Angelic Conflict part 324: Current work of Christ – Lev 23:4-21; Heb 13:7-17; Rom 8:23.

Title: Angelic Conflict part 323: Current work of Christ – Lev 23:4-21; Heb 13:7-17; Rom 8:23.

 

At least a dozen im­portant aspects of His present ministry were contingent upon the fact of His resurrection.

 

9. Christ in His resurrection is the first fruits from among the dead and His Church are the first fruits of the Spirit.

 

We noted that there were three feasts in which first fruits were in view. In each of these feasts the Israelites were required to present themselves before God at His tabernacle, first as Shiloh and then at Jerusalem after David had moved the ark.

 

The first of these was the first Sunday after Passover. Passover was immediately followed by the feast of Unleavened Bread which lasted 7 days. In the midst of this feast, the Sunday after Passover, first fruits of the earliest harvest was waved before the Lord and offered to the priest.

 

Lev 23:4 'These are the appointed times of the Lord , holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them.

 

Lev 23:5'In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord's Passover.

 

Lev 23:6'Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.

 

Lev 23:7'On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.

 

Lev 23:8'But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.'"

 

Lev 23:9Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

 

Lev 23:10"Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.

 

Josephus tells us that this was a sheaf of young barley.

 

Lev 23:11'And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

 

Lev 23:12'Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord.

 

Lev 23:13'Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the Lord  for a soothing aroma, with its libation, a fourth of a hin of wine.

 

Lev 23:14'Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

 

Then came Pentecost.

 

Lev 23:15 'You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths.

 

Lev 23:16'You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.

 

Lev 23:17'You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to the Lord .

 

Lev 23:18'Along with the bread, you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd, and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the Lord , with their grain offering and their libations, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord .

 

Lev 23:19'You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.

 

Lev 23:20'The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with two lambs before the Lord; they are to be holy to the Lord for the priest.

 

Lev 23:21'On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

 

 

These occur in the spring in April and May while the last feast, the Feast of Tabernacles, is in the fall when the entire harvest is brought in.

 

First fruits during feast of Unleavened Bread = Christ, the first.

First fruits during Pentecost (2 loaves) = Church, the second.

Tabernacles, entire harvest (last feast) = All believers.

 

The two loaves of fine barley that were offered at Pentecost likely pictures both the Jew and Gentile that would become one first fruit of the Spirit during the CA.

 

CA bels are the first fruits of the Spirit:

 

Rom 8:23

And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

 

Notice that first fruits is used in connection with resurrection glory.

 

In the Church there is no Jew or Gentile, but all are one in Christ Jesus and therefore the two have been brought together into one building - the body of Christ.

 

The thankfulness of the people for all the bounty that was given them is shared by our Lord for the bounty that was given Him. He is thankful to the Father for the Church and loves the sheep as the great Shepherd. The Father is thankful to the Son and loves the Son for laying down His life for the sheep, Joh 10.

 

Our High Priest has made every member of the Church a royal priest, 1Pe 2, and our offering is also one of thanksgiving, the fruit of the lips.

 

Heb 13:7 Remember those who led you [those who had died (Memorial Day)], who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.

 

Heb 13:8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.

 

Doctrine is the mind of Christ and it doesn’t change. It sustained those who have died and it will sustain those who are living.

 

Heb 13:9Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods [legalism], through which those who were thus occupied were not benefited.

 

Heb 13:10We have an altar [the Cross], from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.

 

The priests were to eat a portion of what was sacrificed, but not so with this sacrifice. We are sustained through the Cross in quite another way.

 

Heb 13:11For [moreover – a further consideration] the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp.

 

Heb 13:12Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.

 

Isa 53:8

By oppression and judgment He was taken away;

And as for His generation, who considered

That He was cut off out of the land of the living,

For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?

 

Heb 13:13Hence, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

 

Christ didn’t conform to religion and bore His reproach outside the gates. We should go out with Him, to our altar, the Cross, no matter what the approach.

 

The disciples would not follow, except for John and the women. We should be like them that followed, not living in fear, but following Him, no matter what the cost or reproach. We are to pick up our cross and follow Him despite the opinions, accusations, and threats of others.

 

Luk 9:22-26

"The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day."  And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

 

1Pe 4:12-13

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.

 

In grace those who did not follow would follow His plan after they had recovered. We can always recover from doubt and fear and without guilt or condemnation we can pick up our cross and follow Him.

 

Heb 13:14For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

 

 “we do not have a lasting city” – We do not regard this as our final home so whatever reproaches we face here are momentary and light.

 

If, therefore, in consequence of our professed attachment to the Savior, we should be driven away from our habitations, and compelled to wander, we should be willing to submit to it, for our permanent home is not here, but in heaven. The object of the writer seems to be to comfort the Hebrew Christians on the supposition that they would be driven by persecution from the city of Jerusalem, and doomed to wander as exiles. He tells them that their Lord was led from that city to be put to death, and they should be willing to go forth also; that their permanent home was not Jerusalem, but heaven, and they should be willing in view of that blessed abode to be exiled from the city where they dwelt, and made wanderers in the earth. Jerusalem would be destroyed in a few years time from this and so this exile was a certainty.

 

Heb 13:15Through Him then [in view of all these considerations], let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

 

His name = His person. The first fruit offering of the CA believer is thankfulness to God for His essence, and for all He has freely given.

 

Part of what He has freely given is forgiveness in His Son. Thankfulness releases a believer from the prison of lust in all areas as he becomes content with what he has in grace, and thankfulness also releases him from the prison of guilt and condemnation.

 

Hos 14:1-2

Return, O Israel, to the Lord  your God,

For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

Take words with you and return to the Lord .

Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity,

And receive us graciously,

That we may present the fruit of our lips.

 

Heb 13:16And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased.