The Biblical feast of Second Passover begins this week on the evening of Tuesday, April 23. The Passover Lamb itself for this feast this year would be sacrificed in the afternoon of April 24 and the prophetic Passover of the firstborn sons of God would occur during the night of April 24 into April 25. I have now come to believe that God will “birth the manchild” at this particular time in some particular year. Please see my recent series on the Feast of Passover to understand what I am talking about if you don’t already. Also read my previous posts concerning Second Passover. (You can use the search bar at the right)

My point is this, Jesus prophetically fulfilled First Passover by resurrecting from the dead as the firstborn son of God. The Manchild, the overcomer first fruits sons of God, will, I believe, fulfill second passover by being “passed over” by the death angel and will then be changed “in the twinkling of an eye” into their immortal bodies. All of this will, I think, happen on some future week of Second Passover (which also includes the second week of unleavened bread). This could happen this year, but I have no specific word from the LORD about that. I actually do not think it will happen this week, but I do believe the year is near when it will.

As always, then, keep your spiritual house in order and free of leaven, without sin and hypocrisy.

The LORD be with you this beautiful day!

In my last series on the meaning of Passover we discovered that the prophetic implications of that feast relate specifically to God’s group of overcomers called the manchild or the sons of God. We further learned that this group has been called to become the spiritual fulfillment of the tribe of Levi. Specifically, God has called and chosen them to become guardians of “the testimony.” “The testimony” itself speaks of “the seamless garment,” the totality, of God’s truth. This particular group of Christians has affirmed and made the following passage of Scripture a part of their lives:

¹¹ For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

The question we must ask ourselves now is why is it possible for some people to succeed in becoming overcomers when almost the entire Levite tribe failed to do so and, in fact, became complicit in crucifying Jesus himself? The answer, I believe, is found in the difference between the New and the Old Covenants. The Book of Hebrews, I believe, reveals the differences between the Old and New Covenants better than any other book in Scripture.

Hebrews is a mysterious book which remains totally misunderstood by almost all of Christianity. I do not believe that Paul wrote it because it contains none of Paul’s typical signature statements.  I do not believe that John wrote it because it does not sound like John’s writing either.  The book never says it was written to “Hebrews” or to “Jews.” The book was written to Christians and it fulfilled two main purposes. First, Hebrews reveals how it is that the Christian faith arose out of the faith of Israel, which we call Judaism. Second, Hebrews exhorts Christians to walk in their new faith unto the salvation of their souls. The book does not at all deal with coming to initial faith in Jesus Christ as the savior of your spirit. It assumes you have done so. It deals entirely with the salvation of the soul instead. This is why Christians misunderstand it. Any time the book says that a person will be destroyed or suffer loss because of sin or lack of faith they immediately assume that the person in mind never believed in Jesus Christ. Thus they miss the entire purpose of this profound work.

The word “covenant” (διαθηκη diatheke dee-ath-ay’-kay) is used 33 times in ten books in the New Testament. Seventeen of these 33 uses occur in the book of Hebrews alone. The first use of the word in Hebrews occurs in chapter 7.

¹¹ Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? ¹² For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. ¹³ For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.

¹⁴ For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.^[a] 15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest ¹⁶ who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. ¹⁷ For He testifies:^[b]

¹⁸ For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, ¹⁹ for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand,there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

²⁰ And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath ²¹ (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:

²² by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.

²³ Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing.²⁴ But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

²⁶ For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; ²⁷ who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever. (Hebrews 7:11-28)

From this passage we learn one major thing about this new covenant of which the New Testament writers speak. It is a “better covenant.” It is better because the high priest of the New Covenant, Jesus Christ, has been perfected forever. He has no weaknesses, unlike the Levitical priests who came before him. For this reason he is able to “save to the uttermost” those who come to God through him. Remember that in the time of Moses God substituted the Levites for the firstborn. The Levites then became intercessors between the rest of the Israelites and God. All Israelites had to approach God through them, but they were weak by reason of their sinful flesh. They could not save Israel “to the uttermost.” Next, we will begin to discover what this means.

²⁰ And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

²¹ “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, ²² so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. ²³ But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. (Numbers 18:20-23 ESV)

I have never really understood this before because I only compared this promise to things in the natural. I considered woods and mountains, streams and fields and always felt like the Levites were being left out. After all, God is spirit. What does it mean to be alive in the natural and have no land ownership, even if God is my “inheritance?” Isn’t he everyone’s inheritance? Ah, there is the key! He is everyone’s inheritance, but in a particular order. The Levites represent the first people of all creation who come into their full inheritance. Thus God calls them his “firstfruits.”

Remember from the last post in this series that God specifically chose the Levites to guard and protect the Testimony. The reason for setting a guard about the tabernacle and the arc of the testimony  was not to protect God’s things from men’s unclean hands. Rather, it was to protect unclean men from being consumed by God’s presence. At least three times God instructed the Levites to kill any person who attempted to break through to gaze upon the holy places within the tabernacle. This command uses natural consequences to illustrate spiritual realities. We first see this idea clearly illustrated when God prepared to reveal the Ten Commandments to Israel at Mount Sinai.

⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”

When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, ¹⁰ the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments ¹¹ and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹² And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. ¹³ No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot;^[a] whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” ¹⁴ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. (Exodus 19:9-14)

God warned Moses to so instruct the people in order to put the “fear of God” into them. The stark reality was that if the Levites, or someone else, did not physically kill the person presumptuously attempting to peer at or into the presence of God, then God himself would destroy him. Moses then wrote,

¹⁶ On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.¹⁷ Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. ¹⁹ And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. ²⁰ The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish. ²² Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.” ²³ And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’” ²⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The reality was that the people of Israel were not ready to behold God face to face as was Moses. Over a long period of time of dwelling outside the camp of his own people God had worked deep humility into Moses’ soul. Moses thus became a prophetic picture of the one who has “worked out his salvation in fear and trembling,” of the one who has saved his soul. The Book of Hebrews deals exclusively with the salvation of the soul (versus the salvation of the spirit by faith in Jesus Christ). The writer of that Book alludes specifically to the awesome event at Mount Sinai described by Moses, saying,

¹⁸ For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹ and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹ Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” ²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³ and to the assembly^[a] of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,²⁴ and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵ See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ²⁶ At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised,“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷ This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:18-29)

This passage from Hebrews speaks to God’s overcomers, to “the assembly of the firstborn  who are enrolled in heaven.” This is the group which the Old Testament Levites typify. These are the ones who first come “to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” They are also the ones who teach and prepare others to come into the City of God, New Jerusalem, while at the same time they protect them from destruction by attempting to come in to the presence of God too soon. This also explains why the Levites had no natural inheritance. Their inheritance lies within the spiritual realm of heaven itself wherein they will dwell in the very presence of God. God used the tribe of Levi to illustrate the spiritual inheritance of a people who willingly submitted to and obeyed the God of the universe. Spiritual Levites inherit nothing less than New Jerusalem itself!

²² And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³ And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, ²⁵ and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. ²⁶ They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.²⁷ But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelation 21:22-27)

This inheritance, however, does not belong exclusively to prophetic Levi. He simply represents all of the first ones who come into oneness with God. Malachi prophesies Levi’s still future role:

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ² But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.^[a] 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.  (Malachi 3:1-4)

Once Levi has been fully purified, refined, and prepared by his LORD, he will prepare the rest of the world for also coming into Christ’s presence. For if it were not so the decree of utter destruction found in the final verse of the Old Testament would be fulfilled.

 ^[a] “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. ² But for you who fear my name,the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. ³ And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

⁴ “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules^[b] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

⁵ “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of theLord comes. ⁶ And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 4)

Thus we see Christ’s Passover worked out in its fullness. The first Passover saved only the  firstborn of Israel. God then substituted the entire tribe of Levi for these firstborn and placed upon them the mantel of bringing all Israel into God’s presence. These Levites then foreshadowed the manchild of Revelation, the firstborn sons of God in the exact image of their Creator and Father. They will become the messengers who are fully empowered to bring the entire earth into the knowledge and obedience of God. For otherwise the LORD would, as most suspect, come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. How wonderful and how merciful is our God!

Moses was the grandson of Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, whom God renamed Israel. Moses wrote the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt. God appointed his brother, Aaron, as the first high priest of Israel when he established the nation of Israel after freeing them from Pharaoh’s hand. From that time Aaron’s sons served as the priests of Israel. But Aaron’s sons were only part of only one of the eight clans of the Levite tribe.

¹⁴ And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵ “List the sons of Levi, by fathers’ houses and by clans; every male from a month old and upward you shall list.”¹⁶ So Moses listed them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ¹⁷ And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. ¹⁸ And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹ And the sons of Kohath by their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰ And the sons of Merari by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers’ houses. (Numbers 3:14-20)

Aaron’s descendants formed only a small part of the Levite tribe and they were given a very special role in their service to God by being chosen as priests of the Most High. But, as we have seen, the rest of the Levites were not forgotten by God. He chose them to replace all of the firstborn sons of Israel and then consecrated them in order that they might serve him. As we saw in previous posts these Levites serve as a prophetic type of all overcomers who will one day comprise the Biblical “manchild” revealed in Revelation 12. Now we will consider another function of these overcomers in their very high position in the government of God.

⁴⁷ But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. ⁴⁸ For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁹ “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. ⁵⁰ But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle. ⁵¹ When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. ⁵² The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard. ⁵³ But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” ⁵⁴ Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses. (Numbers 1:47-54, ESV)

Moses makes something very clear in this passage. He doesn’t just say the Levites shall be responsible for “the tabernacle.” Three times he uses the phrase “the tabernacle of the testimony.” Anyone can build a tent or a tabernacle, but only God can oversee the building, caring for, and protection of the “the tabernacle of the testimony.” What is this testimony?

Strong’s says that the word testimony is translated from the Hebrew word ”`eduwth” (ay-dooth’) and is translated as either testimony or witness in the King James Version. Further he says that the word comes from the Hebrew word “`ed” (ayd) and means, “concretely, a witness; abstractly, testimony; specifically, a recorder, i.e. prince.” Yet, the King James Version only translates this word as “witness.” The context within the verses where this word is used shows that it typically means “to be a witness for the truth” of some particular matter. If we think in terms of a court trial a witness gives testimony concerning the truth of some particular matter or matters.

The word translated “testimony” first occurs in Exodus 16:34 in the following passage:

³¹ Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” ³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. (Exodus 16:31-34)

Verse 34 looks forward to the time when Aaron actually placed the jar of manna next to the testimony within the “ark of the testimony,” for at this particular time in history God had not yet given the testimony to Moses.  The following passage first reveals God’s commands concerning this ark.

¹⁰ “They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits^[b] and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. ¹¹ You shall overlay it withpure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it. ¹² You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. ¹³ You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. ¹⁵ The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. ¹⁶ And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you.

¹⁷ “You shall make a mercy seat^[c] of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. ¹⁸ And you shall make two cherubim of gold; ofhammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. ²⁰ The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. ²¹ And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. ²² There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. (Exodus 25:10-22)

God gave Moses the first writing of his “testimony” at the end of Moses’ first 40 day visitation with God on the Mountain of God. Scripture says,  “And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” (Ex. 31:18) It was during this time that Israel fell into idolatry with her golden calf because the nation did not know what had become of him. Moses was so outraged when he came down the mountain and saw their sin and idolatry that he threw down and broke the two tablets God had given him. After this ordeal God invited Moses up the mountain again. In the following passage Moses reveals the testimony which God gave him to put into the ark of the testimony which in turn was put in the tabernacle of the testimony.

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. ² Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to meon the top of the mountain. ³ No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” ⁴ So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone.⁵ The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, ⁷ keeping steadfast love for thousands,^[a] forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” ⁸ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. ⁹ And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

¹⁰ And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

¹¹ “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ¹² Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become asnare in your midst. ¹³ You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim ¹⁴ (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), ¹⁵ lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when theywhore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, ¹⁶ and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.

¹⁷ “You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.

¹⁸ “You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. ¹⁹ All that open the womb are mine, all your male^[b] livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. ²⁰ The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed.

²¹ “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. ²² You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. ²³ Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. ²⁴ For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

²⁵ “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. ²⁶ The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

²⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” ²⁸ So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.^[c]

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. (Exodus 34:1-29)

Verse 28 above says that the writing on the tablets of the testimony was the “the Ten Commandments.” It is not clear whether the tablets of the testimony included only the Ten Commandments, which are recounted in Exodus 20, or if they included the other laws mentioned in Exodus 34 above or the many laws Moses wrote down in Exodus 21-24. One thing, however is clear, and that is that these tablets contained the very words of God which included commands for how Israel was to to live in consecration and holiness before him. They defined the standard of relationship he demanded from his people. These tablets, therefore, were the testimony to the covenant or relationship between God and man.

