THE JERUSALEM SENTINEL

The Days Of Unleavened Bread

Firstfruits

The Feast Of Tabernacles September 30 Thru October 9

God's Church At War With Itself?

Wedding Announcement

THE DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD

This article is the third in a series that will appear in the Sentinel. Each article covers one of the days that God has set apart as holy. This issue contains two as listed in Leviticus the 23rd chapter. When this series is completed the articles will be combined into a booklet, published and made available.

OLD TESTAMENT OBSERVANCE

The 1st Day of Unleavened Bread and Passover begin at the same time. They start at sundown at the end of the 14th of Nisan, at the beginning of the 15th. The 14th is spent cleaning the entire household removing any sign of leavening. A thorough spring cleaning is done to search the property.

God commands us to observe the Days of Unleavened Bread forever. Exodus 12:14 "So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. :15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel." It is so important to God that we observe this festival that anyone refusing to participate is cut off from His people.

The observance of God's law and the celebration of His Sabbaths serve as a sign to the world that you belong to Him. Exo 13:7 "Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. :9 It shall be as a SIGN to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD'S law may be in your mouth..."

NEW TESTAMENT OBSERVANCE

We eat unleavened bread because God compares leaven to sin, for a period of 7 days we refrain from eating anything with leavening in it. This symbolizes cleansing of our bodies and our lives from sin as Christians. 1 Cor 5:6 "Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? :7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. :8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

Everything contained in the Feasts teach us that Jesus is the Messiah. Look at a piece of unleavened bread and you will see how it pictures Jesus. It has the stripes that He endured, the holes for His pierced body and no leavening because He had no sin. When we ingest the unleavened bread we ingest the ability to rise again just like Jesus did. Our Messiah said He was the unleavened bread that would save the world. One of Satan's greatest triumphs is to keep the Christian world in ignorance about this holy week.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in Hebrew it means the "House of Bread". He said He was the bread of life from Heaven. John 6:48 "I am the bread of life. :49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. :50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die."

Bread is made from wheat, Jesus said His body was like a grain of wheat. He was buried just in time for the days of unleavened bread to begin, like you bury a grain of wheat, and He rose to life three days latter like a living plant rises from the ground. John 12:24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." God used this festival to teach us how He would bring salvation to us.

We keep these Holy Days today because we are commanded to keep them forever. Jesus kept them, walking about 75 miles from Galilee to Jerusalem to observe them. The disciples kept them too, before and after His crucifixion. The Christian Church has been so afraid of appearing to do anything that sounds the least bit Jewish that they've kept themselves from some fascinating blessings. Jesus was a Jew & did things like a Jew. For 1,500 years Israel observed this holiday learning about their Savior.

Most Christians today are unaware of the fact that decades after the resurrection Paul observed the days of unleavened bread with the Philippian Church. Acts 20:6 "But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread..."

For the Churches that observe the Lord's Supper, (Passover), and then refuse to observe the days of Unleavened Bread they are symbolically taking Christ's blood and body & then profaning it by refusing to refrain from sin, (leavening). Living under grace is not a license to continue to live in sin.

That is why we go through the exercise every year of putting out all leavening for one week. It is to teach us that without Jesus its impossible to purge sin. We can never do it on our own. Each year most of us will find some food with leavening as an ingredient, a piece of bread behind something, or even a package of yeast. It teaches us what our Savior did for us. Without Christ, we are wretched sinners deserving death. After 2,000 years the world still doesn't understand God's plan of salvation, because they don't understand His holidays.

The Wave Sheaf, or Firstfruits is the 4th holy day that we will examine. Very few of the people who observe the holy days worship on Firstfruits, even the Jews no longer observe it. The reason given is that it is only a day for burnt offerings and we no longer have burnt offerings so we don't observe this day any more. They also say that because it is not a high Sabbath we do not have to observe it. That is true; however, all eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles are not high Sabbaths but they are observed!

If Jesus was not the firstfruits of God being the first to be resurrected from the dead, that might be true. The fact is that all of the feast days had burnt offerings, but we keep them because they represent things that Jesus either has or will fulfill soon. God tells us to observe them forever, the sacrifices that were performed so Israel would know who the Messiah was. We observe them today so we realize the role that Jesus fulfilled.

OLD TESTAMENT OBSERVANCE

The role of the High Priest on this day was central to the ceremony. Lev 23:10 "...then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. :11 He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it."

The day that this takes place on is Sunday, the day after the weekly Sabbath. The wave sheaf represented the harvest. It taught the people that the land and the harvest belonged to God and the first of everything was His.

NEW TESTAMENT OBSERVANCE

Jesus fulfilled this holiday by rising on it and becoming the firstfruits from the dead. He is the human wave sheaf. 1 Cor 15:20 "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. :21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead."

When Mary came to the tomb on Sunday, why do you think she mistook Jesus for a gardener? John 20:15 "Jesus said to her, `Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?' She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, `Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away'." Could one of the reasons be that because He is our High Priest, He had an omer of barley and a sickle in His hand?

Why did Jesus tell her not to touch Him? John 20:17 "Jesus said to her, `Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God." The reason is that as our High Priest He could not come in contact with anyone in case they were unclean, this would defile Him and He would not have been able to offer Himself as the Firstfruits to God when He ascended that day. He did this the same time the ceremony was taking place on Earth in the temple. Num 19:22, "Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening."

After Jesus presented Himself as the wave sheaf, He returned and it was now OK to come in contact with Him. John 20:19 "Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week... :20 Now when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

TIME SETTING

This article would not be complete without a short explanation on when this day falls. Most Jews today and a small number of Christians believe that Firstfruits falls on the 16th of Nisan every year. This is not true and it can be proven from the Bible that it falls on the first day after the weekly Sabbath. To understand this, since Jesus was the wave sheaf offering, let's look at what he tied this holy day to. Mat 12:39, "But He answered and said to them, `An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. :40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth'."

So what is the sign? The Jews know that Jonah was in the belly of the great fish from the 14th of Nisan to the 17th. (Remember that Firstfruits is the only holy day they do not observe). They now interpret it as falling on the 16th to deny the sign that Jesus provided. Jesus was crucified on the preparation day, the 14th of Nisan. He was buried just before sundown and the beginning of the 15th (Passover). If you claim that the wave sheaf falls on the day after the annual Sabbath, the 16th instead of the weekly Sabbath, since Jesus was not resurrected until the 17th, He would have been in the tomb and missed the holy day He had to fulfill. He is the living proof that this holiday falls on the day after the WEEKLY Sabbath.

Another reason it is important to understand when this day falls is so we know what day to count from to observe the next Holy Day, Pentecost. Because we can look at Jesus' fulfillment in Firstfruits we can see it prohibits a yearly fixed date of Sivan 6 for Pentecost. Jesus was resurrected on this day and anything other than a Sunday Firstfruits means He didn't fulfill or observe it.

For more information write for our free booklet, The Real 3 Days and 3 Nights. In the next Jerusalem Sentinel we will examine the next holiday that God commands us to observe, Pentecost.

As we reported in the last Sentinel, arrangements have been made to hold the Feast of Tabernacles in beautiful Destin, Florida in the new Destin Civic Center. Destin is a small town located between Pensacola and Panama City just 10 miles East of our site last year in Fort Walton Beach.

This year the Feast will be held for ten days. This is to allow those who are observing the Jewish calendar and those who are observing God's calendar by the New Moons, TO OBSERVE THE FEAST TOGETHER!

INDEPENDENT Congregations/Churches from all over the country will be there celebrating the Feast with us. We are looking forward to seeing old friends that we have not seen for years. This is just a start. WE PRAY THAT IT CATCHES ON. It will work if we leave our differences at home.

Please make your reservations today. To receive motel information contact the Chamber of Commerce, Destin, Florida 32541. They will send you information on motel facilities in all price ranges. If you want a condo, call Abbott Realty for rates and reservations. Their number is 1-800-336-4853 or (904) 837-4853.

Also contact Chateau LaMer (904) 837-2904 or (800) 553-0066. Rates for their one bedroom condominiums are $325 a week, two bedrooms are $375 a week and a three bedroom is $525 a week. These are nice units and they will go fast.

