The 50th Day Harvest

Remember that counting is different than addition or subtraction. For example: if you work from Monday through Friday you count Monday. You don't start counting on Tuesday. That's exactly the way that it is with counting.

Leviticus 23:15: "And you shall count to you beginning with the next day after the Sabbath, beginning with the day…"—including that day, not the day after, because 'after' is already used up.

From or: "…beginning with the next day…", which means including that day. Of course, that's the day that Jesus was accepted of God the Father! So, that first day must be included in the count. If He was accepted of the Father on the first day of the week then the count begins on a Sunday. If you count 50 days you end up on a Sunday.

"…beginning with the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete…. [that's easy to understand] …Even unto the day after the seventh Sabbath…" (vs15-16).

That means it has to be the first day of the week because there are only seven days in a week. The 7th Sabbath is the 49th day. As we saw yesterday, there are seven weeks to the harvest!

"…you shall number fifty days.…" (v 16). This fills in what was missing in Deut. 16 and gives us the complete picture!

The thing to always understand is that whenever there are Scriptures that either don't tell all of the story—only part of the story, or it's spread through three or four different Scriptures—we are to get all of those and bring them together and get the whole picture! So, here's the whole picture for us.

"…And you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD…. [this becomes a very special presentation to God] …You shall bring out of your homes two wave loaves of two tenth parts. They shall be of fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven…" (vs 16-17).

Now there's only one other sacrifice where leavened bread is allowed to be given (Lev. 7:13) concerning a peace offering, which is a thank offering. So, when a peace offering becomes a thank offering then they are able to offer with the unleavened bread, leavened bread. That's the only one.

These two loaves: "…they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year… [that may be a type of the 7 churches or the peace offering for the 7 churches] …and one young bull, and two rams. They shall be for a burnt offering to the LORD with their grain offering,  and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savor to the LORD. Then you shall sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits…" (vs 17-20).

There was a ceremonial two loaves that the priest waved. All the people would come to bring their two loaves to be waved. There would be many priests and many Levites around there and they would hand them to the priests and the Levites, and they would wave the loaves to be accepted of the Lord, and then give them back to the people so they could go participate in the Feast of Pentecost. So, there were many, many, loaves and many people. We'll see a little later when we get to Acts 2 how many people were there on the Day of Pentecost. Of course they were doing exactly what was said here:

"…the bread of the firstfruits, a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be Holy to the LORD for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the same day…[the 50th day] …that it may be a Holy convocation to you. You shall do no servile work therein. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations" (vs 20-21).

We know from Lev. 16 we are told that we are to bring an offering on the Feast of Weeks, which is today, Pentecost.

Now let's come to and let's see a principle. Again, here is something that we need to understand and realize how God is working, and how God is doing, and how God works in our lives. God responds to us exactly in the way that we respond to Him. Here is a living principle that the Apostle Paul wrote of, and here was a thing where they were actually planting crops, growing them, harvesting them, laying them up in store for a shipment of famine relief to the brethren down in Jerusalem. Paul is making a very important point concerning planting and harvesting and so forth.

As I read 2-Cor. 9 I want you to think about your life and how you respond to God and what you do. Then also keep in mind the parable of Matt. 25 of the five talents, the two talents, and the one talent.

2-Corinthians 9:6 "But this I say: the one who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and the one who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully."

Many of these things have to do with spiritual blessing, spiritual understanding. God will take care of the physical things. As long as we are growing in grace and knowledge and loving God and doing the things that are pleasing to Him, He will be with us. Here is the key important thing because this is what we all must do:

Verse 7: "Each one as he purposes in his heart, so let him give…"

So we must make the decision on giving an offering to God:

• what we are going to do
• how much we are going to give
• our attitude toward it
• our attitude God and Jesus Christ
• our attitude toward the minister who brings up concerning bringing an offering

There are some people who have been so burned because of being merchandised in other Churches of God that they grudging give whatever little bit they can give. That's also something that needs to be overcome, too!

IF you have a beef with a man, THEN your beef is really with God. Now you are away from those people. You're gone from them. So just as you want things a new beginning for you, just as you want things to be better for you, then you need to examine how you are responding to God!

"…so let him give, but not grudgingly or by compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver" (v 7).

Now here's a promise, a blessing that ties in with Mal. 3. There are some brethren, unfortunately, when they hear that section of Scripture read in Mal. 3, their mind closes, their ears stop, their eyes are shut, and they get mad.

Well, you can't do that with the Word of God, because what are you doing? You are picking and you are choosing! God wants us to love Him with:

• our whole heart
• our whole mind
• our whole being
• our whole attitude

Part of it is our relationship with God! Here's a principle that Paul brings out here:

Verse 8: "For God is able to make all grace abound toward you so that in every way you may always have sufficiency in all things, and may abound unto every good work."

God is able to do that, but we must trust Him in faith!

Notice the whole purpose of everything that we do then is to "…abound unto every good work"; those are the good works that God has laid before us in keeping His commandments, and loving God, and loving the brethren, and everything that God wants us to do.