Thus we see that God specifically chose the Levites to guard and protect not only the physical structure of the tabernacle, but the literal testimony, or truth, of God’s covenant with Israel. This written testimony resided within the ark which itself stood in the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle of testimony. And it is exactly this which defines the work of those currently called to overcome and become part of the manchild. They have come out of Babylon, the defiled mixture of Christian and all religion. They do not hold to Babylon’s doctrines and are thus cast out or shunned within churches where they dare to speak the truth they know. The very words of God have been and still are being written upon their hands, their minds, and their hearts. And like Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, grandson of Levi, who slew the fornicating idolators of Israel, they will not rest until all carnal flesh has been destroyed by God’s word. These are the ones who rule with a “rod of iron,” the very word of God.

The LORD introduces the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Exodus 12-13, especially in Exodus 13:3-16. First, in Exodus 13:6-7 he focuses on keeping the feast by eating only unleavened bread during those seven days. We now know that that rule means that God’s people are to keep themselves from the false doctrines of religion and from hypocrisy and the sins of the world. Just after giving this instruction God says that the keeping of this rule “shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt” (Ex. 13:9) God told Israel to obey his word and that such obedience would become literal memorials to them. In other words, the doing of God’s commands would affect what their hands did, what their minds thought, and what their mouths spoke!

Then, after giving the basic instructions for keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread the LORD again states that he is consecrating all of the firstborn males to himself. He is thus establishing this feast (along with Passover) as the feast of the manchild, the firstborn of creation. And, he summarizes his reservation of the firstborn to himself with this statement, “Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ¹⁶ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.” (Ex. 13:15b-16) Not only will the doing of God’s commands affect all we do; now we see that God’s reservation of firstborn shall become signs and memorials to others. The reason for this has now become clear. At the time of the first Passover the LORD himself “by a strong hand” delivered his people “out of Egypt.” But on a coming day, a day which will fulfill “Second Passover,” God’s overcomers, the manchild, will deliver mankind out of an entire world’s tyranny and dominion. This is why they wield a rod of iron.

Now let’s consider another name which God calls these firstborn sons. These sons of God, named the manchild in Revelation 12:4-6, will also be called the firstfruits of creation. The very first of the firstfruits was, of course, Jesus himself who fulfilled the firstfruits offering which was part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Unleavened Bread itself is the seven day feast which follows the day of Passover. The Passover lamb was killed on Nisan 14 and the actual passover of the death angel first occurred in Egypt on the night of Nisan 15, at midnight (soon after the changing of days from Nisan 14 to Nisan 15). The Feast of Unleavened Bread began at the beginning of Nisan 15 and continued to the end of Nisan 22. See Leviticus 23:4-8. Also, according to this section of Scripture the barley firstfruits offering occurred on the day after the regular Sabbath day during the Feast of Unleavened Bread which alway occurs on a Sunday. Moses wrote,

⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them,When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, ¹¹ and he shall wave the sheaf before theLord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.¹² And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³ And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah^[b] of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma,and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.^[c] 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. (Lev. 9-14)

Jesus rose again early Sunday morning, the day after the Sabbath after the Passover on which he was crucified. Before he could be touched by men he had to ascend into heaven to present himself as the fulfillment of the firstfruits offering which always occurred during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Paul mentions this in the following verse:

²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor. 15:20)

The rest of this passage concerns other human beings who will one day experience a similar resurrection from the dead.

²¹ For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷ For “God^[c] has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. ²⁸ When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Cor. 15:21-28)

I understand that verse 23 above makes it sound like there is only one group of Christians who will be resurrected, i.e. those who belong to Christ at his coming, but I am convinced from other Scriptures that at least two to four or more other groups will also be resurrected from the dead. First, I believe a group known as “Christ the firstfruits” will be resurrected. After that I think the Bride of Christ will experience the “rapture” she has always longed for.  ”Those who belong to Christ at his coming” in 1 Corinthians 15:23 evidently means the Bride of Christ who makes herself ready prior to his coming. And, as mentioned in the previous post, the manchild comes to maturity and fruition before the Bride. Also, a group of Christians which must have their part in the Lake of Fire and will not receive their glorified bodies until their souls have been purged of leaven appear to be resurrected into mortal bodies shortly after the Bride is glorified. Their glorification probably occurs at the end of the millennium at which time a fourth group enters into its time of judgment and purification. Revelation 20 mentions these things, but a further discussion of these four groups is beyond the scope of this article. Finally, then, let’s consider one more prophetic word concerning these firstfruits of creation.

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. ² And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, ³ and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴ It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, ⁵ and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. (Rev. 14:1-5)

These “144,000″ have now become totally identified with the Lamb (the real Passover Lamb) and his Father, so identified in fact that their spiritual names are “written on their foreheads.” This implies that their heads, their minds, their wills have become one with the Lamb’s and his Father’s minds and wills. Notice also that these redeemed from the earth are now perfect, just as Jesus taught them to be. This is because they have now been fully conformed to God’s image. Another way to think of this is to see them as the first people to have grown into full maturity according to God’s creative mandate he declared in the beginning.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man^[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

It is because the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 14 are the first to be fully conformed to God’s image that the he calls them the “firstfruits” of creation. This is the goal of creation; this is why God created man. God’s work on earth is nothing less than procreating himself. This explains all the marriage imagery in Scripture between God and his people and it also explains why God considers man so important that he would literally incarnate himself in human flesh and suffer humiliating death on the cross in order to ensure man’s salvation and ultimate completed creation.

The previous articles in this series showed that God ordained the Feast of Passover primarily for the preparation of his firstfruits, his overcomers. God decreed fifteen or more specific regulations concerning Passover and, as we saw, each one of these mandates prophetically looked forward to particular spiritual applications in God’s overcomers, the specific overcomes who would one day be chosen as one of the “manchild.” The manchild is that spiritual body prophesied by John in Revelation 12.

And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (Revelation 12:4-6 KJV)

For many years I have thought that the manchild and the Bride of Christ were synonymous, just two terms representing different aspects of God’s overcomers. Yesterday and today God has shown me that these two groups make up separate and distinct groups of overcomers. I believe that Passover relates to the first of these groups, the manchild, and that the Feast of Pentecost relates mainly to the Bride of Christ. I believe the Bride of Christ is the woman who flees into the wilderness in the passage above. Now I will try to show this divisional spiritual concept from the Scriptures.

When Moses first announced Passover to Israel he said, “Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.” (Exodus 11:4-5 KJV)  The Hebrew word translated “firstborn” here comes from בְּכוֺר (bek-ore’) and means “firstborn; hence, chief:—eldest (son), firstborn(-ling)” according to Strong’s. This Hebrew word is a masculine noun and thus refers to the firstborn male of a family, not the firstborn female.

The fact that Passover related only to male firstborns can be further proven by comparing Exodus 13:1 with Numbers 3:39-43. In Exodus 13:1 God announces that every “firstborn” which opens the womb of both man and beast shall be his. In Numbers 3:39-43 God substitutes the consecrated firstborn males of Israel with all the males of the tribe of Levi. The Hebrew word זָכָר zakar zaw-kawr’ which means “male” actually occurs right next to the Hebrew word for firstborn here, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.” (Numbers 3:40) The fact that only males are in view becomes crystal clear in the following passage:

¹¹ “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, ¹² you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s. ¹³ Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. ¹⁴ And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand theLord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ¹⁵ For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ (Ex. 13:11-15 ESV)

Thus those who qualify to rule with the rod of iron as the manchild described in Revelation 12:4-6 fulfill Passover by walking in the fourteen Passover regulations reviewed in part 8 of this series. These will have qualified for rule by a lifetime of testing and tribulation. They will have learned to discern good from evil and have determined to choose good. Although they do not yet live in sinless perfection that is their goal, their deepest heart desire. They yearn to be perfect as their Father in heaven is perfect and they mourn that they still dwell in bodies of sinful flesh. These are the ones of whom Isaiah prophesied in a mystery.

¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹ “Ask a sign of the Lord your^[f] God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” ¹³ And he^[g] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.^[h] 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Isaiah 7:10-15)

Jesus, of course, according to Matthew 1:22-23 first fulfilled this prophecy. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary and he was in fact “God with us,” which is what the name Immanuel literally means. But, like many prophecies this one too will receive a double fulfillment. A chapter later Isaiah speaks of Immanuel again, saying,

⁵ The Lord spoke to me again: ⁶ “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, ⁷ therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, ⁸ and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

¹¹ For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ¹² “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. ¹³ But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴ And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

¹⁶ Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching^[f] among my disciples. ¹⁷ I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. ¹⁸ Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. (Isaiah 8:5-18 ESV)

The Hebrew word יֶלֶד yeled yeh’-led is translated “children” in verse 18 above, but according to Strong’s literally means “sons.” I in this verse refers to Jesus. I believe the manchild will thus consist of Jesus’ own sons. This is that which Paul prophesied,

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:18-23 ESV)

When I first began thinking that the manchild and the Bride of Christ were two separate groups of Christians the LORD took me to the following passage:

“Before she was in labor
    she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
    she delivered a son.
⁸ Who has heard such a thing?
    Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
    Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For as soon as Zion was in labor
    she brought forth her children.
⁹ Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”
    says the Lord;
“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”
    says your God.

And then I was reminded again of Revelation 12:5, “She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne.” And I thought, “Certainly the “she” in these two passages cannot be the Bride of Christ for she is not yet married! Surely she cannot have a baby until after she is married? And it was after this that the LORD showed me the sign of Immanuel. Just as Mary was not yet married when she became pregnant and just as Joseph and Mary did not consummate their marriage until after Jesus was born, so shall it be with the Bride of Christ!

Today those in the Church who will be called out of that Church do not even now that they are (spiritually) pregnant. When they first see the manifestation of the sons of God (the manchild) they will ponder in their hearts if this truly could be the Sons of God which Paul predicts, because if they are then they would in fact be “God with us.” Remember also that when Mary heard and saw Jesus do certain things she pondered those things in her heart. Mary is a type of the Bride of Christ.

So, yes, it appears from Scripture that the son of the Bride comes to maturity before the Bride! And this occurs before the Bride makes herself ready and before the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!

The reason why it is important to understand that Passover relates to the firstborn instead of all people (at the present time) is because the entire Scripture was written for the chosen overcomers, not for the whole world. Jesus spoke in parables for this reason… to hide the truth from the general masses of humanity, not to explain it to them. Matthew says,

¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹² For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷ For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Matthew 13:10-17 ESV)

Later in this same chapter Matthew said,

³⁴ All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:^[e]

The question we face now is, “Why does God make this so hard?” We have to turn back to Isaiah chapter 6, the chapter Jesus quoted above, in order to understand. Following is that chapter in its entirety.

6 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train^[a] of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said:

⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” ⁹ And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

This chapter begins with God revealing himself to the prophet Isaiah. Immediately upon receiving that revelation Isaiah “mourns” over his sinful condition and realizes he is “poor in spirit,” so poor in fact that he even calls his lips unclean. By responding in this way Isaiah shows that he, initially at least, qualifies to begin walking as an overcomer. In response to his heart’s cry “without guile” God sends a seraphim to touch his lips with a live, hot coal. This represents (is a type of) the baptism of fire (roasting the lamb) that every overcomer must go through. At this point Isaiah qualifies for the ministry of the word of God. God asks who will go to preach for Elohim and Isaiah volunteers. Then God gives him his marching orders. Isaiah will indeed preach the word of God (it is sweet in his mouth), but its outworking will be bitter (eating bitter herbs) because no one will understand him.

Then Isaiah wonders, how long will this go on? How long will it be until people will finally begin to understand your Word? God answers that this will not occur until judgments come and until the holy seed (firstborn, firstfruits, overcomers) are a mere stump in the land, all that is left of that huge tree today which sees itself as the Kingdom of God on earth, the Church. The overcomers will have been the only ones:

1. Who applied the blood of the Passover lamb to the doors and lintel of their lives (souls),
2. Who ate the lamb with unleavened bread (representing a soul without guile and hyprocrisy which has embraced the true doctrine of Christ, or as Paul says, “not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
3. Who ate the lamb with bitter herbs (they submitted to a life of travail and bitterness of soul as they worked out their soul’s salvation in fear and trembling)
4. Who ate the lamb roasted in the fire, not boiled in water or eaten raw (the overcomers submitted to the baptism of fire allowing God’s word to burn the dross, the sin, out of their souls)
5. Who roasted and ate the lamb whole, with its head, legs, and inner parts (they did not pick and choose the words of God they would apply to their lives; to them the Word of God is as a seamless garment which conveys one truth, God’s truth, and one law, and all of it is to be eaten)
6. Who ate the lamb without breaking its bones (Of course the people of Israel did not pick up the whole lamp and pass it around for each person to take a bite of it; they cut the joints and marrow with a sharp knife. This represents the truth of Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Overcomers learn to discern the word of God and submit to the Spirit’s work in them. They understand that the Word seeks to convert their souls, not just bring their spirits a one-time salvation that does not affect their earthly lives)
7. Who ate all the lamb in one night (who consumed Christ’s flesh and blood during their one life time, that is, who assimilated his word into their very souls and made it part of them during their earthly life, thus becoming one flesh with Christ; since they attempted to eat all of Christ what remains of him that was not eaten (not understood or assimilated during their lives) will be “burned in the fire;” it will be imputed to them by faith at their judgment just before their glorification)
8. Who ate the Passover lamb (Christ) with their loins girded (according to Ephesians 6:10-18 they learned of and submitted to Christ having their most vulnerable body parts protected with the belt of truth)
9. Who ate the Lamb with their feet shod with the Gospel of peace (again according to Ephesians 6)
10. Who ate the Lamb with his staff in his hand (the staff or rod represents the blossoming almond tree rod of Jeremiah 1:11; this speaks of new life, resurrected life, which will first be displayed in each overcomer, each firstborn manchild, the firstfruits of God)
11. Who ate the Lamb in haste (in some mystery I don’t understand the obedience of the overcomers hastens the coming of the Day of the LORD according to Peter,
    

