Sermons - Cornerstone Christian Fellowship

Passover to Tabernacles - Part Thirty Six

Aug 28, 2022 by: John Herbert | Series: Passover to Tabernacles

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Eze 22:15 I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you.

We will continue to look at the outworking of God's purpose for the nation of Israel.

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Sunday August 28th 2022
Passover to Tabernacles
Part 36

1). Eze 22:15 I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you.

Hopefully, we will realize by now, that there is Divine purpose in the Lord scattering the Jewish people among the Gentile nations. It is to cleanse them from their sin of harlotry so that they can fulfill the purpose for the nation’s creation. A Divine purpose that is inseparable from the restoration of the ruined material creation that we find in Genesis Chapter 1. It is a purpose, as we know, that has to do with rulership in the Seventh Day, with a new order of rulers to replace Satan and his angels and Gentile world power. A Divine purpose that is to be accomplished through the lineage of one man, Abraham, who has himself come through the line of Shem, the only one of Noah’s sons said to have a God, back to Seth, and ultimately to Adam – Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

And it is through the lineage of Abraham, through Isaac, and Jacob and the twelve sons, that we come to the Christ, as we see in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew Chapter 1 – Mt 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham………

And it is Jesus, the Son of David, who is the Heir to the Davidic covenant, the One whom God had promised – 2 Sa 7:12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.

Heb 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds [Age/s]….

And Jesus, the Son of Abraham, the Seed to whom the promises were made – Ga 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.

And it is this same Jesus who is the Lamb of God – Jn 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

And concerning this Lamb we have seen an extraordinary statement made in – Re 13:8b…….the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

This statement takes us back to a time prior to the restoration, the redemption, of the ruined material creation. And the redemption of the ruined creation, both material and Man, was only possible because of the Lamb’s prior death and shed blood that provided efficacy to every animal sacrifice that took place from Genesis Chapter 3 onwards.
	a). And it is only because Israel has slain the Lamb that the nation can be cleansed and redeemed enabling God’s purpose for restoring the ruined creation to be realized.
	b). But before the Jewish people can be redeemed, they must first be brought to a state of being where they will have no choice but to cry out to the God of their fathers. And this can only be accomplished through the Jews being scattered among the Gentile nations, where they have been for the last two-thousand-six-hundred years, and persecuted at the hands of those nations with whom they have entered illicit relationships – 
Eze 16:37 surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. 38 And I will judge you as women who break wedlock or shed blood are judged; I will bring blood upon you in fury and jealousy. 39 I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your shrines and break down your high places. They shall also strip you of your clothes, take your beautiful jewelry, and leave you naked and bare. 40 “They shall also bring up an assembly against you, and they shall stone you with stones and thrust you through with their swords. 41 They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will make you cease playing the harlot, and you shall no longer hire lovers.

These verses from Ezekiel, look prophetically to the judgment of the great harlot, the same judgment we have been looking at in past weeks described in Revelation Chapters 17-19. And when the severity of this judgment reaches its zenith, as foretold by the Lord in - Mt 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.

Then the Jewish people will respond to it in accordance with – 
2 Ch 7:13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

A response previously foreshadowed in - Le 26:40 ‘But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, 41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt— 42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.

It will be when the Jewish people turn ‘from their wicked ways’ and confess ‘their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers’ because of the intensity of the judgment brought upon them, that the days of the great harlot will come to an end and God will remember His covenant with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham and remember the land – Re 18:1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!........... 20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!” 21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. 22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. 23 The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”

We will remember from last time, that the reference to Babylon here is not a reference to the city of Babylon itself but to the Jewish people’s harlotry at its apex among the final form of the Babylonian kingdom under the Antichrist, harlotry that has been in place throughout the nation’s history that led to the Babylonian captivity under Nebuchadnezzar, the first form of the Babylonian kingdom. 
c). Babylon, as with Sodom and Egypt, is used metaphorically to
reveal both the extent and final depth of Israel’s disobedience and unfaithfulness; the very reasons for the first Babylonian captivity under Nebuchadnezzar that foreshadows the final captivity under the Antichrist.
d). And it is the fall of ‘Babylon the great’, the complete end of Israel’s harlotry, along with the impending implementation of the Millennial Kingdom, that gives rise to the jubilation seen in the heavens at the beginning of Revelation Chapter 19 – Re 19:1 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! 2 For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” 3 Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!”

The ’smoke’ from the harlot’s burning that ‘rises up forever and ever’, figuratively portrays the end of Israel’s harlotry, literally, forever, and ever. Israel the harlot will no longer exist and never again will God’s chosen people be disobedient and unfaithful, never again will she play the harlot – Eze 37:21 “Then say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. 23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

When the Jewish people cry out to the God of their fathers because of their dire distress, He will hear from heaven, He will remember His covenant and the land, and He will respond in the antitype of the foundational type in Exodus – Ex 3:7 And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

In response to the cry of the first generation of Israel held captive in Egypt, God sent Moses a second time to deliver them. And in response to the cry of the generation alive at the end of the tribulation held captive throughout the world, God will send the One greater than Moses, a second time, to deliver them. 
e). And the One greater than Moses being sent to deliver the Jewish people is what we see presented in verses that correspond to those seen in Exodus – Re 19:11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

Israel’s cry of repentance, and the impending establishment of the Millennial Kingdom, made possible because of it, that which causes such jubilation in heaven, will also initiate the festivities of the marriage supper of the Lamb – Re 19:5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” 6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

We should keep in mind that if Israel does not repent then Christ cannot return to the earth, and if He does not return to the earth then the redemption of the inheritance cannot be completed, and without the completion of the redemption of the inheritance the marriage of Christ to His bride cannot take place, as this has been irrevocably set in the type in the Book of Ruth – Ru 4:9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife……

But once the cry of repentance is heard, then the festivities in anticipation of the certainty of the bride becoming the wife with rulership in the Kingdom in view, can be held. 
f). All is contingent upon Israel turning from her harlotry, this is the key that will unlock the door for all that will then take place to bring God’s purpose to fulfillment.
	g). No doubt we will understand the paramount importance of Israel’s repentance.

