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Revelations 14:4
These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb. In the beginning of the Book of Numbers we learn about the redemption of firstborns (Numbers 3:45-51). Yoseph and Miriam brought Yeshua, their firstborn to the Temple to be redeemed. The functioning priest who did the redemption that day was Simeon (Luke 2:22-26). Since there is no Temple today there cannot be a functioning priest so the redemption ceremony that Jews currently practice is only ceremonial waiting for the days of the third Temple. Though non-applicable at this time, the principle is rich with teachings. I am a firstborn of my father and never was redeemed. Technically then, I belong to the descendants of Aaron. As an adult, I could redeem myself but I never did. In religious villages of Russia, firstborns of animals couldn’t be used for farm work. As a result, they were left roaming by themselves. They were dirty; they got into the garbage, messed up things and caused overall trouble. Maybe that’s my excuse for causing ‘trouble’ sometimes! Israel, as the biological descent of Jacob is called God’s firstborn (Exodus 4:22). Biblically speaking firstborns have a special status in the family. They receive a double inheritance and carry the role of patriarchs of the family, clan or tribe. The role of firstborn is not necessarily according to chronological birth. God often by passed it because of the unrighteousness of the actual firstborn. We see this principle at work in the cases of Isaac against Ishmael, Jacob against Esau and Joseph against Reuben. The idea of firstborn is linked to the idea of firstfruit. A harvest is dedicated to God by the waving of the firstfruit, of the first harvested omer. In the very same manner, a family of sheep or goats is consecrated to God by the giving up and consecration of the one who opens the matrix. The Book of Revelations tells us about the consecrated firstborns of the harvest of the earth. They come from the twelve tribes of Israel (Jacob’s descendants). They have been chosen and sealed by God with His Name and that of the Lamb. In essence, they are Messiah believers from the twelve tribes of Israel and they represent the harvest of believers from the whole world before the Father (Revelations 7; 14:1-4). Yeshua Himself is their Firstborn who represents them before the Father (1 Corinthians 15:20). We are approaching the end of the Omer counting season. On the first day of the Omer the first sheave of barley is brought to the temple for the dedication of the Harvest. This is the day Messiah rose. Later during the counting of Omer He appointed His intimate disciples, His firstborns harvest from the Land of Israel as His representatives to the rest of the tribes in Diaspora, and to the world (Matthew 28). On the fiftieth day of the Omer which is Pentecost, is the time for the firstfruit of Israel’s wheat to be brought to the Temple. On that day also Israelites and God-fearers from the whole world brought their firstfruit to Jerusalem. These became the firstfruit of Diaspora Israelites (Acts 2). Through them the Words 0of the Master were carried to the rest of the world until today. Hallelu-Yah!
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Romans 14:6
The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of Adonai Each religion distinguishes itself through its calendar of events and yearly feasts, but Abba is the One who has created and organized the celestial bodies to show us His calendar (Genesis 1:14), so we should leave it up to Him to teach us what the important times of the year are. In the Book of Leviticus the Almighty teaches us about the weekly Sabbath and also of seven heavenly appointments called in the Hebrew text ‘moadim’ (Leviticus 23). These are commanded to be observed perpetually throughout our generations wherever we are. One may argue that Paul is the one who taught us to abolish these feasts, but a reading of his lectures within their own contextual values shows us that he never did but actually practiced them. We must remember that in the days of Paul, ‘Christianity’ did not exist; that before their divorce from Jerusalem to pursue their adulterous relationship with Rome, believers were merely a sect of Judaism called: the Sect of the Nazarenes (Acts 24:5). Believers were actually found practicing the Levitical Festivals up to the fourth century C.E. when Constantine finally ruled them illegal in the Council of Nicaea in favor of Roman observances. Whereas Jews in the congregations were already familiar with God’s calendar of events, Paul had to teach them to the gentile believers as well as to encourage them to renounce their pagan holy days. In Corinthians Paul gives the congregation instructions on how to observe Passover (1 Corinthians 5:8), and all throughout Acts, Paul times his journeys according to the Levitical schedule. The Pauline texts used to abolish Levitical Holy Days for believers are texts divorced from their context. For example in Romans, Paul seems to teach that there are no days above others and that the distinction of days is a matter of personal opinion (Romans 14:5-6). We must remember that the Roman congregations were made up of both Jews and gentiles, and that we are only left to speculations as to the subject matter of the text. In any case though, Levitical ‘moadim’ are Holy Appointments and commandments given by the very Voice of God in Horeb, not issues subject to personal opinion. I would therefore safely assume that Paul cannot be talking about them in this text. The non-Jewish disciples in Colossi were given a hard time by their pagan counter-parts, and even from non-believing Jews for adopting the Biblical Festivals, but Paul encouraged the disciples to not let people bother them about it, because they are important times shadowing the reality of the Messiah who will soon return to rule and judge the earth (Colossians 2:17-18). Lastly, Paul seems to rebuke the Galatians congregation for following the Biblical Festivals, but a closer look at that text shows us that he was actually talking to gentile believers about their inclinations towards pagan observances (Galatians 4:8-17); the adjectives used in this text could hardly define God’s Appointed Days. Again, we must read the text within its proper context. People today have even forgotten which day is the Master’s Sabbath, and some even say that it can be observed on any day as long as we take one. Before He left, in His Endtime discourse, the Master instructed us to pray that our ‘flight be not … on the Sabbath Day’ (Matthew 24:20). The contextual Sabbath in this passage is God’s weekly Sabbath, but how can believers pray that prayer if they don’t even know what day it is? The Levitical Feasts are our yearly appointments with our God. They lead us to the final of all Appointments at the end of time, but someone who wants us to miss the Heavenly Rendez-Vous falsified the information. Let us now return to our first love and the truth if the Word; you don’t want to miss the ‘Appointment. Do you? |
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