period covers the first 4,000 years of man up to the time of Christ’s first coming as the Passover Lamb of God. This same understanding will also help one see why the Church is spoken of as His little flock over the past 2,000 years. The Church has never been a large organization on earth because God’s plan involves redeeming only 144,000 from this 6,000-year period of time.

The story flow of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost in Leviticus 23 is directly tied together. Both involve the early harvest referred to as “the firstfruits of the land.” Joshua the Christ is the first of the firstfruits of God’s harvest; the 144,000 are pictured as the rest of the “firstfruits of the land.”

There is much more to the meaning of Pentecost, but this has given a basic understanding of those who are called firstfruits.

The story of Pentecost is a powerful one. God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and took them through the wilderness to Mt. Sinai where, on the day of Pentecost, He gave them His law in the form of the Ten Commandments. However, the whole history of the Israelites is that they could not keep the law. Carnal human beings, of and by themselves, are incapable of keeping the righteousness of God’s law. Even to this day, the tribe of Israel known as Judah, generally referred to as the Jewish people, is the epitome of this story. The very best that man can do, on his own ability, is reflected in the life of the Jewish people. None of the other tribes of Israel held to the law of God like the tribe of Judah. All the others rebelled against God, long before Judah.

While man’s best example of adherence to God’s laws is found in the Jewish people, Christ found himself being attacked by these same people. This revealed that although they had an appearance of holding to the law of the God of the Old Testament, they did not understand Him, His ways, or even the law itself. If they had, then they would have recognized Joshua the Christ as the Messiah. In their blindness, the Jewish people refused the teaching and instruction that came to them from the Son of God.

The witness in their lives, and in the lives of all the Israelites, is that mankind, of and by himself, is incapable of living by the ways and laws of God. Pentecost reveals what is lacking in their lives—why they have not understood the teachings of the Old Testament—and why they did not recognize the Messiah when he came and spoke to them nearly 2,000 years ago.

The book of Acts reveals more about the importance of Pentecost in the plan of God. After Joshua the Christ died and was resurrected, he appeared to the disciples, which is the story in the opening of the book of Acts.

“In the former account I recorded [referring back to what he wrote in the Book of Luke], O Theophilus, of all that Joshua began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up [taken into heaven] because after this it would be through the holy spirit that instructions would be given to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom also he showed himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God” (Acts 1:1-3).

The gospel—good news—that Joshua the Christ taught the disciples was about the Kingdom of God. Although Christ continued with the disciples for forty days after his resurrection, God’s purpose was that Christ remain with Him until it became time for him to return in the Kingdom of God as King of kings. Ten days after Christ was taken into the heavens, the disciples observed Pentecost, and from that day forward, the holy spirit is what would lead, guide, and instruct them, as Christ was no longer personally with them in their immediate presence.

“[Christ] Being assembled together with them, instructed them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father [referring to receiving the holy spirit], which, he said, ‘You have heard of me, for John truly baptized with [Gk.- immersed in] water, but you shall be baptized with [immersed in] the holy spirit not many days from now.’ When they therefore had come together, they asked of him, saying, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?’” (Acts1:4-6).

The disciples did not understand that Joshua the Christ came the first time to fulfill Passover and that it would be nearly 2,000 years before the Kingdom of God would be established on earth. They thought he might fulfill prophecy by bringing that Kingdom to them at that very time.

“He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has set to be in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witness unto me both in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and into the uttermost part of the earth’” (Acts 1:7-8).

The coming of the Kingdom of God to this earth was not for their time, but it is for our time—now! It is only a very short time away because God has been revealing that all the Seals of Revelation have already been opened. The opening of the Seals has been a major marker for timing in final end-time events. Yes, the sobering reality is that the last Seal—the Seventh Seal—has already been opened and all that remains before WWIII begins is the release of the first four Trumpet events that will be manifest once nuclear weapons begin to be used.

Concerning the day of Pentecost, Joshua was making it very clear to the disciples that they were to stay in Jerusalem until they received the promise of God’s spirit. More of this account and the pouring out of God’s spirit upon the disciples can be read in Acts 2. Many people who witnessed this great event on the day of Pentecost became convicted of the words they heard from the disciples, so much so that they asked what they needed to do next.