So you need to keep that in mind as you prepare for the offering, or have already prepared. I hope that you have considered all of these things and placed it in God's hands and that you give from the heart willingly so that we can continue to serve the brethren and help do the things that we need to do. We're all doing this together.

(pause for the offering)

Now let's look at something in Lev. 23 that's important for us to understand. Let's concentrate on the two wave loaves that were baked with leaven. Look in A Harmony of the Gospels and see the whole court area around the temple. I want you to picture the whole court area filled with people and everyone bringing these two loaves. They bring them up to the line of the priests and the Levites and give them to them, and they turn and wave them to the temple and give them back to the people and then they go ahead and continue on with it.

• IF Pentecost pictures the end of the harvest; there's no question about that
• IF the harvest of the firstfruits is likened unto planting grain and harvesting grain (Matt. 13 and Mark 4)
• THEN we have a type of the resurrected brethren

Let's put it this way:

One loaf is for all of those who attained to salvation before Christ, the special ones that God called beginning with Abel all the way down through the different prophets and kings and Moses and so forth. The other loaf, beginning with the New Testament Church

It's very interesting how we're going to see that Pentecost is also a beginning, and Pentecost is also an ending, which ties in with the theme of the book of Revelation where Jesus said, 'I am the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega.'

They shall be baked with leaven, fine flour, the very best. In this particular case, the very best means the character of God. After all isn't that the purpose of all the trials that we go through? Yes!

• to refine us
• to give us the spiritual character of God
• to grant us of the things that God wants us to have

When you put leaven in the dough, what happens? It rises!

We have to understand that only during the Feast of Unleavened Bread is leaven a type of sin. When we come to the Day of Pentecost, the leaven pictures something else, something far more important.

Matt. 13—let's look at another parable concerning the Kingdom of God. We were talking of two instances of the harvest. Let's read what it says after the harvest. So, this ties in with the whole counting of Pentecost leading up to the Day of Pentecost, the seven weeks of Pentecost. We are going to see a couple parables.

Matthew 13:44: "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to treasure hidden in a field; which when a man finds, he conceals, and for the joy of finding it, goes and sells everything that he has, and buys that field"

This shows the whole dedication that we are to have concerning God, concerning our calling.

• Why is it that people want to have eternal life and do nothing to receive it? Think about that for a minute!
• Why is it that people want to have eternal life and don't even want to do the bare minimum?

Here it shows the maximum effort to acquire whatever is necessary to receive eternal life.

Verse 45[transcriber's correction]: "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a merchant seeking beautiful pearls; Who, after finding one very precious pearl, went and sold everything that he had, and bought it" (vs 45-46). This is showing how we are to put forth the maximum effort!

Now let's tie that in with the parable of the leaven; and as we will see this is right at the harvest. Just like the Day of Pentecost, the 50th Day also follows the seven-week harvest.

Verse 31: "Another parable He presented to them, saying, 'The Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a tiny mustard seed…'"—and grows and provides for everything!

Verse 33: "Another parable He spoke to them: 'The Kingdom of Heaven is compared to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until all was leavened.'" Let's concentrate on the leaven:

• Why leaven?
• What does that symbolize?

First of all, whatever the leavening agent is it acts as a gas. It works in a way that you can only see the results. You can't see it happening. You can't see the gas. Tie that in with John 3 that the Spirit you can't see where it comes and where it goes! This is the spiritual action.

Where does the leaven work? In this case the spiritual action, or the good work of the leaven, works within us to change the unleavened bread to leaven to make it in a different form!. This is exactly what the resurrection is all about.

When you take the loaf and you bake it, what happens? The dough is permanently changed! Before you bake it you can beat it down and you can make the raised dough get flat again and then leave it and it will rise again. I guess sometimes they allow it to rise two or three times before they bake it.

You might look at the pushing down and the smashing of the leavened dough the couple of times as likened unto the trials that we go through. But when you put it in the oven and you bake it, it is permanently changed. It is a finished product.

So, these two loaves in Lev. 23 picture the finished product of us entering into the Kingdom of God, being accepted of God!

Just like it says in 1-Cor. 10, it says if the lump is Holy—that's Christ—then the loaf is Holy, and we are the loaf. Here's the acceptance of us by God the Father. This has to be on Pentecost, and this is why the resurrection is on Pentecost, and why these things are portrayed this way. What we're going to see, and what we've been learning all the way through all the years, God uses the Holy Days. He has a plan, He has a purpose, and it unfolds as we keep the Holy Days.

Let's see another Pentecost. We know from previous things that we've studied in years past that the Law was given on Pentecost. We also know that at that time, after Moses received the statutes and judgments and the commandments of God that he wrote it all in a scroll, he presented it to the people, read all the words in the ears of the people, and all the people said, 'Whatever God said, we will do.'

There were the sacrifices where he sprinkled the Book of the Covenant, and he sprinkled the people, and then that was the establishment of the marriage covenant with God, between Israel and God!

Then Moses went up on the mountain. We have seen how that when Moses went up there certain of the elders and the priests went up so far, and they had a meal with God. This is probably the day after Pentecost. So here it is likened unto the marriage feast. As they looked up toward the top of the mountain where God was they saw a clear glass paving of stone. It looked like a platform, but they could see through it! They were able to see kind of a visage of God.

So, they had the privilege of knowing and understanding that the covenant that they were entering into and sealed by the blood of these animals, and so forth, that it was God Who was dealing with them! Then Moses went up after seven days and God gave him the Ten Commandments written with His own finger, and so forth.

Now when we come to Acts 2 we see something that happens on the Day of Pentecost for another purpose. So, we can liken the Old Covenant Pentecost and the events that happened afterwards, and then we come the New Covenant Pentecost in Acts 2. What did Jesus tell them? He said, 'You wait in Jerusalem until you receive power from on high,' which was the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is what we're talking about here and what has been recorded is to show us how God uses the Holy Days, and how God has a purpose for them. Here we have, with the giving of the Holy Spirit, something that is a key in understanding the New Covenant, which is under the Old Covenant they were not given the Holy Spirit. God said to them, after He had given the Ten Commandments and the people said, 'All that God says, we will do.' God said, 'Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear Me and keep My commandments always.'

When we come to Acts 2, on the Day of Pentecost God also gives His Spirit in power:

• for preaching
• for teaching
• as a witness

He does it right at the temple because that's where God had placed His name!

In order for everyone to know that this came from God, right at the temple, God used the temple area and the apostles to do the preaching. He filled them with the Holy Spirit and did a profound and special thing that had never been done.

Acts 2:1: "And when the Day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day… [because that's what Pentecost means] …was being fulfilled…"—meaning during the accomplishing of!

Now, the reason that that is so is because there is one translation back in about 1539 by Bishop Cramner for the Great Bible, where he said, 'and after the day of Pentecost was completed.' There's where some people get off on counting the Day of Pentecost. No, it's not after it was completed, it was:

• during the fulfilling of
• was being fulfilled
• during the accomplishing of

the Day of Pentecost!

"…they were all with one accord in the same place" (v 1).

Here comes something that never happened before. But remember, from Mt. Sinai when God spoke the Ten Commandments and everything that occurred there, that was quite an event. Here he is showing something else that is likened unto it only instead of the voice of God coming it was the power of the Holy Spirit so He could fill the apostles to preach and teach about Christ.

Verse 2: "And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a powerful wind, and filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit; and they began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the words to proclaim" (vs 2-4).

That's something to understand. It's not what the world thinks as 'speaking in tongues.' This is speaking in languages, because they all heard the wonderful works of God.

Verse 5: "Now, there were many Jews who were sojourning in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven."

What was it that they had prepared for them? The wave loaves! Here they all are with the wave loaves and ready to bring to the priests and all of a sudden this occurs.

Verse 6: "And when word of this went out, the multitude came together and were confounded, because each one heard them speaking in his own language." Here are two miracles that God has performed:

• in the minds of the apostles as they were speaking, they were thinking in the language of their own minds

But as the words came out there was another miracle:

• they all heard their own language

This is an astounding event, right there at the Temple of God! The reason that God began there was so that everyone would know that this was God Who was doing it!

Verse 7: "And they were all amazed, and marveled, saying to one another, 'Behold, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?'"

They knew! The Galileans were not those who were supposed to be speaking the Words of God. They were not supposed to be the educated, mighty intelligentsia, which were there in Jerusalem, because that's where all of the elite were, and the priests and so forth. Notice, it wasn't the priests who were doing it, it wasn't the Levites who were doing it. It was the apostles who were speaking!

Verse 8: " Then how is it that we hear each one in our own language in which we were born?" Then it lists off all the countries all over the Mediterranean and clear up into Parthia, Media, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and so forth.

Verse 11: "'…we hear them speaking in our own languages the great things of God.'…. [they were preaching the Truth of God; they couldn't understand how that was happening] …And they were all amazed and greatly perplexed, saying to one another, 'What does this mean?' But others were mocking and saying, 'They are full of new wine.' Then Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke out to them: 'Men, Jews, and all those of you who inhabit Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words. For these are not drunken as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days,' says God, 'that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh…'" (vs 11-17).

Now this was a type of it. This prophecy has yet to be completely fulfilled. What was happening there at the temple with the apostles was a type of it.

Verse 17: "…And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and even upon My servants and upon My handmaids will I pour out My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy" (vs 17-18). We'll see in a little bit in Rev. 7 when that fulfillment is going to take place!

Verse 19: "And I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapors of smoke."

We'll see the fulfillment of that when we come to Revelation. It was partially fulfilled during the events through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Verse 20: "The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the Lord"

So we're going to see how that fits into Pentecost. It's interesting that Peter preaches this sermon, not only to explain what was happening there at the temple, but also a prophecy, as we will see, that will be fulfilled in Rev. 7.

Verse 21: "And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Then he talks about Christ, how they delivered Him up to be crucified, and how terrible and awesome this was, and how that God did not allow His body to see corruption. He said something very profound, that David prophesied of this, and David's tomb was still with them there in Jerusalem.