They have a club house, swimming pool, two lighted tennis courts and shuffleboard. All units are completely furnished and the kitchens are fully equipped with an electric oven and range, dishwasher, disposal unit and ice maker refrigerator. Sliding glass doors open onto a private patio or balcony. Each unit has central heat and air.

We urge all of you to join us this year for ten days of worship and fellowship. The fall feast days are the grand finale to a year of worship. It is a time that God COMMANDS us to come and worship Him and at the same time enjoy our family and friends! Many people in Bible times spent more than a month every year traveling and attending the Feast. The purpose for these Holy Days are to separate us from our business cares and burdens, and to spend a few days exclusively worshipping God with our family. We are told to worship, celebrate, rejoice, and relax.

Those who gather at the Feast experience a spiritual closeness, a growth of knowledge, and a strengthened relationship with God. We hope that all of you are preparing for the Feast this year. For those of you who were with us last year you know how spiritually uplifting it was.

With all of the different groups gathering together this year in Destin, our theme will be UNITY. We will be focusing on Christian harmony and how to apply Biblical teachings to our everyday

lives. There will be a variety of speakers to bring us spiritual messages. The day will start with the ministers assembling at 8:00 a.m. for a breakfast/prayer meeting to ask God for guidance and His blessing throughout the day. This will also allow us to go over requests for prayer, anointing, etc.

Please make every effort to attend. If you are discouraged, come and be encouraged and revived! If you are strong in your relationship with God, come and grow stronger! If you think you cannot spare the time or expense, you are the very one that needs to come! We are praying that this will be the best Feast ever. With your help and God's blessing it can be. We hope to see all of you there, we will pray for your safe trip.

CHILDREN'S CRAFTS

Please notify us if you have youngsters who will attend the children's classes and participate in crafts. We must have their names and ages today so supplies can be ordered for crafts, etc. Write A.S.A.P., so your child is not left out due to a lack of supplies. We still have not heard from most of you. We also need to hear from those who are willing to help.

OTHER FEAST SITES

Neville Gilbert and the Lake Worth Church will be observing the Feast from Oct 2 thru 9 at the Lake Worth Holiday Inn. They are a loving and caring group who welcome everyone. Most of you who have observed the Feast with us will remember Neville and the Lake Worth members. We will miss them this year and look forward to fellowshipping with them soon. For more information, call Neville at (407) 585-4580.

The Church of God in Colorado Springs, Colorado will be sponsoring its annual Feast site this year from Oct 2 thru 9. For more information write: Jack Hines, P.O. Box 9901, Colorado Springs, CO 80932, or call (719) 471-2264. Jack is the editor of Churchlight Publishing and is a minister for the Church of God in Colorado. If you get a chance to go there be sure and give Mike Mihalko a bear hug from us in Tennessee.

Who is the enemy? Is it the people you used to fellowship with that are in other groups? When someone leaves one Church and chooses to worship God in another, does that make him an enemy? Does God even recognize corporate structures as being "separate" Churches, or does he look at ALL of His followers as being in the Church no matter where they meet?

We, as a Church, have to realize that if someone differs slightly in what they believe, it doesn't bar us from worshipping together. Small differences are not the main fundamental points, the "trunk of the tree" doctrines that the Church was founded upon. They are not "salvation dependent". Since we all agree on the main issues, we need to put aside our minor differences and AGREE TO DISAGREE AGREEABLY! Instead of accusing each other of being "uneducated and unconverted" we need to show compassion and love for each other. Wouldn't it be fantastic if the former organizations we once belonged to could grow up and realize this someday?

We all need to pray and ask God to soften our hearts and to fill them with love towards the other Christians we might have differences with. Have you ever found yourself thinking, "if he/she is going to be there, I won't be?" Just think about what you are saying. By applying those feelings to another member of the Church or another group, you very well might be throwing yourself out of the Kingdom. Do you think Jesus will allow you in if you have feelings of hate towards one of His flock?

Don't let anything or anyone come between you and you relationship with God. Practice what you preach! Someday we will all worship in unity. PLEASE, before it is to late make peace with your brother/ sister, forgive them, love them, and pray that you will all be in the Kingdom. If we refuse to forgive them God will not forgive us (MAT 5:22-24).

