The following Scripture passages are offered to aid beginning fellowships. The readings and commentary for this week are more in line with what has become usual; for the following will most likely be familiar observations. The concept behind this Sabbath’s selection begin a series about discipleship.
Weekly Readings
For the Sabbath of November 25, 2006
The person conducting the Sabbath service should open services with two or three hymns, or psalms, followed by an opening prayer acknowledging that two or three (or more) are gathered together in Christ Jesus’ name, and inviting the Lord to be with them.
The person conducting the service should read or assign to be read Hebrews chapter 2.
Commentary: Of each generation since a remnant of the Church left spiritual Babylon in the 16th-Century (ca 1525 CE)—this remnant determined through its practice of adult [or Believer] baptism, with its leaving of Babylon discerned by its non-participation in the governance of this world—only a remnant of the remnant continued the spiritual or mental journey on toward the heavenly city of Jerusalem into its succeeding generation. Most of the early remnant [or for later generations, remnant of a remnant] journeyed only far enough to cleanse hearts before settling down to build for themselves spiritual houses. These spiritual houses remain with disciples to this day: e.g., the house of Menno Simons, the denomination now known as Mennonites. Thus, the generations born into these spiritual houses, once physical journeys of faith were no longer undertaken, have journeyed nowhere for two and three and four hundred years. And unless a journey by faith equivalent of Abraham’s journey from Ur of the Chaldeas to the Promised Land of Canaan is undertaken, hearts are not cleansed and not circumcised (Rom 4:11-12), and the would-be disciple remains spiritually as the rich young ruler who asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life was (Luke 18:18). For the young person who has grown to physical maturity in a household of Believers, no amount of professing that Jesus is Lord and believing that the Father raised Jesus from the dead constitutes a journey of faith comparable to the journey Abraham made.
Understand what the writer of Hebrews says: disciples must pay close attention to what the original Apostles heard from Christ Jesus Himself (Heb 2:1), not close attention to what some Church theologian said centuries afterward. The God of these later theologians is the prince of this world. Yes, this is correct! The message declared by angels proved reliable. Every transgression or disobedience received or will receive a just retribution (v. 2). And this just retribution is death: the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). The old self within every disciple must die for its disobedience, to which it was unwillingly consigned (Rom 11:32). Likewise, the tent of flesh in which this old self dwelt must also die because of the disobedience that resides in its members (Rom 7:23-25).
Grace does not protect the old self or the tent of flesh in which this old self dwells.
The old self is a bondservant to disobedience; i.e., sin (1 John 3:4). It is not free to keep the laws of God. Sin has dominion over the old self (cf. Eph 2:2-3; Rom 6:14). Indeed, this old self cannot keep the commandments of God and is actually hostile to God and the laws of God (Rom 8:7)—and every disciple can instantly know in a moment of introspection whether he or she has been spiritually circumcised. If the disciple yearns to keep the laws of God [to keep the commandments], all of them, the disciple has assurance of having been born of Spirit and spiritually circumcised; for the old self hates, yes, hates because it is the servant of lawlessness, the commandments of God. The born of Spirit disciple, when spiritually circumcised, desires to keep the commandments and to do those things that are pleasing to God. Love for this spiritually circumcised born of Spirit disciple isn’t some touchy-feely concept, but the conscious heartfelt desire to keep the commandments that describe how to love God and to love neighbor. Thus, the person, physically circumcised or uncircumcised, who by faith keeps the precepts of the law demonstrates his or her spiritual circumcision regardless of whether the disciple has or has not been baptized.
The above is a somewhat unexplained concept: the pattern for human circumcision forms the reality for the circumcision of the sons of God. Spiritual birth [i.e., being born of Spirit] does not equate to spiritual circumcision as has been previously assumed. Understand this distinction which spiritually elongates what it means to have the laws of God written on hearts and minds of disciples. Whereas it has previously been understood that receipt of the Holy Spirit [Pneuma ’Agion] constituted both being born of Spirit and spiritual circumcision, the two actions of God are not one compressed action, but two actions often separated by an extended length of time—in the timeless heavenly realm only are these two actions compressed into one continuous action.