Once they understood that Jesus died for their sins, God granted a good number of them repentance.

Verse 36: "'Therefore, let all the house of Israel know with full assurance that God has made this same Jesus, Whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.' Now, after hearing this, they were cut to the heart; and they said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you yourselves shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'" (vs 36-38).

This is the planting of the seed, as we saw yesterday. The harvest is going to start with the planting of the seed. It's going to continue, as the seven weeks picture, right on down to the return of Jesus Christ.

You might say this: from Pentecost in Acts 2 until Pentecost where we come in the book of Revelation, we are in the planting and harvesting age, the Age of the Church. Then we are going to see the special harvest of God when we come to Rev. 7.

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

Remember, there were some who mocked; they didn't joyfully receive it. The priests didn't joyfully receive it, nor the scribes, nor the Pharisees because this was the beginning of their loosing power. That's why God gave the power of the Holy Spirit to the apostles to do the preaching they did.

"…and about three thousand souls were added that day. And they steadfastly continued in the teachings of the apostles and in fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and in prayers" (vs 41-42).

That just means eating meals together. That doesn't mean holding communion every time they got together.

Verse 43: "And fear came upon every soul, and many signs and miracles were done by the apostles."

That's the way the Church started out. Now we're going to see that the Church is also going to end with a bang just as it started out.

All the rest of the way through are the instructions in the New Testament on how we are to develop and build the character so when we come to the point of dying, or we come to the point of the resurrection, that character will be fixed in us just like the leavened cakes that were leavened and then baked.

Now let's see how we have another fulfillment of this in the book of Revelation.

• Isn't it interesting that it's called the mystery of the seven churches?
• Why is that called a mystery?
• Because of the prophetic message for all the Churches of God from the time of John on down to the return of Christ!

These seven churches picture the seven weeks of the harvest!. Let's see what's going to happen one of these days very soon down the road.

Revelation 4:1: "After these things I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven; and the first voice that I heard was as if a trumpet were speaking with me, saying, 'Come up here, and I will show you the things that must take place after these things.'" (vs 1-2).

The way the book of Revelation is laid out: you start with John where he is, and John was told, 'Write the thing which you have seen, the things which are, and the thing which will be hereafter.'

We have some more things that are being shown. Then he was immediately carried up in Spirit and he saw the Throne of God, and the twenty-four elders, and the innumerable company of angels, and the great rainbow that was around the Throne of God, and also that the Throne of God was sitting on a Sea of Glass. Now we're first introduced to the Sea of Glass back there in Exo. 24. Now we are reintroduced to it here, which shows the Throne of God. Then the four living creatures and so forth and all that was going on there.

Rev. 5 shows that there is a time that is going to occur, and maybe part of it has already occurred in heaven, when the events at the end-time are set on their course according to the schedule of God. This has to do with the seven seals. Concerning opening of the seven seals

Revelation 5:5: "Then one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep. Behold, the Lion Who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David… [the physical linage of Christ] …has overcome to open the book, and to loose its seven seals.' Then I saw, and behold, before the Throne and the four living creatures and before the elders was standing a Lamb ashaving been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes…" (vs 5-6). The seven horns are the seven churches!

{Note the two messages: Spirit of God, Spirit of Man and Seven Spirit of God}

Verse 7: "And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him Who sits on the Throne."

This is showing that God the Father, as Jesus said, has the full schedule, the full understanding of when these events are going to occur. Jesus also, after He was resurrected, understood when these would be. So, now is the time to start these events unfolding, and they begin from the Throne of God.

It's not going to start on earth. God looks down here and says, 'Oh, look at that. Well, We better hurry up and do this and such, don't You think, Son?" No! It starts with the Father, through the Son, and then down through the angels, down to the earth, and down to the men who are on the earth to carry out the events that God has prophesied.

Verse 8: "And when He took the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having harps…" [v 9]: And they sang a new song…"

Verse 11: "And I saw and I heard the voices of many angels around the Throne, and the voices of the living creatures and the elders, and thousands of thousands."

When this event occurs in heaven at the Throne of God it's a powerful thing. And it is quite an event that takes place.

Verse 12: "Saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory and blessing.' And every creature that is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and those that are on the sea, and all the things in them, I heard saying, 'To Him Who sits on the Throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and sovereignty into the ages of eternity'" (vs 12-13).

The whole plan of God comes to a focal point. We will see how this again leads us up to Pentecost. But these events have to happen.

Revelation 6:1: "And I looked when the Lamb opened one of the seals…"

The Lamb is Christ. He is at the Throne of God. He opens up one of the seals. Notice what happens. This is the reason we know that the first seal with the white horse is not Christ, because Christ opens the first seal; He opens all the seals one after the other, so He doesn't open a seal, jump on a horse and start doing what it says of the one on the white horse. But these events unfold one after the other.

"…and I heard one of the four living creatures say, like the sound of thunder, 'Come and see.' And I looked, and behold, there was a white horse; and the one who was sitting on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer" (vs 1-2).

The white horse is a type of the false righteousness of the religious systems of this world. It's no surprise that we are seeing this event unfold now. Very likely the first seal has already been opened. If it hasn't been opened, it's ready to be opened because all of the religions are going to come together in this great movement against God and under Satan the devil. They conquer for to conquer. Notice he has a bow, but no arrows, no swords!

Verse 3: "And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, 'Come and see.' And another horse went out that was red; and power was given to the one sitting on it to take peace from the earth…" (vs 3-4).

Here comes a time of great war! This is the war to set off the events leading to the end-time. This has got to be the beginning of the Great Tribulation! Right here we can tie in Rev. 13 & 17. Here's the one who is proclaimed as 'god on earth' to have the power for war. The one sitting on this red horse was given power:

"…and to cause them to kill one another; and a great sword was given to him" (v 4).

So this is really quite a thing that is taking place. When that happens it's right on the schedule that God has set for the prophecies.

(break)

People are so absolutely dependent upon getting their food from stores that there is no way that there is going to be enough food for people to be able to survive very long. Famine comes very quickly; that's what this is picturing here. So, we're going to have death and famine follow because of war. Notice when He opened the third seal; so Christ is the one who is opening them:

Revelation 6:5 "And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, 'Come and see.' And I looked, and behold, there was a black horse; and the one sitting on it had a balance in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, 'A measure of wheat for a silver coin, and three measures of barley for a silver coin: and see that you do not damage the oil and the wine'" (vs 5-6).

So food is going to become precious and scarce. Not all are going to be able to eat, guess what happens? Famine!

Verse 7: "And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, 'Come and see.' And I looked, and behold, there was a pale horse; and the name of the one sitting on it was Death, and the grave followed him; and authority was given to them over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and with famine and with death, and by the beasts of the earth" (vs 7-8).

This is how the Tribulation is going to be kicked off. It's going to be something! When that occurs, it's a series of prophecies that shows how it comes, but this is the key that starts it. You always have to have a scapegoat. You always have to have someone to blame, and the Christians are going to be the ones who will be blamed.

Verse 9: "And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony that they held."

This is in vision in order to show John the final martyrdom of the saints. This is going to be done on a vast scale. It's going to be easy to find where all the saints are because they refuse to take the mark of the beast. Remember that Rev. 13 says that power was given to the beast to kill all of those who are Christ's. So, martyrdom is going to come. This martyrdom will end the Church Age of the seven weeks of the harvest counting to Pentecost.

Verse 11: "And white robes were given to each of them; and they were told that they should rest a short time, yet, until it be fulfilled that both their fellow servants and their brethren also would be killed, just as they had been."

We understand that there is going to be a place of safety for those that God is going to take and put in a place of safety; we realize that. But all the rest who are not in a place of safety are going to give their lives in martyrdom for the witness that they have. When that takes place this is going to end the harvest of the seven churches: 49 days.

There is still more to come, and when that happens, when all the saints have been killed, except those in a place of safety… Those in a place of safety are sent there to fulfill a promise that Christ has given, not for their goodness, not because they are better than anybody else, but Jesus said He would build His Church, and the gates of the grave would never prevail against it! So, you have to have some living, and that's why the place of safety. There will be some physical Christians still living while this martyrdom is going on.

When this martyrdom reaches the point where then all of the existing saints who are not in a place of safety, will have been hunted down, and will have been martyred.

A lot of people cannot understand why there has to be a martyrdom. There has to be a martyrdom in order for us to really give our lives for the eternal life that God will give us! Remember the promise that we know of and have seen: if you lose your life in Christ you're going to save it. If you have the Spirit of God the body is dead already because of sin! God will give all of those who are going to be martyred the strength that they need!

When that happens the next event is going to occur, which is going to be the beginning of the return of Christ. The beginning of the return of Christ is also going to lead us to the time of the 50th Day Harvest of Pentecost that is God's fulfillment, (Acts 2; Peter quoted from Joel).

It's going to be a startling event. Remember, the world is being prepared for an invasion from outer space, and there really will be an invasion from outer space. They really will be aliens. Not aliens like they think of in showing these silly pictures of these creatures with these big heads and these big eyes. It's going to be Christ and the angels and the resurrected saints of God, as we will see.

So, when Christ opens the sixth seal there is going to be a profound event that's going to take place, and all the world is going to know this, and everyone is going to see this take place. This is going to fulfill the prophecy of Haggai 2, that He's going to shake the heavens and shake the earth, and shake the sea, and shake the land.

Verse 12: "And when He opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as the hair of sackcloth, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its untimely figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the heaven departed like a scroll that is being rolled up…" (vs 12-14).

This is going to be a mammoth event. God is going to make His presence and His power known to everyone on the earth, and they are going to know that it is Christ Who is returning, though they will think that it is the anti-Christ as we've seen with the prophecies from the Catholic prophecies.

"…and every mountain and island was moved out of its place" (V 14).

Don't think you're going to find a place to hide and everything's going to be fine. No, that won't happen.

Verse 15: "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the powerful men, and every bondman, and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of His wrath has come, and who has the power to stand?'" (vs 15-17).

This event is going to be so earthshaking that after this clears up another great event is going to take place. Let's see what this event is called in the book of Matthew by the very words of Christ, because this is going to be so startling for the whole world. You can just imagine everyone is going to wonder what's happening; what's happening, because they're going to be worshipping the beast and the false prophet who are going to have had signs and wonders and all of these things occurring.

The two witnesses will be in Jerusalem performing great signs and wonders. Then all of a sudden the heavens open up. As I've covered in other messages in the past, that is about two years down into the time of the end, which means that there is approximately 18 months left until Christ and the saints set their feet on the earth. Let's understand these things and how they're going to take place.

Matthew 24:29: "But immediately after the tribulation of those days…"

Understand that the Tribulation against Israel is a little over two years. That's what it's talking about here, the Tribulation of those days. Not the end of the events leading to the return of Christ, because there are many things yet to happen. But here it tells us the same thing as we find in Rev. 6.

"…the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven…" (vs 29-30).

So, when the heavens roll back as a scroll there's going to be a sign in heaven, the sign of the Son of man.

"…and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (v 30).

That's what they're going to see. When that happens this is going to be quite an event: "…the sign of the Son of man…"

Then we see it's going to lead to the resurrection. But there are more events to happen between v 30 and 31 before the resurrection occurs. After the sign of the Son of man appears in heaven, and we know that it's like the light of day that shines from the east unto the west. It's going to look like a great sun that just suddenly appeared in the heavens. They didn't see it before. That's literally true, because this is a special event that takes place with the opening of the sixth seal.

This is interesting what we are going to see, because we are going to see the 50th Day Harvest of God, which is separate from the Church Age. Remember, the Church Age closes with the martyrdom of the saints, and there is still about a year and a half left to go before the end actually is upon us.

Revelation 7:1: "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that the wind might not blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to damage the earth and the sea, saying, 'Do not damage the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.' And I heard the number of those who were sealed: one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel" (vs 1-4).

Keep in mind where it describes the children of Israel; out of the tribes. Now let's also understand something here that it says they are going to be sealed, and an angel has the seal. Now today when we are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, we are sealed! (Eph. 1; 2-Cor. 6). We are sealed with the Spirit of God!

Here, these are people who do not have the Spirit of God. There are no ministers around to baptize them. There are no ministers around to lay hands on them. This is God's special, personal, 50th Day Harvest!

Now, after all the events that we saw happen in Acts 2 at the beginning of the Church on the Day of Pentecost, now could this not be beginning on the Day of Pentecost with God's special harvest that He is going to have.

We know at the end they stand before the Throne of God, which shows that they're going to be resurrected. So, we have twelve thousand out of each of the tribes. We'll just note one, verse 5, from the tribe of Judah 12,000. God promised in Zech. 12 that the tents of Judah would be saved first! So, here God is fulfilling that prophecy with 12,000 sealed out of each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Then it lists all of them.

In order to fulfill the prophecy that Peter gave in Acts 2, where it says that 'everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,' we have a great innumerable multitude

Revelation 7:9: "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one was able to number, out of every nation and tribe and people and language…"

Salvation is going to be given to all of those who cry out to the Lord for salvation! It shows that they are going to be resurrected because

"…was standing before the Throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and holding palms in their hands" (v 9)—before the Throne of God! It's interesting that that is in the 7th chapter of the book of Revelation.

Now then from that point on those who have been sealed will be set aside and protected. If this occurs on the Day of Pentecost this has to be the next to the last Pentecost before Christ and the saints return to the earth, because the last Pentecost will be the resurrection. That's when the harvest is going to take place!

God begins intervening with His angels and the trumpet plagues against Satan and his demons and the wars that take place. Now the Tribulation, after the sparing of the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude, the intensity of the Tribulation gets even worse. This fulfills the prophecy that Jesus said, 'For there shall be Great Tribulation but unless those days were limited, which they are, there should be no flesh saved alive.'

Now the trumpet plagues here in Rev. 8 & 9 followed by the seven thunders in Rev. 10, these are different than what's going to take place with the seven last plagues. These are going to be mighty things. In the case of the trumpet plagues then only a third of the trees are burned, and a third of the water and so forth all the way through.

I'm not going to go through every one of these. I've gone through them in the past so if you want to go through all of those you can either get the in-depth study on Daniel/Revelation or listen to any of the messages that we've done in the past on the Feast of Pentecost.

Now let's come over here to the two witnesses, and let's see what leads up to the resurrection. We are going to see another fulfillment here. From the time of the resurrection until Christ and the saints put their feet on the earth, there is a period of time, as we will see in the book of Revelation, which tells us a little bit about these events and what's going to happen.

Revelation 11:7: "And when they have completed their testimony, the beast who ascends out of the abyss will make war against them, and will overcome them, and will kill them. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified" (vs 7-8).

This is going to be a mammoth event that the world is going to celebrate, because after all of the things that have taken place with the loosing of the seven seals, and then the six trumpet plagues up to this point, then when they are able to kill the two witnesses they are going to rejoice. They are going to declare a world holiday. They are going to think that finally they have won the battle. All human beings are going to see this!