2). However, before God’s purpose, established in the first Chapter of Genesis, can be fulfilled, there are certain issues surrounding Israel and the nations that must be resolved. 
	a). Once that generation of Jews who were eternally saved and alive at the Lord’s first Advent had passed from the scene, the Jewish people were and remain, in an unsaved condition, and this will continue until the end of the tribulation.
b). The Passover Lamb will have been slain for over two-thousand years at that point in time, but the blood of the Lamb will not yet have been applied.  The Jewish people must experience their national Passover as a firstborn son in fulfillment of Exodus 12:7 and Leviticus 23:5, but this cannot happen until their eyes are opened from the blindness that they presently experience – Ro 11:25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved……

In the antitype of that seen through the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and Paul on the road to Damascus, the Jewish people’s eyes will be opened having looked on the One whom they pierced, who will have previously returned through the opened heaven.
	c). The nation will be born at once – Isa 66:8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children. 9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the LORD. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God.

The entire nation, consisting of those Jews surviving the tribulation, scattered among the Gentile nations, will simultaneously experience the birth from above.
	d). Looking upon the One whom they pierced and acknowledging that Jesus is their Messiah will present national Israel with another issue that will need resolution – Nu 19:11 “He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days. 12 He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.

The Jewish nation is unclean through their contact with the dead body of their Messiah. And as we see from the verses in Numbers, cleansing must take place on the third day, which will also be the seventh day.
	e). And as we see from these verses, purification is to take place with ‘the water’ – Nu 19:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come. 3 You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him…………. 8 And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening. 9 Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin.

Cleansing from the contact with the dead body of the nation’s Messiah with ‘the water of purification’ requires the ministry of a priest and the Christ cannot minister to Israel in this capacity as He is not from the Levitical line, coming from the tribe of Judah.
	f). For Jesus to minister to Israel as their High Priest, there must of necessity, be a change in the priesthood – Heb 5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. 3 Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. 4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” 6 As He also says in another place: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”

And the Christ cannot come forth from the heavenly sanctuary as the great King/Priest, according to the order of Melchizedek, until His present ministry comes to an end, triggered by Israel’s repentance.
	g). We know that the Lord can minister as High Priest after the order of Aaron to the eternally saved of this dispensation because they are not subject to the Law of Moses. And for Christians, Christ’s present High Priestly ministry will end at the resurrection/rapture of the Church – 
Re 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

The description of the Lord here shows that He is Judge, not High Priest. But this change in role pertains exclusively to Christians. 
	h). From the days of Moses, a priest has always been necessary to minister on behalf of the saved, and there is no reason why such a ministry should not continue throughout the seven years of the tribulation on behalf of those who will be saved during that time. Christ’s ministry as High Priest then, will continue throughout the final seven years of Man’s Day.
	i). However, once Israel has been brought to repentance the tribulation will be at an end, the Jewish dispensation will be over, and Man’s Day completed. The Lord’s ministry as High Priest for the eternally saved after the order of Aaron will end as well, and He will not only leave the heavenly sanctuary as King of kings and Lord of lords, but also as the great King/Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, and return to the earth through the opened heaven.

3). Not only will Israel be unclean through their contact with the dead body of their Messiah, for which they will need to be cleansed, but the nation will also be guilty of Messiah’s blood – Ge 9:5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.

According to the decree given to Noah and his sons following the Flood, the one guilty of slaying another was to pay for this with his own life. The one who shed the blood of another would pay for this with his own blood. And Israel is guilty of the blood of her Messiah – Mt 27:25 And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

So, according to the decree given to Noah, the nation of Israel being guilty of the blood of Messiah would have to pay with the nation’s own blood, the nation would have to be cut off.
	a). Now, although the decree given to Noah and his sons has never been rescinded and was reiterated to Moses – Ex 21:12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.

God subsequently made provision for a man who unintentionally killed another man, and this provision was made through the establishment of six cities of refuge. A provision for an individual Jew that has established a Divinely orchestrated type, that in the antitype, will provide for the Jewish nation as a whole, for God’s adopted firstborn son – 
Ex 21:13 However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

Nu 35:9 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there. 12 They shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment. 13 And of the cities which you give, you shall have six cities of refuge. 14 You shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you shall appoint in the land of Canaan, which will be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there.

We will continue with this next time if we remain, and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.

Passover to Tabernacles - Part Thirty Six

Refresh A Recap from the Sermon

Passover to Tabernacles - Part Thirty Six

Aug 28, 2022

Speaker: John Herbert

Series: Passover to Tabernacles

Category: Sunday Morning

Refresh
A Recap from the Sermon