Divine Days & Prophetic Celebrations

 

Our last article explored the Tabernacle’s metal construction materials and layout, and how they symbolically explained God’s relationship with His People and the standards of purity that He required of them. He knew that they were imperfect humans and would ultimately fail to be able to keep all of His Statutes, so He set aside special times of the year to recognize their failings, make atonement for their sins, and rejoice in the God of Mercy they worshiped. More importantly, these seven celebrations were prophetic signs meant to point Israel to the coming of Christ and His Sacrifice.

While the Israelites were still in slavery, God gave the people their first mitzvah (roughly translated as precept, decree, or commandment). God informed Moses and Aaron that the upcoming new moon was distinct and that “this month [was] the beginning of months for [Israel]; it [was] the first month of [their] year” (ref. Exodus 12:1-2). Keeping this lunar based religious calendar was significant, because it required the population to deliberately watch for God’s appointed times, rather than relying on any dating systems men devised.

The first of God’s Holy Feasts was the upcoming Passover. On the tenth day of Aviv, the first Hebraic month, each family was required to bring a flawless yearling from their herd into their homes. The animal would remain with them till the fourteenth day of the month, when it was killed and prepared on Passover. Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey on the tenth day of the first month, mirroring His role as the perfect Passover Lamb being brought into the sinner’s home (John 12:12-19; Mark 11:1-12; Matthew 21:1-11; Luke 19:28-44) and would also be crucified and buried on the fourteenth day of the first month.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread started on the fifteenth day of the same month, the day after Passover, and was meant to be a day of rest. Observers were not to eat bread that contained leavening for seven days (Exodus 12:15), with the final day being another day of rest. The pierced and scorched flatbread that was eaten that week symbolized the flawless Christ who suffered and died.

The Feast of First Fruits was the first day after the Passover Sabbath, and occurred during the previously mentioned week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:4-8, 9-22) Paul tells us that Christ was the first fruits of those who would be raised from the dead (Acts 26:23; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23; Romans 8:23). Christ rose from the grave on the Feast of First Fruits, which also marked the beginning of counting towards the day of Pentecost.

Pentecost (Shavuot), from the Greek pentēkostē which meant fiftieth day, occurred fifty days after the Passover Sabbath, starting from the Feast of First Fruits (ref. Leviticus 23:15-22) . Ancient Hebrews celebrated this Feast of Weeks as the beginning of a joyous harvest of fall grains, while Acts 2:1-31 describes Pentecost as the first great harvest of souls and the descending of the Holy Spirit on Christ’s followers after His Ascension.

Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the seventh month, is sometimes thought of as the Jewish Civil New Year due to the fact that it is translated as “Head of the Year“, but it was originally referred to as the Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-27; Numbers 29:1). Many significant people are traditionally believed to have been born on Rosh Hashanah including Abraham (the first Patriarch), Isaac (the first allusion to the sacrificial lamb), Jacob (the first of the tribes of Israel), Joseph (the first great provider of food to the world), and Samuel (the first Prophet). It was also celebrated as the inauguration date of Joseph (Genesis 41:40) and Solomon (1 Chronicles 29:21-23). It is also speculated that the Festival of Trumpets was the day that Solomon’s Temple was dedicated (1 Kings 8:1-2, 8:65-66; 2 Chronicles 5:3, 7:8-10). The allusions to the coming King arriving to the sound of trumpets was a deeply rooted theme in the Old Testament.

Yom Kippur (the tenth day of the seventh month) was the Day of Atonement and the only day that the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies to offer a sin sacrifice to fully cover the trespasses of the nation of Israel for the year (Leviticus 16). It was traditionally understood that when the high priest was within the Holy of Hollies, offering the sacrifice for the sins of Israel, the high priest would receive a prophecy regarding the events of the upcoming year. Caiaphas, who was the high priest the year Christ was crucified, prophesied Jesus’ role as the sin sacrifice not only for the nation of Israel, but the entire world (ref. John 18:13-14, Matthew 26:3-5, John 11:49-53).

The Festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot) took place on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after Yom Kippur, and required that the Israelites live in tabernacles/booths/tents for seven days as a remembrance of when God had brought them out of Egypt and they lived in temporary structures in the wilderness (ref. Leviticus 23:42-43). It was also a prophetic sign declaring that God would come down in a temporary human body and live amongst His People (ref. John 1:14). Jesus, despite being pursued by the Jewish leaders, celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, where He revealed Himself as the Light of the World and the Living Water, which were two important symbols in the festivities. Christ left the city and was transfigured on the Mount of Olives on the final day of the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2-John 8:1; Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36; 2 Peter 1:16-18).

Over the next few articles, we will be delving deeper into the signs and symbols that God placed in the spring celebrations for the ancient Israelites to recognize His Son’s Arrival and how He fulfilled these feasts. Christ served as the Passover Lamb that was brought into Jerusalem and killed and passed through the fire for our sins (ref. 1 Peter 3:18-20). The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a week-long reminder of the sinless life that Christ lived. Christ’s resurrection during the Feast of First Fruits marked the beginning of an extraordinary spiritual harvest. Pentecost punctuated the spring feasts with the in-gathering of souls and the arrival of the Holy Spirit as our Helper.

Starting thousands of years ago, it is clear to see that God’s Holy Festivals were not arbitrary agricultural celebrations, but were instead sacred prophetic references to Christ’s Crucifixion for our sins. By exploring the deeper details of these Holy Days we will gain a greater understanding of how God made preparations for Christ’s role in fulfilling the Feasts and what the Holy Spirit is doing in today’s Prophetic Age.

 

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

 

Messianic Metals: Copper, Silver, & Gold

 

In our last article, we discussed the fact that though God required a significant offering to construct the Tabernacle, He had already planned hundreds of years previously to provide more than enough resources to be able to supply all the building materials. Three of the required resources, the Messianic Metals: Copper, Silver, and Gold, not only gave the Tabernacle an air of beauty and prestige, but held profoundly prophetic signs of Christ’s relationship with and future dwelling amongst humanity.

These metals are very special because they all share specific elemental properties due to being part of group 11 on the chemical periodic table.

One of the most interesting and important aspects of these metals is their antimicrobial properties, which helps inhibit the growth of infectious agents. This oligodynamic effect allows them to essentially self-sanitize themselves. Nano-particles of these metals are implemented in many health related applications such as doorknobs in hospitals, tooth fillings in dentistry, and coatings of implanted medical devices. The fact that these disease fighting metals were used extensively within the Holy of Holies, the Tabernacle, and its outer court heavily implies that there was a multi-tier system set up to ensure that disease and defilement was kept out of these sacred regions, starting at an atomic level.

Copper, Silver, and Gold are also the three most electrically conductive metals, and are used in applications such as electrical wiring, due to their ductility (ability to be drawn into a wire). This ability to allow energy to flow unhindered mirrors the ability of those closest to God to be able to experience His Spirit’s Presence and Energy.

Each metal’s significance is amplified by what items it covered, how it is used, and where it is located in the layout of the Tabernacle.

Copper was a symbol of judgement and was only found in the outer courts of the Tabernacle. The laver/basin of water, where the priests washed their hands and feet, before making sacrifices on the altar for burnt sin offerings, were both covered in copper (ref. Exodus 27:1-8; 30:17-21). Likewise, American judge’s gavels are typically fashioned with a copper or brass (an alloy of copper) band alluding to copper’s ancient connection with judgement.

Copper’s relationship with judgement is poignantly seen in its previously mentioned antimicrobial properties. The distinct “metallic” smell we associate with pennies and other copper items is not due to the metals being unclean, but is caused by the metals breaking down our skin oils and sweat creating strong “metallic” smelling chemicals. Similarly, human sin causes a lingering stench when confronted by God’s Judgement.

Copper for the water basin and sacrificial altar was specifically provided by donations of highly reflective copper mirrors from women who ministered outside the Tent of Meeting (ref. Exodus 38:8). God purifying and transforming mirrors, items for human based self-assessment and self-judgement, to create symbols of His Divine Judgement is both fitting and deeply ironic.

Copper’s association with judgement is later seen in Jeremiah 52:10-11, 17-23 where Copper is mentioned nine times, the Hebrew number for completeness, during the account of the Israelites’ exile and captivity by the Babylonians.

Many Bible translations incorrectly replace copper in the Tabernacle’s outer court furnishings with its alloys brass or bronze. This is due to the fact that pure copper was rarely used in manufacturing items, as mixing other more common elements, was typical throughout most of the ancient world. This intermixing of other impure elements to form a different metal alloy, is a powerful example of sin being melded within people’s lives and making them into something God did not set apart as pure and sacred.

Silver was seen as the transactional metal. It was linked with atonement and redemption and was the required form of paying off blood debts (ref. Exodus 21:32). Silver’s connotation to fulfilling obligations was so significant that it was the typical word for currency in the Bible and is also the Modern Hebrew word for money “keceph” (כֶּסֶף). When God asks Moses to take a census, every man over the age of twenty was required to provide a ransom of half a shekel of silver as a redemption price. Though silver was used extensively as a coinage metal, God required a specially issued pure silver shekel as a restoration unit (ref. Exodus 30:11-16), foreshadowing Christ’s role as the pure sacrifice which would redeem Humanity.

Silver’s parallels to Christ extend to its very elemental properties. Silver’s symbolism as the best method of transferring charges is seen perfectly in it being the most electroconductive metal. Silver is so electrically conductive that even the tarnish that forms on silver efficiently carries charges. Not only is silver best at transferring electricity, it is also the most thermally conductive element, transferring heat with ease and is also the most light reflecting element. Consequently, Christ was the only being who could carry all of our sins, suffer the heat of God’s Just Wrath, and still shine as the Light of the World. It was only fitting that silver was given during Christ’s betrayal.

Within the Tabernacle’s construction, silver served as the bases between the ground and the gold plated boards and pillars of the Tabernacle’s frame. Christ, similarly, would later serve as the intermediary between God’s Golden Purity and the Earth and its human inhabitants.

Gold’s association with purity is based on its high corrosion resistance, which makes it incredibly difficult to defile. Gold is the only metal mentioned before the Fall of Man and was heavily associated with the location of the Garden of Eden and the surrounding provinces, “where there is gold. And the gold of that land is pure” (Exodus 2:11-12). Gold coated every piece of sacred furniture, holy utensil, and the Tabernacle’s structural beams. It was the only metal found in the Holy of Holies and not only symbolized the purity of God and the coming Christ, but His Kingship.

Gold is also one of the softest metals, with pure gold being able to be easily etched. The golden chain-mail breastplate of the Levitical priest performing sacrifices in the Holy of Holies had the names of the associated Israelite tribe etched onto its accompanying precious stone as a sign of “continuing memorial before the Lord”. A golden plate with the words “Holy to the Lord” was also to be worn over the priest’s forehead when making offerings. These golden reminders to have a soft heart and moldable mind, willing to be shaped by God, stood in strong contrast to the hard-hearted and stiff necked Israelite people God is often frustrated by (ref. Exodus 28:15-29).

The metals God used in His Tabernacle were not chosen by accident but had deep symbolic value based on properties that scientists would not be able to understand till thousands of years later. These Messianic Metals are self-sanitizing and antimicrobial preventing the transmission of illnesses matching God’s insistence that His Dwelling Place be free from defilement, desecration, and disease. These metals have the greatest ability to conduct electricity signifying how the Tabernacle was the place of highest connectivity with God and His Spirit. But most importantly, they served as reminders of God’s Judgement, Christ’s Redemption, and the Golden Glory now available to us as believers. The PMT Campus will also be a place where spiritual and physical sicknesses will be removed, intensified connection is available for those who want to draw closer to His Spirit, and where malleable hearts and minds will be fashioned after His Plans.

 

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

 

The Lord’s Burdens are Lite

 
While many of our recent articles have highlighted the extreme sacrifices made by some of the genealogy members of Bezalel, the Chief Architect of the Tabernacle, our last article touched on the weekly day of rest that God generously set aside for His People. While God expects us to be willing to give our all to Him, in return, we receive more rest and blessings than we could ever provide for ourselves. The building material requests God issued through Moses was greater than the wealth the previously enslaved Israelites could have ever produced during their time in bondage, but God made a way for them to not only willingly offer the required supplies, but also have enormous wealth left over for themselves and their families.

God recognized the bondage that the Israelites had been under for four centuries and did not want His People to be forcibly compelled to contribute to or participate in the grand construction project of building the Tabernacle. He wanted Willing Hearts gifting the construction materials and the Wise Hearted to be joyously fabricating its many components.

This is completely counter to the mentality we see in Pharaoh during Moses and Aaron’s first meeting with Egypt’s ruler. Moses and Aaron were not there to ask for Israelite freedom, but simply a week to travel to and celebrate a festival in the desert and offer sacrifices to God. Pharaoh did not recognize the Israelite’s True God, and in response, Pharaoh decided to no longer provide straw for the creation of bricks, and also forced the Israelites to provide their own straw to make them. While this dramatically increased their workload requirements, Pharaoh further punished them by refusing to decrease the number of mandated bricks, and also presses the slave drivers and task masters to increase their harassment of the enslaved Israelites.

Straw/hay served a tremendously fundamental role in the Israelite’s household economy. By requiring them to provide their own straw to produce bricks, it severely reduced the amount of extra feed for their herds. This would have cut off an extremely important source of additional fats and proteins from their domesticated animals’ milk and meat, which would have helped round out many nutritional limits they would have had on a meager slave’s diet. Needing to limit the size of their flocks also diminished wool production and made clothing manufacturing more costly. Straw was not only used to bake the bricks, but was most likely a standard source of fuel for cooking and keeping homes warm. Straw was also used in their own home building projects. Aside from using straw to strengthen clay bricks and prevent them from drying out and cracking, straw was used to layer thatched roofs and as bedding.

Pharaoh understood that by no longer providing straw for the production of bricks, and requiring it to be supplied by the Israelite slaves, it would financially devastate their families by compromising the most basic of essentials: food, fuel, clothing, and housing.

God, in contrast, asks for comparatively luxurious items for the construction of the Tabernacle. Precious metals, richly dyed yarns, fine linens, precious stones and gems (ref. Exodus 25:3-7; 35:5-9) especially stand out. While this might seem like an even larger burden, asking for lavish supplies as construction materials, God had already overwhelmingly provided the resources needed.

During Moses’ first interaction with God, as the voice in the burning bush, God promised that He would “grant [His] People such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when [they] leave, [they] will not go away empty-handed” (ref. Exodus 3:21-22). When preparing for the night of the plague on the firstborn, God instructs Moses to tell “men and woman alike [to] ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold” (ref. Exodus 11:2-30). “The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing” and since “the Lord had made the Egyptians so favorably disposed toward the [Israelites], they gave them what they asked for” (Exodus 12:35-36).

This moment of God’s Providence is immortalized in Psalm 105:37, when the Psalmist sings that “He brought Israel out with silver and gold, and none among His tribes stumbled”. God’s prosperity was not limited to material wealth but was also seen in the good favor that the Egyptians had regarding the Israelites, which made them inclined to liberally bless them as they left. Perhaps, even more astonishingly, even after the plagues that had damaged the entire country and years of backbreaking hard physical labor, none of the Israelites, who were part of the Exodus, were crippled with illness or other physical limitations, and instead left Egypt with strong and capable bodies.

In fact, God had already been planning for this rich abundance hundreds of years earlier, during His Covenant with Abraham. God informed Abraham that his “descendants [would] be strangers in a land that [was] not their own; [that] they [would] be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years,” but that God would “judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterwards [God’s People would] depart with many possessions” (ref. Genesis 15:14).

While the rulers of this world require tributes outside our capabilities, trying to force us to surrender our freedoms and basic living essentials, God instead offers regular rest and blessings which surpass what He requires of us. While the materials to build the Tabernacle were far beyond what they ever had as slaves, God lavished more than enough for the Israelites to willingly contribute as His Free People. Those who will be part of the PMT Campus will be underwriting a holy project that will pay back dividends through God’s Prosperity of Health, Wealth, and Favor.

 

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

 

Observing the Sabbath-
First Building Ground Rule

 

Our last few articles covered Bezalel’s family background and the great men and women who used their individual gifts, talents, and courage to conquer the challenges God set before them. But, before we finally talk about Bezalel, the Chief Architect of the Tabernacle, and the many facets concerning the Tabernacle’s construction, we need to recognize one of the most important gifts God gave those who work for His Glory: the Sabbath.

The Israelites were first introduced to the Sabbath, as a weekly observance, when they had run out of food in the wilderness, after escaping Egypt. They cried out to Moses and he implored God, who sent manna from Heaven, with specific instructions. Each morning, the Israelites were supposed to collect enough manna for their household’s daily needs. If they had any leftovers, it would rot and be filled with worms. On the sixth day, they were to gather and prepare twice as much, because this special portion would not spoil, but instead would remain fresh on the seventh day when no manna was left on the ground to be harvested (ref. Exodus 16).

God wanted the Israelites to understand that their efforts would not be enough for them to survive in the wilderness and that they would need to wholly rely on Him for sustenance. They could not overwork and depend on what they stored up by their own hands. If the Israelites extended and intensified their daily grind, they would be disappointed to find that their extra efforts were not rewarded, but discovered that their labors spoiled and stunk. Of course, there would be times when they needed to work more intensely, but God provided extra blessings for their labors based on His schedule, not the Israelites. God set aside the Sabbath as a day of rest and remembrance of all He had created, and how, by His Hand, the Israelites were brought out of Egypt.

When God gave Moses the original set of Commandments, God again included the observation of the Sabbath as a holy day and highlighted its importance (ref. Exodus 20: 8-11).

The sanctification of the Sabbath is mentioned again two more times in the book of Exodus and each time is in direct relation to the construction of His Dwelling Place.

After spending six and half chapters (ref Exodus 25-31:11) giving precise details regarding the building of the arc of the covenant, the tabernacle’s materials and its construction layout, God again reminds Moses that the Israelites are to keep the Sabbath because it stands as a covenant between them and God (ref Exodus 31:12-17). This reiteration of the day of rest is directly connected to the building of the Tabernacle and the fact that God wants His People to understand that they are to rest, even from holy work.

This connection is intensified in Exodus 35:1-4 when Moses addresses the Israelite camp after receiving the second set of Commandments.

Moses does not start by reading the Ten Commandments or any of the hundreds of guidelines of Levitical law to them, as we would expect. Instead, he reminds the Israelites of the holy rule they were given regarding gathering manna for their daily bread. But this time, the Sabbath would be applied to work of any sort. Immediately afterwards, Moses begins to explain the details for erection of the Tabernacle.

Even before construction began, God intensely and repeatedly emphasized the importance of not only recognizing but sanctifying the Sabbath. The Tabernacle of Exodus had an overwhelming amount of things to worry about, but God understood that His People needed rest and made a point to stress the need to set aside and observe His Holy Day. God did not view the Israelites as replaceable slaves but as a people He wanted to love who would follow after His own Heart.

God also understood that, filled with zeal and fervor, His People would have diligently worked on the Tabernacle, every day, without rest, to the point of losing their love and passion for the project and eventually Him.

This over obsession with work to the point of disinterest and disengagement leading to a perpetual state of physical, emotion, and spiritual exhaustion, commonly known as “burnout” is becoming a more visible and accepted reality in many developed countries and especially within Christian communities. The Puritanical ideals of sacrifice and hard work that helped establish America in particular, have been divorced from God’s Day of Rest. He never intended for us to have the mentality that through enough hard work we could accomplish anything, but instead to trust in His Timing and in Him Who Can Do All Things.

This can be a hard lesson for many people to accept today, since we are inundated with messages that celebrate and worship a culture of workaholic tendencies.

His People needed to recognize that the Tabernacle was built by God’s Will, not exclusively their labors. Just as any extra gathering of manna would spoil, any additional construction on the Tabernacle outside of God’s Will would end in blunder at best. But if they were not sensitive to God’s timing of the Sabbath, they would miss out on the double portion of manna sent to them beforehand and the day of rest that awaited afterward.

God continually reminded the Israelites to observe the Sabbath not only to serve as a reminder of what He had already done, but to help them trust in the Lord for the things He would do in the future in His perfect Will and Timing. Before construction of the PMT Campus begins, we must recognize that it can only be accomplished through God’s Will, not our efforts, and in His Timing, not our own. Till then, we will be grateful that He has given us a sacred time to rest and remember the great things He has already done for us and eagerly await the miracles and blessings awaiting His Followers.

 

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator