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Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 16:08:25 04/04/10 Sun
Resurrection #6.
Revelation20:1-6 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
The setting is the judgment of the saved. I believe this will be all the saved excluding the Church and those of the resurrection in Matt.27:52. This will be all that weren't resurrected up to this time. The Church is judged right after the rapture. This must take place before she can be arrayed in white (Revelation 19:7-8) and judged spotless as a "chaste virgin" (2 Cor. 11:2.) as Paul stated. In order for this judgment to take place there has to have been a resurrection. All the saved that have not been resurrected up to this time will be raised at this resurrection. The lost are not raised yet as seen in verse 5. Now comes a curious wording that we need to dwell on for a few minutes. Notice in verse 5 and 6 the references to this being the "first resurrection". We are looking at the 6th instance of resurrections yet the scriptures are plain that "this is the first resurrection". Why the obvious contradiction of the facts? In order to get an understanding we need to go back to 1 Cor. 15:21-26 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
In this passage of scripture is contained every resurrection that has taken place or will take place. Look at verse 23: "But every man in his own order". That means there is a order that takes place within the scope that is set forth in these verses. Now notice "Christ the firstfruits" which we studied as being the 1st and 2nd time that man was raised never to die again. That marks the beginning of the 1st resurrection. Now come on down to "afterward they that are Christ's at his coming". This is going to give us three parts to this 1st resurrection. Christ's coming is in 2 parts. His coming for the Church before the tribulaiton and then His advent at the end of the tribulation. Again looking at those who are Christ's at His coming we must look carefully at His coming. Christ comes back for the Church as we have seen in 1 Cor. 15:51-52 and in 1 Thess. 4:14-17 but He also comes back at the end of the tribulation period where he destroys the armies of the world and sets up His thousand year reign on the earth. Again, this means the 2nd coming of Jesus is in two parts. 1st for the Church and then in the Advent when He actually comes back to the earth to reign. This is in view in Rev. 20:1-6 with the verses that declare this to be the 1st resurrection. Christ's coming then spans the tribulation period with the rapture and the advent where He physically comes back to the earth and stays. The second advent is foretold in Zechariah 14:1-5
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. Notice verse 5 in this passage. Notice that Jesus does not come alone! Let's now look at another passage that is a companion to this one. Revelation 19:11-14 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
God then has likened the resurrection to a harvest. Not all the fruit or grain is harvested at the same time in many cases. Grapes of the vintage will ripen at different times. You will have a few grapes that will ripen enough to pick and eat. The owner of the vineyard many times would go through and hunt this first ripe fruit because he craved it. After the fruit starts ripening it will intensify until you have almost all the clusters ready to take from the vine. Always though there will be fruit that will ripen too late to be picked for the general harvest. These are called the gleanings or gleaning grapes. All three of these can be found in Micah7:1 where we read: "Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit." The writer laments there is no cluster to eat although that is what is desired. The clusters have been gathered. There is no first ripe fruit; they have been gathered. All that is left is the gleaning grapes and they have to be hunted for and are few and far between.
There is a relevant passage: Isaiah17:4-7 And in that day (in the context of the chapter it is a day of great trouble for Israel as in the tribulation) it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. 5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. 6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel. 7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
In the tribulation there will be precious few souls saved they will be as the above passaged describes, two or three in the top, four or five on the outermost branches. The shaking of the olive tree reflects the turmoil of the time of the gleanings. It will take a great shaking to bring them to harvest. This will make the resurrections of the saved up to the millennium being resurrected in 3 time frames. Illustrated as the harvest. In the Old Testament we have agreement with this scenario in the feasts of the Lord as given in Exodus23:14-17 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. 15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) 16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. 17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
Two of the feasts specifically mention at the time of harvests. In Leviticus 23 we find the first feast, the feast of unleavened bread following the passover was connected to a harvest. Leviticus23:4-11 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. 5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: 11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
In verse 10 notice these three feasts were to begin for Israel after they came into the land and had started planting and harvesting. This passage was given to them by Moses when they were still in the wilderness receiving the commandments from the Lord. An interesting thing about the feasts is the waving of the sheaf of grain before the Lord. The grain of the first fruits of the land when they came into the promised land was waved in the air before their God as an offering to Him. This corresponded with the feast following the passover. In verse 20, after the marking of 7 Sabbaths their was another offering waved before the Lord and it was two wave loaves with the animal sacrifice waved before the Lord in the air. This corresponded with Pentecost. When God gave them instruction for the 3rd feast which was the Feast of Trumpets there was never to be a wave offering before the Lord. If we will look at the resurrections we will see they match these feasts. After the passover with the feast of unleavened bread there was a resurrection. Jesus and those who came up just after Him were raised during the feast of unleavened bread subsequent to the Passover observance. If Jesus was killed on the eve of the Passover. If the waving of the sheaf represent the going in to heaven of the "firstfruits" the we would expect to find a similar occurrence to mark the rapture of the Church. We find exactly that in the next feast. Leviticus 23:15-20 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. 17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. 18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD. 19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. Two feasts and two offerings waved in the air before the Lord.
One more feast to go: Leviticus 23:34-37 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. 35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. 37 These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day.
In this third feast we need to take notice there is no wave offering to the Lord. Nothing is waved in the air. If the three feasts mark the three resurrections then we should not expect to see a wave offering to the Lord. When Jesus comes back in the advent He stays! At the advent there will be a final resurrection of the saved and they will go into the kingdom and not into heaven. Remember the verses previously cited which show saints coming back with Jesus when He comes to rule and reign.. The Church saints will be with Him. The "firstfruits" resurrected saints will be with Him and the 144,000 along with Moses and Elias will be with Him. This explains why with the first two feasts the offering is waved in the air and in the 3rd feast there is none. Notice also the name of this feast. It is the Feast of Tabernacles. It points to the time when God will tabernacle with men here on the earth. We know it as the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. This also is reflected in the last feast or feast of tabernacles. Leviticus 23:39-43 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. 40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. 41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: 43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
When God brought Israel out of the land of Egypt and they dwelt in booths God dwelt in their midst. Through their entire 40 year journey God was with them in the pillar and fire. He met with Moses at the tabernacle, He met with him on the mount. God dwelt among Israel at that time and this feast signifies that as well as pointing to the time when God will again tabernacle in the midst of Israel.
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