Bible Study Seattle

“If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.  Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.

“‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country.  You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you.  Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

“‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.  You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.  I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you.  I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.  I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.” Leviticus 26:3-13 NIV

These commands that were spoken to the Israelites 3,600 years ago are really a prophecy that will unfold fully in Christ’s Millennial Reign. There were partially fulfilled before the Babylonian Exile; their complete fulfillment will be amazing.

Our new book is out, dealing with many subjects from this blog:

“Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.” Exodus 23:16

“Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the year.” Exodus 34:22

The wheat harvest is in Fall; this is the turn of the year; around the Fall equinox. But then Moses received this instruction:

“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.” Exodus 12:1-2

At the Exodus out of Egypt, God instructs Moses and Aaron to count the Spring equinox as the beginning of the year.

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” Genesis 1:3-5

Days and Years were supposed to start with Evening – darkness. Therefore the original Year starting in the Fall is in keeping with this principle. The Fall starts with Evening – cold and darkness. Then the second half of the year is light – Spring and Summer. Having two starts to the year – both Fall and Spring equinoxes – will not be fully appreciated until Christ’s Kingdom is in full bloom. God needed an offset to smooth the transition from Satan’s rule to Christ’s rule. This allows for a 500+ year transition in the first half of Christ’s Millennial Reign.

“It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.  For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.” Hebrews 9:23-24

“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:16

It is evident that not all sacrifices involve death, but some do.

“Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant.” Revelation 11:19

Does God’s heavenly temple involve sacrifices? Yes, since that’s what temples are for. Is there death in heaven? The bible doesn’t seem to directly answer that question.

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19

The Septuagint translation of Genesis 5 and 11 differs from the Masoretic translation (What most bibles use). How can we know which is correct? One problem with the LXX is Methuselah living 14 years after the flood. But the key is parallels. God put equal spans of time between major historical events as His stamp of approval. Israel was carried away by Babylon in 606 BC. 2,520 years after this is 1914 – World War I. 2,520 years before this is 3126 BC, the end of Adam’s 1,000-year ‘day’ that God promised he would die in if he ate from the forbidden tree. If we use the Septuagint’s chronology, this parallel is destroyed.

Are immortal people subject to judgment?

“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,” Hebrews 9:27

If the saints are raised immortal, how can they be judged?

“For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household…” 1 Peter 4:17

Is the judgment of God’s household only in this first life? But Hebrews says the judgment is after death. The only logical solution is that the church is not raised immortal.

“God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.” 1 Timothy 1:15-16

This was written after Jesus’ resurrection, yet it says only God is immortal.

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.  When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-54

There must be more than one resurrection. The first brings us back to a mortal state, whether in heaven or on earth. The second brings us into the New Creation, after Jesus’ 1000-year reign, after death itself has been destroyed.