The visible things of this world reveal the invisible things of God (Rom 1:20), and the physical things of this world precede the spiritual things that happen in this world (1 Cor 15:46). Thus, a human infant is born as a descendant of the first Adam without being consulted by his or her father—the egg of the mother will not produce a child without an action taken by the infant’s father; therefore, life is bestowed by the human father as a type of the heavenly Father giving spiritual life to human beings. Every living person is as an ovum [egg] in the ovaries of a woman. The person is spiritually lifeless until age-lasting life is given by God the Father through a second birth, a real birth in the invisible supra-dimensional heavenly realm, to the spiritual ovum … metaphors and analogies ultimately breakdown because one thing is not another thing, and indeed, cannot be the other thing. The spiritual birth process strains the metaphor of human birth through the woman being the Church. The analogy of spiritual birth being like human birth does not, at the individual level, reach into the womb of the Church to begin with the union of sperm and egg in the uterus, because both the Father and the Son must give life (John 5:21) to the disciple before this son of God crosses dimensions. Collectively, the Church is the last Eve. But individual sons of God do not develop spiritual maturity within the womb of a divided through denominationalism Church.
The Christian Church that constitutes the last Eve is not any one denomination, or even one collective of denominations. The last Eve is not The Philadelphia Church or Binitarian Christianity or even Sabbatarian Christianity which includes Unitarian, Binitarian, and Trinitarian fellowships. It isn’t the Roman Church and her errant daughters; nor is it the Arian Church in its many forms. The last Eve includes all denominations, with one division that forms two sons occurring within her womb, this division being between disciples who keep the commandments by faith [the beloved son] and disciples who continue in their lawlessness after being born of Spirit. Thus, being inside the womb of the last Eve places a born of Spirit disciple living his or her life as a “Christian” here on earth. The earth becomes the womb of the last Eve, which is not a human organization but a spiritual woman that presently exists in the supra-dimensional heavenly realm as the Body of Christ Jesus. And when this last Eve delivers these two sons [one loved, one hated] that presently struggle within her womb, these two sons will be separated from this last Eve through spiritual liberation; through being empowered by, or filled with the Holy Spirit. The Lord of Hosts who struck the Shepherd (cf. Zech 13:7; Matt 26:31) will turn His hand against these two sons of the last Eve; He will deliver them into the hand of the man of perdition (cf. Zech 13:8; Dan 7:25; 2 Thess 2:3-12). But Christ Jesus will send the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26) in full measure so that when disciples are separated from the last Eve and are no longer under the mantle of Grace, they will be liberated from indwelling sin and death that presently resides in their fleshly members as natural Israel was liberated from physical bondage to Pharaoh.
The last Eve gives birth—separation—to the two sons that are presently in her womb when the seven endtime years of tribulation begin. The Son of Man will then be revealed, both Head and Body (Luke 17:30). The Body of this Son of Man will no longer be covered by the garment of Christ Jesus’ righteousness—there will be no more Grace, for it will not be needed once disciples are empowered by the Holy Spirit. The disciple who desires to walk uprightly before God will be able to do so when empowered by the divine Breath of God. The disciple who returns to sin will have committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and this blasphemy will not be forgiven … there will be no reason for a disciple to sin other than the disciple loves this world and the things of the flesh more than he or she loves God. Thus, Zion or the last Eve gives birth to two sons—a spiritual Cain and a spiritual Abel; an Esau and a Jacob—when disciples are liberated from indwelling disobedience through being filled by Spirit. Until then, because of the indwelling of sin in the members of the tents of flesh in which born of Spirit sons of God dwell, disciples are “covered” by Grace. The mantle of Grace, now, functions as the womb of the last Eve. Thus, the woman that is the Christian Church doesn’t conceive sons of God, but nurtures these sons under the mantle of Christ Jesus’ righteousness until such time as she unwillingly gives “birth” or separation to these sons. So the metaphor of human birth functions at two, and three levels: first, the Father gives “birth” to His sons by giving them the earnest of the Holy Spirit while these sons dwell in tents of flesh. This is real birth and life in the heavenly realm just as the giving of earnest money when purchasing real estate is the giving of real money that is counted toward the purchase price. Then the last Eve gives “birth” to these sons of God when these sons are empowered by the Holy Spirit, thereby filling the disciples with Spirit so that there is no room for sin within the tents of flesh in which sons of God dwell. Finally, Christ Jesus gives “birth” to these already alive sons of God when He gives life to whom He will (John 5:21) through the tent of perishable flesh putting on immortality or imperishability.
The Father began the process of giving “birth” to the descendants of the first Adam when He drew whom He wanted as disciples for Christ Jesus from the world (John 6:44, 65) prior to Calvary: these original disciples received the Holy Spirit or birth from above when Jesus breathed on ten of them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit [Pneuma ’Agion or Breath Holy]” (John 20:22). Since then, the Father has drawn from the kingdom of this world or spiritual Babylon those whom He would have as part of the harvest of Firstfruits. He will continue to draw from this world those whom He wants as Firstfruits until the last Eve gives “birth” to the two sons presently in her womb; i.e., presently covered by Grace.
The last Eve or spiritual Zion (Isa 66:7-8) gives “birth” when the seven endtime years of tribulation begin. In this initial birth, she will bring forth two sons, one hated even while covered by Grace, one loved though deceitful because of the indwelling of sin. And except for a remnant (Rev 12:17), both of these sons will die during the first three and a half years of the seven endtime years. The hated son will die spiritually by committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—the death of this firstborn son, a spiritual Esau, will be the great falling away (2 Thess 2:3) when, on a specific day [220 days into the seven endtime years], this son rebels against God through unbelief, manifest by this son attempting to enter God’s rest on the following day, the 8th-day. (During the first half of the seven endtime years, observance of the Sabbath will “mark” who is of God as the tattoo of the Cross [Chi xi stigma] will “mark” those who are of the Antichrist during the last three and a half years.)
Except for the remnant that keep the commandments and have the spirit of prophecy (cf. Rev 12:17; Rev 19:10), all of the beloved son now in the womb of the last Eve will die physically during the first three and a half years of the Tribulation as righteous Abel died long ago. Thus, halfway through the seven endtime years, the hated son will be physically alive but spiritually dead, and the beloved son will be physically dead but spiritually alive; so the last Eve will bring forth another son, a spiritual Seth, who only has to endure to the end to be saved (Matt 24:13)—and the birth announcement of this third son is the good news [gospel] that must be proclaimed to the world as a witness to all nations before the end of the age comes (v. 14) … the gospel that must be proclaimed to all nations isn’t the third angel’s message (Rev 14:9-11) as Seventh Day Adventists contend, nor it is the good news of the soon coming kingdom of God as Herbert Armstrong and his splintered fellowships contend. The gospel that must be proclaimed is, All who endure to the end shall be saved. This is a very plain, absolutely unadorned message that will be delivered to the third part of humanity (Zech 13:9) that today doesn’t have any interest in Christianity, but that will be born empowered by the Holy Spirit when the Spirit of God is poured out upon all flesh (Joel 2:28). When the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of the Father and His Christ (cf. Rev 11:15; Dan 7:9-14), Christ Jesus will baptize this world in Spirit (Matt 3:11), thereby changing even the predatory natures of lions, bears, and wolves (Isa 11:6-9). Human nature will change for the better, becoming the nature of Christ Jesus, just as quickly as King Nebuchadnezzar’s nature changed from that of a man to that of a beast in a moment. But this third part of humanity will not be under Grace, so any sin that this third part takes into itself will cause the spiritual death of the infant son of God, the reason for the proclamation of this good news to all nations.
Spiritual birth from the Father imparts real spiritual life into a tent of flesh, life that must war against indwelling sin, the reason why Grace is absolutely necessary for the infant son of God will lose some battles to sin. Spiritual birth through empowerment by the Holy Spirit removes the mantle of Christ Jesus’ righteousness, thereby revealing the Body of the Son of Man as the Head is now revealed. This spiritual birth was foreshadowed by ancient Israel’s liberation from physical bondage to Pharaoh; this spiritual birth is liberation from indwelling sin and death, liberation that comes at a Second Passover when the lives of men are again given for the ransom of Israel (Isa 43:3-4).
Spiritual birth from the Son is Jesus giving life to whom He will (again, John 5:21), and this spiritual birth causes the mortal flesh to put on immortality. The glorified disciple will then be able to walk through the fire separating the dimensions without perishing—the flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life (Gen 3:24) was a type of the fire separating the dimensions. Jesus, however, has already said that He will not give life to teachers of lawlessness, regardless of the mighty works they have done in His name (Matt 7:21-23). Thus, the teachers of the hated son, spiritual Esau, are condemned by their lawlessness to the lake of fire before their judgments are revealed upon Christ Jesus’ return (1 Cor 4:5).
Why would anyone teach disciples to be lawless when such teachers already have their judgments revealed while they still live?
To answer the above question brings the subject back to spiritual circumcision: spiritual birth from the Father—being drawn from the world through receipt of the Holy Spirit—comes without permission to those who are born of Spirit. The person, one day a son of disobedience and perfectly content being a part of this world and the bondservant of the prince of this world, receives without notice or warning a second birth that requires this son of disobedience to inwardly kill who he or she is and to become this new creature that is a son of God. Frankly, this is actually asking quite a lot of the person. And to make it possible for the infant son of God to dwell in the tent of flesh, the old self is suddenly spiritually crucified as Christ was physically crucified—crucifixion doesn’t kill instantly, but kills slowly through suffocation. So the crucified old self, if a strong man, can live for a long while after the spiritual son of God is born into the same tent of flesh. And the longer the old self lives, the more likely he or she is to corrupt the infant son of God, especially when this corruption is assisted by a teacher of lawlessness.
Of all peoples on earth, God choose the son promised to the patriarch Abraham as His cultivar. And this physical cultivar Isaac was physically circumcised on the 8th-day following birth. Likewise, the sons of the promised son were not circumcised prior to birth, but following birth. Therefore, spiritual circumcision does not precede spiritual birth, but follows being born of Spirit … in the second covenant mediated by Moses (Deu 29-31), spiritual circumcision was promised to natural Israel if the nation turned to God and by faith began to keep His commandments while exiled in a far land. God is not a respecter of persons: the Apostle Paul says that the uncircumcised person who keeps the precepts of the law will have his or her uncircumcision counted as circumcision (Rom 2:26). Thus, the action by Israel that precedes spiritual circumcision is keeping the precepts of the law by faith. Therefore, when a person who has been born of Spirit begins to keep the precepts of the law, the person is spiritually as a Hebrew infant was when eight days old: this person will be spiritually circumcised.
Note: a physically mature Israelite was not circumcised when mature, but when eight days old. Likewise, a person whom the Father draws from this world and to whom the Father gives His divine Breath, thereby making this person a newly born son of God, is as a Hebrew infant on the day of his birth. This person is in human terms less than eight days old until this person mentally journeys from the land of his nativity to spiritual Judea where he will begin to keep the precepts of the law of God—this journey cleanses the heart so that the heart can be spiritually circumcised. Hence, when the heart has been cleansed, the person will be keeping the commandments. God promises to this person, under the terms of the second covenant, spiritual circumcision (Deu 30:6) and life in Judea. And the person born of Spirit who keeps the commandments is spiritually as a human infant is physically when eight days old.
The above should humble every teacher of Israel.
Disciples who have not yet begun to keep the precepts of the law are either not born of Spirit (usually the case) or are of less than eight days in age. Either way, they have no business teaching anybody anything about God; for they are either too immature, or they are not a Believer … unfortunately, there is one more category into which Christ places disciples born of Spirit: sons of destruction who have been called as Judas Iscariot was drawn from this world by the Father for the expressed purpose of betraying Christ (John 17:12).
Spiritually righteous Abel will be slain by his brother—and disciples will be born of Spirit to become vessels of wrath intended for destruction, vessels who will slay their righteous brothers.
If a person has been born of Spirit, the person will be made by Christ Jesus into a vessel for honored used in the house of God, or a vessel of wrath to be endured for a season. No other category exists for someone drawn from this world as part of the harvest of Firstfruits. And every vessel intended for honored use will keep the precepts of the law. To say otherwise marks the person who disagrees as a teacher of lawlessness, unknown to Christ Jesus regardless of the works he or she does in the name of Jesus.
If someone has been born of Spirit for a considered length of time and still does not keep the precepts of the law—usually apparent by the day upon which the person attempts to enter God’s rest—the assumption has to be made that the person is a vessel of wrath to be endured for a while. The Apostle Paul writes Timothy and says that if this person cleanses himself from what is dishonorable (2 Tim 2:21), he will be a vessel for honorable use. Most often, though, the person on his or her day of salvation chose death rather than life (Deu 30:15) and now cannot repent from those things that are dishonorable, including worshiping on the 8th-day. Thus, this person is a vessel of destruction, made to be broken when the house of God is revealed. This person chose to be made into a spiritual bull or goat to be sacrificed as physical bulls and goats were sacrificed when Solomon dedicated the physical temple.
If it remains possible for a long time disciple born of Spirit to turn from worshiping on the 8th-day, or to turn from other dishonorable practices, then the person will become a vessel for honored usage. Exactly how difficult this is can be seen by how few are able to begin keeping the precepts of the law if they do not begin when newly born of Spirit. Spiritual circumcision occurs to spiritual infants, and the person who has become content being a spiritual infant of less than eight days old isn’t likely to change after even a short while has passed. The spiritual maturation process has been thwarted; the person will be a perpetual infant prepared for destruction … compare the mental processing of a cow with the mental processing of a newly born human infant; there is some basis for comparison. Thus, the disciple whose spiritual processing of the things of God remains beastlike even after a few years in the Church will, most likely, be sacrificed as a vessel of wrath, devoted to destruction, when the judgment of Firstfruits is revealed. Growing in Grace and knowledge begins with cleansing the heart and spiritual circumcision. It doesn’t begin with continued lawlessness and bondage to sin.
The person who neglects to, by faith, keep the precepts of the law neglects salvation (Heb 2:3); for if God cast rebelling angels into outer darkness because of their transgressions, how should disciples think to escape a similar fate when they willfully transgress the commandments of God? Again, the person who has not been born of Spirit is not free to keep the commandments of God, but must serve disobedience to which he or she has been consigned. It is only the person that has been born of Spirit who is truly free to keep the precepts of the law. Thus, when this person chooses not to do so, this person neglects salvation. This person neglects to make a spiritual journey as Abraham made a physical journey.
The Logos as Theos, whom David knew as Yah, did not enter His creation as His Son, His only, to die so that the descendants of Abraham could continue in the disobedience to which they had been consigned when Adam was driven from the garden of God. He came to liberate these descendants of the patriarch so that they could keep the commandments, which none of the Pharisees did or could do (John 7:19). He did not come to liberate disciples from the law, but from sin and death summed up in one word: disobedience.
All of humankind sinned; no one was without sin prior to the coming of the Logos as His only Son. Thus, all were under penalty of death. All had died, or would die because of the indwelling of sin in their mortal members, this indwelling sin defining who they were and what they would become. The man Jesus of Nazareth, however, was born not of Adam but of Yah. He was not born consigned to sin as its bondservant, but was born free to keep the commandments uttered by His literal father from atop Mount Sinai prior to when the divine Breath of God the Father descended upon Him as a visible dove, making Him the spiritual Son of the Most High. Literally, Jesus was born free to keep the commandments, something no person since the first Adam could do—and He kept the commandments throughout His years on earth. He had to be made sin through taking on the sins of Israel before death had any power over Him.
Pause and consider the ramifications of that concept: until Jesus took on the sins of Israel as the reality of the two goats chosen as the sin offering for Israel on Yom Kipporim, He could not die; He could not be killed. He would not drown. No one could slay Him with stones or a sword. He was absolutely unworthy of death; so He had to voluntarily die—and to die, He had to be made sin.
Because Jesus died by voluntarily taking on the sins of Israel, the nation of Israel was finally freed from being bondservants to disobedience. The nation of Israel was suddenly free to keep the commandments … Israel wasn’t liberated from keeping the commandments, but from death that came from breaking the commandments. Israel no longer had to break the commandments through being bondservants to disobedience, what the Apostle Paul writes in his epistle to the Romans.
The reader should now read Romans chapter 6 and 7.
Commentary: “For sin will have no dominion over you” (Rom 6:14) means literally what the words seem to represent: the person whom the Father has drawn from the world to be part of the early harvest of Firstfruits has, from the moment the new creature was born of Spirit within the tent of flesh, been set free from bondage to sin and death. The person, finally, is free to keep the commandments of God.
But this is not what ministers of Satan—and there are many more false apostles, deceitful workmen who have disguised themselves as apostles of Christ, than genuine servants of righteousness—have taught disciples whom the Father has drawn from this world. Rather, these false teachers have taught infant sons of God that they were freed from keeping the laws of God; thus, these spiritual infants journeyed nowhere. They did not cleanse their hearts by faith, and they never had their hearts circumcised. They were given real life in the heavenly realm, and for the most part, they squandered this life through transforming themselves into vessels of wrath, the spiritual reality of the thousands of bulls and goats sacrificed when Solomon’s temple was dedicated.
The disciple is mentally set free from sin when the new creature is born of Spirit when the Father draws the disciple from the world, but the tent of flesh in which this infant son of God dwells remains subject to sin and death. Thus, the new creature born of Spirit, born free to keep the commandments of God, must rule over the tent of flesh in which this infant son of God dwells. Paul writes, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions” (Rom 6:12), for the indwelling sin in the disciple’s mortal body can reign over the infant son of God, especially when this indwelling sin is reinforced by false apostles, ministers of Satan himself.