“Then Peter said unto them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Joshua the Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the holy spirit” (Acts 2:38).

Although the law of God was given to the Israelites on the day of Pentecost, God revealed to mankind that His way of life cannot be lived through human effort alone, but mankind must also have the power of His holy spirit living in them. That is what was lacking in the children of Israel. It is still lacking in the lives of all who dwell on the earth except for those in the true Church of God whom the Father has called to understand His truth.

God’s word and way of life is a matter of the spirit, and one must receive that spirit in order to understand the true will of God. Otherwise, people are limited to their own human reasoning when reading God’s words and come up with their own ideas and beliefs about God and Joshua the Christ. That is why there are so many religions on this earth—all conflicting with one another in their teachings. There is only one true Church and one truth—one way of life that comes from God.

Again, mankind is not able to come out of sin on his own. He cannot obey God and come out of sin, as Unleavened Bread pictures, unless God’s spirit dwells in him. It is only by acceptance of Joshua the Christ, as our Passover, that we can be forgiven of our sins. As the process of repentance and forgiveness takes place, God is there with the help of His spirit to make salvation possible.

The Book of Acts continues by showing that after baptism we receive the “laying on of hands” through God’s ministry, and if we have repented, then we are begotten of God’s spirit. It is the actual impregnation of the spirit of God that begets us. This is on a spiritual plane, but it is revealed by the “physical type” of human begettal. At the time a sperm cell impregnates the human egg, a life is begotten. It is not yet born into the world, but it grows in embryo until time for actual birth into the world.

This process, whereby humans are begotten of God’s spirit, is likened to the human process. After we are begotten of God’s spirit, we begin to grow—spiritually in embryo. As we continue in spiritual growth by conquering and overcoming the way of our selfish human nature, we continue to mature until the time we can be born into God’s Family—into the very Kingdom of God. Traditional Christianity does not understand what it actually means to be “born again.”

The expression “born again” is seen by most to mean a kind of “religious experience” leading to the acceptance of the one they call “Jesus” Christ. Though such people often do experience an emotional change accompanied by a life-changing focus, it is not what God reveals to be true.

Nicodemus, who was recognized as a great religious leader of his time, came to Joshua and asked him about the Kingdom of God. But Nicodemus could not understand what he heard. Joshua had told him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, except a person be born again, they cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Nicodemus could only think physically about what Christ said and asked him, “How can a person be born when they are old? Can they enter a second time into their mother’s womb and be born?” (Verse 4). Notice Joshua’s response:

“Joshua answered, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, except a person be born of water and of the spirit, they cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit’” (John 3:5-6).

Joshua made it very clear. He said that which is born physically can only be produced by something physical. In human life when a physical sperm cell impregnates a physical egg, a physical embryo is produced. It is all physical. The physical process of an embryo growing in a mother’s womb produces a child at birth.

God has given man a human spirit that makes us different from animals. It gives us individuality. We are not pre-programmed to respond to nature as God made the animal kingdom. With this “spirit essence” in the human mind, we have the God-like capacity of thought, creativity, and memory. This ability makes us individually unique. We have freedom of choice; we are free moral agents.

God cannot create perfect righteous character in others; it can only be accomplished as a matter of free choice. Otherwise, we would have to be programmed to respond “robotically” in matters of morality to live perfectly in accordance with God’s law. But God wants us to choose on our own; we must choose between our own selfish ways or the ways of God. Again, the opportunity to choose comes in God’s own time. Before this time comes to mankind—before God can give this opportunity to people—the witness of mankind is that it will always reject God! So in God’s perfect timing, He will give people the best opportunity possible to be able to receive Him and His way of life.

Paul shared this knowledge of the human mind with the Corinthians. Paul explained that those in the Church could understand the mysteries of God. These “mysteries” cannot be understood without God’s spirit and, therefore, His ways remain hidden—a mystery to mankind.

“But God has revealed them unto us by His spirit, for the spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the things of God knows no man, but the spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

Paul is clearly showing that without God’s holy spirit a person is unable to know the truths and ways of God because He must reveal them. Mankind can only understand those things that are on a physical plane and cannot understand things that are on a spiritual plane. That is why Nicodemus could not understand what Christ was saying. He was not being drawn by God’s holy spirit.

The spirit is the power of God. It is not a “being” as traditional Christianity teaches. The teaching of a trinity is false! There is no being called the Holy Spirit.

“Now we have not received [speaking to the Church], the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God so that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things we also speak, not in words which mankind’s wisdom teaches, but which the holy spirit teaches, by comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man [physical human being] does not receive the things of the spirit of God, because they are foolishness to him, and neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:12-14).

So mankind of itself is unable to know God and His ways unless He reveals them. This is the reason mankind has continually rejected God and His ways. The pride in selfish human reasoning rejects the truth of God. Instead, mankind has formulated its own religious ideas and concepts of God that are more to its liking. The witness of mankind over 6,000 years is that it rejects God. That is why there are people who will hate what is written in this book. They cannot get past their own pride! That is also the reason why this world must be humbled before Joshua the Christ returns as King of kings.

If you are understanding these things, then there is only one way that is possible! God is giving you that opportunity and ability now. You are being drawn by God’s spirit. If that is the case, then the choice is yours. Will you accept what is true? Some will have to go through more humbling by experiencing catastrophic events that can work to turn a mind to look to God for help and answers. The longer people reject God, the less likely they will be to receive His help and favor to live through those things that are coming.

God is going to begin to call the whole world! Yet most will not humble themselves to receive the Kingdom of God that is coming.

Let’s return to the story flow of Pentecost. The physical process for human birth can only produce that which is physical, and the same is true of spiritual birth. A human being must be begotten of God’s spirit. This is accomplished by the impregnation of God’s spirit with the “human spirit” God has given all mankind. After the baptism in water by being totally immersed, one comes up out of the water and is from that point forward to walk in newness of life. It is immediately after baptism that the “laying on of hands” is performed by the ministry and the impregnation of God’s holy spirit can beget us.

Once begotten of God’s holy spirit, one can begin to grow spiritually, but only “in embryo” within the Church. We live in a physical body that is impregnated with God’s holy spirit. We begin living a life of conquering the flesh—the pulls of human nature—thereby developing holy, righteous character. This process eventually allows us to be “born” into the Kingdom of God—the God Family—as spirit beings, fully “born of the spirit.”

Joshua the Christ explained to Nicodemus that, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh.” He was explaining that flesh (that which is physical) can only produce something that is flesh—physical. Human physical begettal leads only to human physical birth. But Christ went on to explain: “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Only when one is impregnated with the holy spirit of God can one, through time, be born into—enter—the Kingdom of God.

It is through this process that all the firstfruits will enter the Kingdom of God. When Joshua the Christ returns, they will be resurrected into spirit life, as spirit beings, composed of spirit in God’s Family.

Pentecost pictures the “means” by which a person can understand and live God’s ways. Through spiritual maturity and time, one can be changed from mortal to immortal—from physical to spiritual—born into God’s spiritual Family. Pentecost also pictures the firstfruits of God’s Family, those who will be resurrected first, out of all mankind, at the end of the first 6,000 years of mankind on earth. But all those who follow will also go through the same process of being drawn by and then begotten of God’s holy spirit which can lead to their being born into the very God Family.

During this final period of the end-time, it was in 2008 that God revealed an additional truth to His Church about Pentecost. It is about the actual timing for when Christ will return to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

Joshua the Christ is called the first of the firstfruits and he is pictured by the Wave-Sheaf offering that was waved before God to be accepted by Him as the first to be received into His Kingdom—His Family—in spirit life. Christ perfectly fulfilled this Wave-Sheaf offering when he was accepted by God on the Sunday morning after his resurrection. To fulfill this, Christ had to be accepted by God on the exact morning of the day the Wave-Sheaf was commanded to be observed.

The Wave-Sheaf offering always occurred on a Sunday morning during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was from this point that people were to count forward by 50 days to know when to observe the annual Holy Day of Pentecost.

God has revealed that in like manner, the rest of the firstfruits that are pictured by the wave loaves that are to be accepted by Him, must also occur on this Holy Day in order to fulfill its meaning. This means that the 144,000 represented by the wave loaves are to be resurrected and accepted by God to be received into His Kingdom—His Family—in spirit life just as Christ was when he fulfilled the Wave-Sheaf offering. The Wave-Sheaf offering and the Wave Loaves offering are uniquely tied together in timing and purpose.

God has now revealed that it will be on a day of Pentecost that Christ will return. It is then that he will be united with the 144,000 who are at that time resurrected into God’s Kingdom. They will then come with Christ as a great spirit army who will put an end to WWIII and after that will establish the Kingdom of God to reign over mankind in the Millennium.

FEAST OF TRUMPETS

As one moves forward from one annual Holy Day to the next, more continues to be revealed about God’s plan and purpose for mankind. Next, we come to the fourth annual Holy Day that occurs in the fall in the Northern Hemisphere. This day is known in Judaism as Rosh Hashanah, and although Judaism has lost the true meaning and purpose of God’s Holy Days, they do know the correct day for its observance.

The correct time for the Feast of Trumpets is generally listed on the Roman Calendar in September or early October.

“Then the Eternal spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying, “In the seventh month [of God’s calendar], in the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath, a memorial [a yearly observance] of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation”’” (Lev. 23:23-24).

The Feast of Trumpets primarily focuses on events that lead up to and include Christ’s coming to establish the Kingdom of God—His government on earth. Although there is meaning in Pentecost that foreshadows Christ’s actual return and the resurrected 144,000 that will return with him, the Feast of Trumpets also includes this event (within the 7th Trumpet) by announcing it and the events that follow. This last Trumpet also includes events that work to establish God’s government after Christ returns with the 144,000. These events tie in the meaning of Pentecost with the Feast of Tabernacles which pictures the establishment of the Millennium.

Some of the greatest meaning in the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets is the final heralding (trumpeting) that proclaims the coming of the King of kings who is to reign over mankind as the prophesied Messiah.

In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul talks about trumpets, and their meaning is also contained in the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets.

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren [this is addressing the Church—those who are called to be among the 144,000], concerning those who have fallen asleep [speaking of those who were called and have died in the faith over the past 6,000 years], so that you do not sorrow, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Joshua died and rose again, even so God also will bring [send] those who sleep in Joshua with him [God will resurrect them to return with Joshua when he comes]” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).

“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord [speaking of those still living who have been called to be firstfruits among the 144,000] in no way precede those who are asleep [dead in Christ]. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain [those few called to be firstfruits who are still alive in the Church at the time of Christ’s coming] shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

Paul described this same event to the Corinthian church.

“In a moment, in the blinking of the eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible [given spirit life], and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

Paul explained this event of God’s plan that will take place when the last trumpet—the Seventh Trumpet—begins to be fulfilled. When this Trumpet event begins, the 144,000 will be resurrected. Those who are dead are resurrected first, then immediately following that, those who are yet alive who are part of that count of the 144,000 are changed to spirit life and no longer physical.

Most all who have been sealed as the firstfruits—the 144,000—are dead, but they will be resurrected at this time to immortal life, once this last trumpet event becomes fulfilled. Those few firstfruits who are alive at this time will be changed in an instant from mortal physical life to immortal spirit beings to become part of the God Family—the Kingdom of God.

“The seventh angel sounded, and there came to pass great voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever’” (Revelation 11:15).

All the firstfruits called over the past 6,000 years will be resurrected on the day of this last Trumpet event, the first event of the Seventh Trumpet of the Seventh Seal. Yet the actual time of Christ’s return with the 144,000 is what the Holy Day of Pentecost reveals. However, it is the announcement from all Seven Trumpets that leads up to this great fulfillment. The primary fulfillment in the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets is contained in the announcement from all Seven Trumpets.

God’s Holy Days focus on specific segments of His overall plan for mankind. These often overlap and are intertwined in meaning and purpose because these all work together through a complete process that concerns salvation that is spread over 7,100 years.

The first six Trumpets concern events that are about WWIII. These Trumpet events that precede the Seventh Trumpet are all part of what makes the fulfillment of the beginning of the Seventh Trumpet possible.

The announcement of the Seventh Trumpet begins with the declaration that “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever.” Once this portion contained in the meaning of Pentecost is fulfilled, with Christ returning with the 144,000, there is yet more that becomes fulfilled in the meaning of Trumpets that goes beyond this event which then establishes Christ as the King of kings.