Verse 9: "Then those of the peoples and tribes and languages and nations shall see their bodies three and a half days, for they will not allow their bodies to be put into tombs. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, and will make merry, and will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets had tormented those who dwell on the earth" (vs 9-10).

It's easy for us to visualize today. I mean, hey, if everyone has a cell phone with a camera, or be able to tune in to a television broadcast, they'll be able to tune it on and see it. They'll all rejoice after all the plagues that have taken place. I would just have to assume this: that God is going to allow certain of the satellites to stay in place in order to fulfill this so they're all going to see it.

After they've watched this you can almost just see the news channels with camera focusing for three days and three nights on the bodies of the two witnesses. Everybody is celebrating, and everyone is giving their comment, and everyone is saying, 'We've finally been able to prevail. Together now we need to settle all of the problems and difficulties that we have and we can finally have peace on the earth.' God has a little surprise for them!

Verse 11: "Then after the three and a half days, the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them." There they are after three and a half days standing up!

Verse 12: "And they heard a great voice from heaven, say, 'Come up here!'…."

This is the beginning of the resurrection. And it happens just before the seventh trump sounds. This fulfills the prophecy that God has given throughout: the last shall be first!

When this voice sounds and tells them to come up, right when they're ascending we are going to see the seventh trump sounds and the resurrection of the rest of the saints begins.

"…And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them rise. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand men were killed in the earthquake. And the rest were filled with fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming immediately. Then… [here are the two witnesses rising in the clouds] …the seventh angel sounded his trumpet; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign into the ages of eternity'" (vs 12-15).

Notice how all of these events are coming from the Throne of God!

Verse 16: "And the twenty-four elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, 'We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come; for You have taken to Yourself Your great power, and have reigned. For the nations were angry, and Your wrath has come…" (vs 16-18). Two things come with the seventh trumpet:

• the resurrection
• the seven last plagues

"'…and the time for the dead to be judged, and to give reward to Your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to all those who fear Your name, the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth.' And the Temple of God in heaven was opened, and the Ark of His Covenant was seen in His temple; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake and great hail" (vs 16-19). That's going to be something when that takes place!

Now let's see the promise that is given in 1-Cor. 15 concerning the resurrection. The resurrection is going to take place and it's going to happen, and it's going to be a very profound and fantastic thing that's going to take place. Just like Jesus said, when the resurrection occurs and when that seventh trump is sounded, God is going to dispatch His angels to gather all of those who have been resurrected (Matt. 24).

He's going to bring them in the air from the four corners, from one end of the earth unto the other end of the earth. And we'll see, bring them to the Sea of Glass (Rev. 15).

1-Corinthians 15:42: "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power" (vs 42-43). This is the whole purpose of our being, brethren!

When we come to the time of that last Pentecost and the seventh trumpet has been sounded, and the harvest of God for all of the saints, we know that the dead in the grave shall be raised first. Then those who are alive and remain unto the end, as Paul wrote in 1-Thess. 4, will be caught up in the air together with them for the meeting with the Lord in the air. And we'll see where that is.

Verse 44: "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."

That's what's important. We have a physical body, a natural body, and we're walking around with a guarantee that if we have this body and we are faithful and love God to the end we will be resurrected with a spiritual body. How God is going to do that, He already has that worked out. All of those things, as we will see, God has a way where He is going to do it and here's the promise of it.

Verse 45: "Accordingly, it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul; the last Adam became an ever-living Spirit.' However, the spiritual was not first, but the natural—then the spiritual. The first man is of the earth—made of dust. The second Man is the Lord from heaven. As is the one made of dust, so also are all those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly One, so also are all those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly One" (vs 45-49).

He's going to transform our vile bodies that they be made like unto His glorious body (Philp. 3). That's what this Day of Pentecost is all about. That's when this is going to be fulfilled. This is the completion of the harvest. Just like the wave loaves were baked and waved, so this pictures the resurrection; we will be changed forever. No longer physical, no longer of the dust of the earth, but spiritual!

Verse 50: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery… [the fulfillment of the mystery of Godliness for us]: …we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed… [here's how God is going to do it]: …in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal must put on immortality. Now, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?" (vs 50-55).

IF we can overcome death through the power of the resurrection through Jesus Christ, THEN if we give our lives in martyrdom it doesn't matter. We're promised that we will be given whatever strength we need to endure that. All of those who go through it have the promise of God, which is as sure as heaven and earth! That's what Jesus said, 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.' We need to understand that.

1-Thessalonians 4:16: "Because the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them…"  (vs 16-17).

That's probably the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude who were sealed on that next to the last Pentecost; we'll be: "…caught up together with them in the clouds…" (v 17).

So, we are not going out of the atmosphere. We are not going to the third heaven. As a matter of fact, that's coming down toward the earth on the Sea of Glass.

"…for the meeting with the Lord in the air; and so shall we always be with the Lord" (v 17).

Let's come back to the book of Revelation again and see what's going to happen.

{note our message 144,000 Study on the difference between the 144,000 in Rev. 7 and the 144,000 in Rev. 14 {truthofGod.org} They are two different groups. Anyone who says that God is limiting Himself to only 144,000 for the first resurrection does not know God, does not know the Scriptures, and is preaching a heresy and is not true.

Now let's see the harvest, that it's going to happen. All these Scriptures tie in it so it's a big picture that we're putting together here.

Revelation 14:14: "And I looked, and behold, a white cloud… [Where are we going to meet Christ? In the air, in the clouds!] … and one like the Son of man sitting on the cloud, having a golden crown on His head; and in His hand was a sharp sickle."—because it's a harvest!

There are seven weeks to the harvest plus one day. So, you have the harvest of the Church with the Church Age, and then you have the harvest of God with the next to the last Pentecost. Who knows, maybe that harvest of God on the 50th Day will actually end up being more than all the harvest of the seven weeks with the Church, and then the harvest that goes clear back to the time of Abel.

When God sets His hand to do it personally, you know that it's going to be more and greater than anything all the combined works of men could do!

Verse 15: "And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice…"

Apparently when that Sea of Glass comes down to the earth what's going to happen is this: They're going to see the sign of the Son of man appear in heaven and it's going to look like a sun that's going to come closer and closer to the earth until it gets down in the area where the clouds are, and then it will become a Sea of Glass. When we're resurrected we have to go someplace, and it shows we're going to stand on that Sea of Glass. Here's the harvest:

"…'Thrust in your sickle and reap, because the time has come for You to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.' And He Who was sitting on the cloud thrust forth His sickle upon the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel, who also had a sharp sickle, came out of the Temple that is in heaven" (vs 15-17).

This is going to be the harvest of the wicked with the seven last plagues. These are called the grapes who are going to be trod down and are going to be in the final seven last plagues that are poured out. The final war that takes place is going to be something!

Revelation 15:1: "Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and awesome: seven angels having the seven last plagues…"

When the seventh trumpet blows the resurrection takes place then that opens the way for the seven last plagues to take place.

"…for in them the wrath of God is filled up. And I saw a Sea of Glass mingled with fire…"

There are some people who still don't understand the Sea of Glass. Well, just read it!

• Is the Word of God true? Yes!
• Does this say there's a Sea of Glass? Yes!
• Did it say there was a Sea of Glass in Rev. 4 on which the Throne of God sat? Yes!

It's a Sea of Glass!.

"…and those who had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the Sea of Glass, having the lyres of God" (v 2). So they are standing on the Sea of Glass!

That should be simple to believe, because it does say so! These are the ones who are saved! They've gotten victory:

• over the beast
• over his image
• over his mark
• over his number

standing on the Sea of Glass! 1-Thess. 4 says we are raised for the meeting with the Lord in the air!

Now let's understand that there are events that are going to have to take place between the time of the resurrection and we're all standing on the Sea of Glass, and we come back to the earth on the Feast of Trumpets with Christ.

Verse 3: "And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb…"—showing those who where saved under the Old Covenant, and those who were saved under the New Covenant!

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

For the saints, what has to happen while we are on the Sea of Glass?

• we have to receive the white and bright clothing, which is the righteousness of the saints
• we have to receive our new name
• there has to be the marriage of Christ and the Lamb
• there has to be the giving of the rewards
• we have to be prepared to come back with Christ, because we are going to fight with Christ

After all didn't Jesus say, 'If My Kingdom were of this world then would My servants fight'? And we read in Rev. 11 at the last trump now are the kingdoms of this earth and this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and they shall reign forever and ever. He gives reward to His servants the prophets small and great. All has to take place.

What else has to take place? The seven last plagues have to be poured out! While we're there on the Sea of Glass we can look up and see the Temple of God. We can look down and see the earth and all the events that are going to take place with the seven last plagues being poured out.

I'm going to leave you in the air, because that's what Pentecost does! We have been:

• changed
• resurrected
• met Christ in the air

THEN the events are going to take place from Pentecost on down to Trumpets before we return to the earth!

Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Leviticus 23:15-21
• 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

• Matthew 13:45-46, 31, 33
• Acts 2:1-8, 11-21, 36-38, 40-43
• Revelation 4:1-2
• Revelation 5:5-9, 11-13
• Revelation 6:1-9, 11-17
• Matthew 24:29-30
• Revelation 7:1-5, 9
• Revelation 11:7-19
• 1 Corinthians 15:42-55
• 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
• Revelation 14:14-17
• Revelation 15:1-4

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Deuteronomy 16
• Leviticus 7:13; 16
• Matthew 25
• Malachi 3

• Mark 4
• John 3
• Exodus 24
• Revelation 13; 17
• Haggai 2
• Matthew 24:31
• Ephesians 1
• 1 Corinthians 6
• Zechariah 12
• Revelation 8-10
• Philippians 3

Also referenced:

Messages:

• Spirit of God, Spirit of Man and Seven Spirit of God #s1 & 2
• 144,000 Study

In-Depth Study: Daniel/Revelation

FRC:
original transcription date unknown
Reformatted: bo—12/2021