When we hear that Satan has been busy corrupting other churches, should we sit in judgment and tell everyone, "I told you that would happen. That's why I left years ago"? NO! we should pray for the people that are still there. We should try and help them when they are hurt and rejected because they wouldn't worship a man instead of God.

When a "leader" surrounds himself with "yes men" and convinces them they should restructure the Church to be run like the army; assigning "ranks"; handing out "papers"; granting "permission" to worship; forbidding Bible study without someone with the proper papers; then we know that Satan is alive and well in the Church of God, "seeking whom he may destroy".

Of course any real minister of Jesus would immediately see this as wrong, refuse to agree to those terms and leave. Then, when the man/leader in charge of the organization FORBIDS people to have Bible studies without the "proper papers", Satan will have won because there will be no real ministers left, and no one will have the "proper papers", so the Bibles will stay closed. This is exactly what the Communist government tried for years!

Let me ask you a few questions. Since when do you need a minister present to study your Bible? Show me the chapter and verse that says this! What are these "leaders" playing Church afraid of? I am not making up this scenario; it is happening today and I can introduce you to the people to whom it happened. Pray that the flock is not hurt and that Jesus will protect His followers from further pain. Because of this kind of action in the past, people have left God's Church, refusing to ever join another one. This is a tragedy and we need to find these people and let them know they are welcome and that we care about them.

A friend who has been hurt by unconverted ministers from another organization told me he would never trust another man. He doesn't attend church with anyone because he is afraid of being hurt again, yet he loves God very much. I love this person like he was my brother and can't help but wonder why he can't see that he doesn't need to trust a man to fellowship with others. The only one you have to trust and put your faith in is Jesus. It is when we follow a man that we set ourselves up for trouble. We can't give our allegiance to a man because they will let you down every time.

If you own a business and a customer cheats or hurts you, do you say, "that's it I'll never let that happen again, I'm closing this place down. I've been cheated and hurt for the last time"? If you work for a company where a co-worker tells a lie about you and you are hurt or fired, do you come home and tell your family you will never work again because you've been hurt for the last time? Of course not. So why do we let Satan win so easily when it comes to worshipping God? As a Church, we have to realize we must forgive those who have hurt us in the past. We have to learn to get along and worship with others in unity. This does not mean we have to rejoin the former organizations we left or were thrown out of, but we do have to forgive them. So the next time you see a former friend, instead of sparring with them on the subject of where they worship (1 COR 3:3-15), throw your arms around them and tell them how much you miss them.

Many people in the Church of God are guilty of being converted in the mind but not the heart. Just because you go to a certain college, or take a certain course does not mean that your heart is converted. You can go to college and learn the right answers to the questions and seem like a Biblical expert without ever receiving a converted heart. That is the main reason there have been so many abuses in the ministry in the past. You have to be called to the ministry. It's not something you choose to become like a doctor or a lawyer.

Jesus showed us what real conversion was all about. When He was crucified and was dying, He asked God to forgive the very people who were murdering Him (LUKE 23:34). Can we do the same? Stephen did. The last thing he did before he died was to pray for the forgiveness of his murders (ACTS 7:59-60). If a newly converted deacon can show this kind of love for others, why can't the long-time members of the Church? We must never forget the fourth commandment, but it seems like the majority of the church has forgotten the last six.

On Saturday, August 21, 1993 at 3:00 p.m., in Knoxville, Tennessee, pastor Charles Kimbrough performed a marriage ceremony for Cheryl Christiana Carr and Phillip Edward Miller.

The Bride is the daughter of Mark & Mary Carr of Powell, TN. Cheryl is a graduate of Halls High School.

The Groom is the son of Thad & Audrey Miller Jr. of Lenoir, NC. He is employed by Thad Miller, Jr. & Sons Construction.

After a honeymoon in the Gatlinburg, TN area. They will make their home in Lenoir, NC in a new house that was built by the groom.

Cheryl and Phil met at the 1991 Feast of Tabernacles in Panama City Beach, FL. Both are members in God's church, and both of their fathers are ministers for the local church in their area.

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