As trumpets are used in the announcement of Christ coming as King, he does not become fully established as King over all the earth until he and the 144,000 take control of it. The first 6 trumpet announcements are used as alarms of war before Christ’s coming. The 7th Trumpet not only announces Christ’s return with the 144,000, but it also announces a war that will continue after that return. That war is for the purpose of firmly establishing the government of God’s Kingdom over the nations.

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on him wascalled Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war [Gk. – wages war]. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head many crowns [figuratively—now ruling over all nations]. He had a name written that no one knew except himself, and he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God [who is Joshua the Christ]. The armies [the 144,000]in heaven [the heaven of the atmosphere above the earth (in the sky)], clothed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and he has on a robe and on his thigh a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:11-16).

So this final fulfillment that is pictured in the Trumpets that lead up to Christ’s coming continues to be fulfilled even after his return. That is for the purpose of establishing his reign in the Kingdom of God that will now rule over the earth. It has also been quoted earlier that at this time Christ and the 144,000 will begin to destroy those who are destroying the earth.

In this manner, the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets ties in the meaning of Pentecost through Trumpets in order to establish the Millennium, which is pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles.

The blowing of trumpets had great meaning to the Israelites after they had been freed from Egypt. As the Israelites moved through the wilderness for forty years, trumpets were used to signal instructions, especially for movement from one encampment to another. Trumpets were also used as a warning of alarm and war. It should be clear how the physical use of these trumpets by the Israelites bears meaning in the fulfillment of God’s plan and purpose contained in the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets.

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

The fifth annual Sabbath is the Day of Atonement. Judaism calls this time Yom Kippur, and the correct day for its observance is generally recorded on the Roman Calendar by that same name.

“The Eternal spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation [commanded assembly] unto you, and you shall afflict your souls [accomplished by a total fast from food and drink], and offer an offering made by fire unto the Eternal. You shall do no work in that same day for it is a Day of Atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Eternal your God’” (Leviticus 23:26-28).

“‘You shall do no manner of work. This shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest [an annual Sabbath], and you shall afflict your souls in the ninth day of the month at even [beginning from sundown of the ninth day], from even unto even [observed until sundown of the next day], you shall keep your Sabbath’” (Leviticus 23:31-32).

This annual Sabbath pictures the entire process covered from Passover to the Feast of Trumpets. Much of that process will have been fulfilled when Christ returns and Satan has been removed from the presence of mankind.

This day pictures the atoning process—the process whereby mankind can be reconciled to God. The firstfruits of God, after Trumpets has been fulfilled, are now fully atoned—reconciled—to God. The entire process (revealed through Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Trumpets) shows how the firstfruits were able to be born into God’s Family—becoming part of the Kingdom of God.

Although the complete process will have been accomplished in the firstfruits, billions remain who are yet to be atoned—reconciled—to God. Every human being must still go through the same process as those called in the first 6,000 years who are among the 144,000. The Day of Atonement pictures that entire process. Everyone must come into unity and oneness with God–to become at one with Him.

Being reconciled to God the Father by the blood of Joshua the Christ begins with Passover. We must repent, come out of spiritual Egypt (sin), which is pictured by the Feast of Unleavened Bread, be baptized, and receive the impregnation of God’s spirit (pictured through Pentecost).

As we grow spiritually and overcome our nature, God can begin to transform the very way we think and bring us into unity and harmony with His one true way of life. After someone has successfully gone through this entire process, they will be able to be made fully at one with God by a change from mortal to immortal, from physical to spiritual, into the Kingdom of God.

“I therefore implore you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, as your reasonable service. Do not become conformed to this world, but become transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

The Kingdom of God is the Family of God. It will be composed of spirit beings who were once physical. They will be at one with God for all eternity.

The Fate of Satan and the Demonic Realm

Although this day pictures the entire process of reconciliation, of being fully atoned to God, it also pictures the fulfillment of another great event which pictures the primary influence of sin being completely removed from mankind.

When the Kingdom of God comes to this earth, everyone from that point forward will be offered the ability to enter into this process of atonement to God, as opposed to only a few who were offered this during the first 6,000 years. This time of a greater salvation formankind will flourish in large part because of the fate of Satan and the demonic realm.

When God’s Kingdom comes mankind will have been delivered from its own destructive ways. Now, Joshua the Christ will rule over all the earth with the 144,000 that were resurrected at his return. The ways of God will govern the course of mankind. Justice will be swift. The knowledge of God will fill the earth. People will learn to live in peace and harmony with others.

During that time, there will be only one religion on earth. There will be only one government ruling the earth. Everyone will be given the opportunity to keep the seventh-day Sabbath and the annual Holy Days. Great harmony, peace, and genuine love will fill the lives of families, communities, and businesses—in all who choose to live God’s way.

False religions, politics, lobbyists, cumbersome and bureaucratic governments, corporate greed, drug smuggling, human trafficking, and so many other evils in today’s world will not be allowed to exist. The way of competitive greed will be replaced by the way of cooperation geared toward benefitting others and the planet.

But even with all the awesome improvements that will take place for mankind in that time, one great obstacle still stands in the way of total peace, harmony, and prosperity for mankind. That obstacle is Satan and his demons (the angels who rebelled with him). The Day of Atonement also pictures the removal of Satan and his demons from the presence of mankind.

Lucifer was one of the archangels of God. He and a third of the angelic realm were given the responsibility of caring for the earth. The government of God was administered through this great archangel. His story is one of pride and rebellion toward God. Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:12-17 give a general outline of this being, yet much more of the story is contained in fragmented areas throughout scripture.

God has not revealed the duration of timing for these various events. However, the evidence in our immediate solar system, as well as the earth itself, reveal a great deal when combined with the true accounts of scripture. Millions of years ago, God created the universe and our earth. But, again, God has not revealed the exact timing or the complete order of these events anywhere in scripture.

Before the creation of the physical universe and earth, God created the angelic realm. God is spirit and those beings He created are spirit. Nothing existed except the spirit world. The limited capacity of the human mind can only deal with the physical world around us, but our ability to grasp a spirit world is limited to physical concepts. God revealed that He did create a physical universe that included this earth. It is recorded that the angels rejoiced in God’s physical creation.

God revealed to the angelic realm portions of His plan to create His own Family through human beings. The Book of Hebrews reveals that the angelic realm—the angelic kingdom—was created to minister, in time, to those who would live physical lives and eventually be born into God’s very Family.

At some point in time, Lucifer began to desire more for himself. He did not agree with God’s plans or the purpose for the physical creation. He rebelled against God, and nearly a third of the angelic realm eventually rebelled with him. As a result, a great angelic war was fought; it extended into the physical creation.

God declared that the original creation of earth was made perfect and beautiful. Life was on the earth, but it was not the life that would exist when man would eventually be created. The earth had early forms of life on the land, in the sky, and in the sea. Skeletal remains of many of these creatures can be seen in museums and are evident throughout the earth.

What happened? Scientists try to give their “intellectual” interpretations of these matters, but the simple reality is that everything was swiftly destroyed at the time of Lucifer’s rebellion. All life on earth was destroyed suddenly. That was hundreds of thousands of years ago. The story beginning in Genesis is speaking of mankind’s creation, along with appropriate plant and animal life to complement mankind. It is not the actual original creation of the earth itself—that happened so very long before mankind’s creation.

“In the beginning [There is no definite article in Hebrew. It should read, ‘in a beginning...’] God created the heaven and the earth. [In a beginning, God did create the earth and the entire universe over much time—millions upon millions of years ago. There was no evolution, but simply a vast amount of time in creation.] And the earth was [Heb.— “became”] without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2).

In this account, the earth already existed. It had been initially created millions of years earlier. However, it had come to be in a state of waste and disorder. Darkness shrouded the entire earth. As it states, the power of God’s spirit began to move over the waters of the earth, as the waters already existed. Then, God began to work on the entire earth—to bring back life. The entire picture here was one of chaos, as God began to renew the face of the earth as described in Psalms. Yes, the earth is millions of years old, but mankind has only been here for nearly 6,000 years.