    ⁸ But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,^[a] not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies^[b] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.^[c]

    ¹¹ Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹² waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:8-13)

12. Who became circumcised by faith in Christ before they ate of him, their Lamb (“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:9-15)
13. Who came out of Babylon and refused to eat the Passover Lamb with uncircumcised foreigners (overcomers did not fellowship in Christ with those who refused to acknowledge, accept, and consume Christ in faith also)
14. Who ate the Lamb in One House, God’s House, as a firstborn son of God (“Therefore, holy brothers,^[a] you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, ² who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s^[b] house. ³ For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. ⁴ (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) ⁵ Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, ⁶ but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” (Hebrews 3:1-6, ESV)

Yes, many are called, but few, very few are chosen. For the vast majority of those called the word of God spoken to Isaiah and quoted by Christ has proved true:

“‘Keep on hearing,^[c] but do not understand;
keep on seeing,^[d] but do not perceive.’
¹⁰ Make the heart of this people dull,^[e]
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”

I didn’t say it. The LORD said it.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As indeed he says in Hosea,

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel^[c] be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,

³⁰ What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness^[d] did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written,

God called Moses in the wilderness in order to do a specific work with respect to his “firstborn.” The Scripture says,

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, ²³ and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’” (Exodus 4:21-23)

Recall that later, at the first Passover, Moses instructed all Israel to select a lamb for slaughter and to place some of its blood on the door posts and lintel of each house. Blood had to be applied there or else the death angel of God would strike and kill every firstborn person and beast in that household. Since none of the Egyptians observed this Passover every Egyptian household suffered death of their firstborns, both human and beast.

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. (Exodus 12:12)

At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. (Ex. 12:29)

Immediately after this first Passover the LORD spoke to Moses saying, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.” (Exodus 13:2) After this Moses instructed the People:

¹¹ “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, ¹² you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s. ¹³ Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. ¹⁴ And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand theLord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ¹⁵ For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ¹⁶ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.” (Ex. 13:11-16)

Later, when Moses begins to expound God’s revealed laws to his redeemed nation he says, “You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me.” (Ex. 22:29) Later he says again, “All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep.” (Ex. 34:19)

Egypt is a “type of” (represents) the world in Scripture. Pharaoh represents Satan in the “parable” of the ten judgments upon Egypt (although Pharaoh represents God in the parable of Joseph feeding all the world during the seven year famine. Joseph himself is a type of Christ and a type of the overcomer in that parable). So, God’s passing over, or saving, the firstborn Israelites in the first Passover has prophetic meaning as well. In the past we have only considered that Passover related to spiritual salvation which comes by simple faith in the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. Now, as we consider the fifteen or more regulations which God imposed upon observing Passover,  we see that Passover really relates mainly to the firstborn. Passover does affect everyone else in the household as well, though, because they are kept safe by the presence of the firstborn who believes in the efficacy of Christ’s blood (the lamb) and who obeys the Passover regulations. An example of this is seen in Rahab of Jericho. Everyone who gathered in her house, based upon her faith in the God of Israel (displayed in the red cord hanging from her window), was saved from slaughter when Israel killed every living thing in Jericho. The question we face today is who the firstborn represents with respect to our Christian faith.

Before Israel’s second Passover, however, the LORD does a very strange thing. He substitutes an entire tribe of Israel, the Levites, for all of the firstborn males of Israel.

⁵ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷ They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle.⁸ They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. ⁹ And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. ¹⁰ And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

¹¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, ¹³ for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.” (Numbers 3:5-13)

Moses expounds upon this two more times in the book of Numbers.