Paul writes, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to life” (Rom 6:16). Grace isn’t permission to sin, but is Christ covering sin through His righteousness for the infant son of God who has presented himself to God by making his members instruments for righteousness. Grace is Christ covering the sins of the person born of Spirit who strives to perfectly keep the precepts of the law, but is unable to do so because the tent of flesh in which this infant son of God dwells also still houses indwelling sin. And all who teach that Grace frees disciples from having to strive to keep the precepts of the law is a false minister, a teacher of lawlessness, a servant of Satan.
It is in the short period of time represented by the eight days between when a Hebrew infant was born of woman and when this male was physically circumcised that each disciple’s day of salvation occurs … on the infant son of God’s day of salvation, this son of God will choose life or death. This son of God will choose to mentally journey to Judea where he will live as a spiritual Judean, or this son of God will stay close to home, venturing no farther than the Church services of his nativity. To journey to Judea is to choose life, for this journey will be the spiritual equivalent of the physical journey Abraham made while still uncircumcised. To stay close to home is to choose death, regardless of how close home is to heavenly Jerusalem.
The disciple who by faith journeys from the mental landscape of his or her nativity toward the heavenly city of Jerusalem—even if this disciple doesn’t arrive in the heavenly city during his or her physical lifetime—will cleanse the heart and receive spiritual circumcision. Thus, the Greek who quit living as a Greek [i.e., practicing sexual immorality, offering meats to idols, eating meats strangled and eating blood] has made a mental journey from the landscape of his or her nativity toward the heavenly city of Jerusalem, a journey of sufficient distance to cleanse the heart (Acts 15:7-11) so that it can be circumcised. Likewise, the Native American who begins to live as, say, a Tlingit Jew (as one Alaskan woman was asked by tribal members) has mentally journeyed far enough to cleanse the heart even if this person doesn’t arrive at the foundation the Apostle Paul laid in the heavenly city. And the same can be said for any person leaving an aboriginal mental landscape by faith and beginning the long mental trek to spiritual Judea.
But the disciple who begins no journey during the short period of time represented by the eight days chooses death by failing to begin when commanded to go. This born of Spirit son of God—today covered by Grace, but covered as the hated son of spiritual Isaac—retains the spiritual processing capability equivalent to a human infant’s mental processing capability in the first eight days of life. And this infant son of God that has chosen death by failing to begin a journey of faith will never spiritually mature beyond this infant status; for this son of God will be made into a vessel of wrath that must be endured until sacrificed as ancient Israel sacrificed bulls and goats at the dedication of the living temple, the house of God built with living stones, each shaped offsite through the circumcision of hearts and minds.
It had been assumed that spiritual circumcision came with receipt of the Holy Spirit, but this is not the case: spiritual circumcision follows the cleansing of the hearts by faith. Spiritual circumcision, like physical circumcision for the children of Israel born in the wilderness (Josh 5:2-7), occurs after the infant son of God crosses the spiritual Jordan River and enters into God’s rest on the seventh day (cf. Heb 3:16-4:11; Ps 95:10-11; Num 14:11-41). No one can enter God’s rest on the following day. Spiritual circumcision doesn’t occur in the wilderness of Sin, but only in the Promised Land.
As disciples approach the time of year when more of the population’s thoughts turn toward Christ Jesus through the poorly taught story of His birth, disciples need to understand that Caleb was of Esau, the hated son. Yet it is only Joshua and Caleb of the men numbered in the census taken when Israel left Egypt who enter into God’s rest—Joshua and Caleb, together, represent the remnant (Rev 12:17) that will lead the third part of humanity into the kingdom of God as the great harvest of Firstfruits. But Caleb had about him a different spirit (Num 14:24), one that caused him to first leave the land of his nativity and journey to Egypt where he lived with the Israelites, then leave Egypt and by faith believe that God would deliver to Israel what He had promised (Num 13:30).
A few disciples who are today of the hated son spiritual Esau will be like Caleb. Let those few turn from what is dishonorable and become vessels intended for honored usage by keeping the precepts of the law. They have been liberated from bondage to disobedience so that they can, truly, keep the commandments.
To not even attempt to keep the commandments is today blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It is this blasphemy that foreshadows the blasphemy of the great falling away 220 days into the seven endtime years of tribulation. It is this blasphemy that was foreshadowed by Israel refusing to enter the promise land when commanded to go, and attempting to enter on the following day. It is no wonder that the firstborn son of spiritual Isaac is hated by God.
The person conducting the Sabbath service should close services with two hymns, or psalms, followed by a prayer asking God’s dismissal.
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"Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."