Due to God’s plan to create His own Family, Elohim, that would be much greater than that of the angelic realm, Satan began to turn against God. He loathed God’s plan to create beings that, with time, would become greater than him. Once he had turned a third of the angelic realm to his own jealous thinking, they were determined to destroy all life on earth. They did just that as the first creation of life was destroyed in an instant. God has not yet revealed to mankind how all this occurred, but only that it did.

When Satan’s rebellion took place, God changed Lucifer’s name to Satan, and those angels who followed him became known as demons. God confined them to this earth. Their presence and influence on mankind would serve as a part of God’s plan to reveal the destructiveness and evil of all that resists His righteous ways.

When Lucifer rebelled, the government of God on earth had ceased. It is now, in our time, that the government of God is going to once again be restored. Joshua the Christ will usher in the Kingdom of God—the government of God over the earth.

Yes, this Day of Atonement also pictures the removal of Satan and his demons from the presence of God and mankind. They will no longer be able to influence and deceive mankind, except for a very short time at the very end of the 1,100-year reign of the Kingdom of God. At that time, this Day of Atonement will have even more meaning when Satan and the demons are once again removed, and this time—for all time—for all eternity.

The Day of Atonement pictures a time when Satan and the demons will have no part in God’s future plans and purpose of continuing life. Instead, this annual Sabbath wonderfully pictures this world becoming fully atoned to God.

THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES

This period of time has great meaning, but we will only cover a condensed version of this Holy Day season. Leviticus 23 continues with the annual Holy Days and describes a final observance that lasts for eight days. The first seven days is called the Feast of Tabernacles with the first day being an annual Sabbath. This period of seven days is followed by an eighth-day observance, which is also an annual Sabbath, the last day in the revelation of the plan of God. It is called the Last Great Day.

This Feast of Tabernacles pictures the time when the Kingdom of God will come to rule mankind for 1,000 years. Much has already been said about the coming Messiah and his reign on the earth. This festive observance pictures the time that is about to be ushered in on this earth. It will come once Christ and the 144,000 intervene to stop WWIII.

As it has been stated, the weekly Sabbath pictures the last 1,000 years in the 7,000-year plan of God. The Feast of Tabernacles focuses mostly on this same period of time and pictures that final 1,000 years when the Kingdom of God will rule all nations.

This seven-day Feast has also been referred to as the Feast of Booths in Old Testament observance because God had told the Israelites to build a kind of booth (open-air hut) which was to be a small temporary structure that was made of branches, twigs, and leaves and/or palms. One was to sit inside this booth for a small portion of time each day of the Feast and to specifically remember and think upon how God had delivered them from captivity in Egypt and then led them into a prosperous promised land. They were to remember how the children of Israel dwelt in temporary dwellings (tabernacles) for 40 years as they journeyed through the wilderness until God brought them into the promised land.

The Feast was to be observed in this manner until the Church of God was formed in 31 AD. Just as Christ changed how the Passover was to be observed differently once the Church began, the way the Feast of Tabernacles was observed had also been changed. The Israelites were to focus in a physical sense upon how God had delivered them from Egypt and led them to a land that He gave to them.

However, for the Church, God revealed the manner in which the Feast of Tabernacles is to be observed that carries the spiritual meaning of what the Israelites had observed physically.

God’s plan and purpose through what is revealed in this Holy Day season is about how He is leading mankind into a kind of spiritual promised land or spiritual inheritance. As physical human beings, we are given temporary dwellings—our physical human bodies—to live out our physical lives. However, God’s purpose is to offer mankind, in His timing, the opportunity to be delivered from the bondage of selfish carnal human nature and the ways of mankind that are likened spiritually to being in spiritual captivity in Egypt.

Although mankind has only a temporary time for dwelling in a physical human body, God’s purpose is to lead it into age-lasting life in spirit bodies—no longer in temporary dwellings, but spirit dwellings forever in the God Family of Elohim.

As with the physical Israelites, mankind can be delivered out of the corruption and bondage of living in temporary dwellings as they move through the wilderness of a carnal life. With the help and power of God’s holy spirit, mankind can grow spiritually until a time that it can be delivered into a spiritual promised land—an incorruptible inheritance into the Kingdom of God as Elohim.