¹⁴ “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. ¹⁵ And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering. ¹⁶ For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel. Instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself. ¹⁷ For all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, ¹⁸ and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel. ¹⁹ And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

²⁰ Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel to the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the people of Israel did to them. ²¹ And the Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, andAaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²² And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them. (Numbers 8:14-22)

⁶ And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting.⁷ And you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift,^[a] and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.” (Numbers 18:6-7)

This idea of substitution is something we see time and again in Scripture for, as a rule, the actual firstborn child of a Biblical character is usually disqualified. Adam was the firstborn son of God, Cain the firstborn of Adam, Ishmael the firstborn of Abraham, Esau the firstborn of Isaac, Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, and Manasseh the firstborn of Joseph. David was the last born, not the first of Jesse, and David’s firstborn, Amnon, was rejected in favor of Solomon, the second son of David’s infamous treachery and adultery with Bathsheba. Every single one of these firstborn sons was disqualified for spiritual rule for one reason or another.

Finally, when we come to the Biblical record of Jesus, God calls him his “only begotten son,” forgetting Adam altogether (but remember, Adam is called a “type” of Christ; I believe Adam will be found to be an overcomer in the end). Later, the apostles Paul and John call Jesus the firstborn from the dead.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by^[f] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. (Revelation 1:4-5)

And now we come to the mystery. The Bible reveals that only two men exist in God’s mind concerning his creation, Adam and Jesus Christ.

⁴⁵ Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”;^[a] the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall^[b] also bear the image of the man of heaven.

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep,but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

A further application of the principle of applying the lamb’s blood at Passover is found in the Book of Deuteronomy.

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him. (Deuteronomy 11:18-22 KJV)

Notice that God commanded his people to write his words upon the door posts of their house, door posts which would have been smeared with the Passover lamb’s blood. John tells us that Jesus himself is the Word of God who was made flesh and dwelt among us. Paul calls Jesus our Passover, so of course, the lamb’s blood represents Jesus’ blood. Now recall Jesus’ testimony when he revealed that he was the bread of life. He said in part,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58, ESV)

Returning to the Feast of Passover now, first the people of Israel applied the lamb’s blood, representing Jesus, to the door posts of their houses. Later they wrote Jesus’ words upon their homes. These actions symbolically and prophetically represent spiritual salvation through the blood of Jesus, which reconciles us to God, and then soul salvation by eating Christ’s blood (applying Jesus’ words to our lives) which brings us into the full status of being a son of God.

Now recall what Peter says concerning us, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5 KJV) And consider what Hebrews says concerning this:

Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) (Hebrews 3:1-11 KJV)

The passages directly above thus show us that even the houses in ancient Israel prophetically pointed to each of us individual believers in God (Jesus Christ). We become believers when we believe that Jesus died for our sins and shed his blood for our reconciliation with God. We eat his blood (spiritually) when we eat his words, when we assimilate his words into our lives and make them part of us. This is a progressive salvation. It begins in our “most holy place,” our spirits, and moves outward to what is supposed to become our “holy place,” our souls. The final, or third salvation, is the salvation of our bodies which occurs at our glorification, our resurrection from the dead. This can only occur after we each achieve the second salvation (the one of which Paul says, “work out your salvation in fear and trembling”). Jesus Christ has already effected the first salvation, but most people remain in the prison of their unbelief and cannot begin to walk the path of “becoming” a son of God yet.

God guarantees all men the salvation of their spirits, although few have understood this presently. Consider the following verse which I believe irrefutably proves this. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22) Clearly it is the same “all” who die in Adam who shall be made alive in Christ. It makes no sense to say that this refers to two different groups of people or to say that Paul really meant to add the words “who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior” after the second use of the word. (What exactly was it that God said would happen to people who added to Scripture? Look it up if you can’t remember!)

Now look at a couple obscure verses from the Gospel of John. Just before Jesus’ betrayal he said, “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” (John 12:36) In the beginning of his book John said, “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.“ (John 1:12) Both Jesus and John make the point that believing in Jesus as Savior is only the beginning. That is the step that everyone must take before he can even begin to walk on the path to “becoming” a son of God.

So, if believing in Jesus as Savior (putting the lamb’s blood on our door posts) only gives us the initial right to become a son of God, what must we do make it a reality? We must also “drink” that blood… we must write his word on our door posts as well.