The Millennial rule of Christ and the 144,000 pictures a time when mankind will have no more wars, no more rulership from manmade governments, and no more religious confusion that has existed over the past 6,000 years. Mankind will be able to enjoy a prosperity, richness of life, and peace of the likes that it has never experienced before. The Feast of Tabernacles pictures this incredible age that is now about to be ushered in.

This Holy Day period pictures this new era of great salvation that mankind will be able to experience under the rule of Joshua the Christ and the 144,000 who are established to rule with him. This festive season not only reflects that righteous rule over mankind, but it pictures God’s Church becoming established as the only true form of worship on earth.

THE LAST GREAT DAY

An additional day (eighth day) that follows the Feast of Tabernacles is traditionally referred to in God’s Church by either of two names: the Last Great Day or the Great White Throne Judgment. It is the seventh and last of the annual Sabbaths of God. It is an exciting revelation in the plan of God. As the early spring harvest of firstfruits is pictured in Pentecost, so is the larger fall harvest pictured in the Feast of Tabernacles that focuses on the Millennium and the Last Great Day that concludes the final 100 years.

The Last Great Day pictures a time of great judgment that follows the 7,000-year portion of God’s plan. It is a judgment period that covers a span of 100 years. This is the time spoken of earlier in this book when there will be no more birth of human life. The process of human begettal and birth will come to an end once the 7,000 years is over and the last hundred years begins.

Since this final period of human existence during this last hundred years has already been spoken of earlier in this book, it is not necessary to repeat everything here, but one needs to simply understand that this is what this seventh Holy Day is all about.

This is the time when billions will be resurrected to a second physical life. It is during this 100-year period that all who are given a second physical life to live will have the opportunity to choose and live God’s way of life. In making such a choice, they can become part of the Family of God—the Kingdom of God—born as spirit beings, just as the 144,000 were.

Those who refuse will die a second time—a second death—never to receive life again. God’s judgment on those who do not want to be part of His Family is not eternal torment. It is a punishment that will last for all time. It is death—never to be resurrected to life again—an eternal punishment.

It is during this last 100 years that billions will be resurrected. Those who have lived and died, young and old alike, will be given lifeagain in physical human bodies that are filled with vibrant health— whole and complete. It is then they can choose to become part of God’s eternal Family. That is the story of the Last Great Day and the completed creation of Elohim!

It is during this period that billions of people who have lived and died within some period of time during the first 6,000 years will now be given the opportunity to know and choose God’s true way of life. Everyone will be given 100 years in this second physical life in order to decide for themselves if they truly want God’s way of life or not.

Although many will choose God, there will still be many who will not. They will want to hold on to some other way and many of them will simply want what they knew and lived in their first physical life.

This last annual Holy Day also pictures what will happen at the end of this hundred years. It is at the end that millions upon millions will have chosen God’s way and grown spiritually to a level that they can then be accounted to be changed from physical life to spirit life in God’s Family—Elohim.

It is also toward the end of this hundred years that those who have not chosen God’s way of life will be judged to receive a second death. They will be put to death in this final moment of judgment. This is an eternal punishment that the world of traditional Christianity has twisted to mean being eternally punished. That is a sick and perverted concept and is blasphemous toward God. God does not have the kind of mind that would do such a sick thing. Instead, this concept reveals the kind of sick mind that is in Satan’s thinking toward mankind.

An eternal punishment of a second death given to all who refuse God’s way of life is simply a punishment that is everlasting in which they will never be resurrected to life again.

So at the end of 7,100 years of mankind dwelling upon the earth, there is an end to God’s plan for mankind as there will be no such existence ever again. Those who have been redeemed from among mankind over the previous 7,100 years are those who have freely chosen God’s way of life. When the Last Great Day comes to an end, there will be no more existence of mankind and those who continue on are those who will have been resurrected—changed from mortal to immortal—into everlasting spirit life as spirit beings in the God Family—Elohim.

This has always been God’s desire and plan for the creation of mankind. The creation and purpose of the existence of mankind is for the greater purpose of the creation of God’s own spirit Family. His Family is being created within human life that covers a span of 7,100 years. God’s Holy Days reveal that great plan and the process that is required to enter His Family—a Family that He loves beyond what mankind can comprehend.