Bill Alsept
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the
firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every
man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they
that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;
when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and
power." (1 Cor 15:20-24)
My purpose for putting this study into writing is that
I sincerely hope that some other brother may receive the same
blessing that I have received from it.
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the
sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the
body is of Christ." We have seen already that all things that the Levitical Priesthood was commanded to do typified Christ;, as the high priest himself was a type of Christ. Everything portrayed Christ and His coming, ruling and reigning. All the furnishing and all the offerings portrayed Christ. Also, all the feasts the nation of Israel were commanded to observe, there feast were the Fathers plan laid out clearly for His people. The feast are in the following order:
The seven feast are a shadow of the entire plan of God
from the coming of Christ till the end of this age. But the
one I want to elaborate on is the Feast of the Firstfruits.
The Feast of the Firstfruits was the third in order of the
yearly feast and was a day of solemn consecration. The Nation
Israel was to take the firstfruits of all the crops, the
first borne of all their livestock, and give it to the Lord
as a special offering; "WITH A PROMISE OF A HARVEST TO COME."
(Proverbs 3:9-10)
"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,
that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his
creatures."(James 1:18)
When Christ went through Judea preaching the Kingdom,
He put the message in such a way that all could understand,
from the lowest to the highest, if their hearts were right
with the Father. And He spoke many things unto them in
parables, saying:
And he spake many things unto them in parables,
saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed,
some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and
devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had
not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they
had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were
scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and
choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought
forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some
thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.(Mat
13:3-9)
The natural aspect of growing a crop never changes,
and all people of every nation under heaven understand it,
for their very survival depends on it. The seed must be
planted in good ground and die in order to spring forth
abundance of life. The old man must die, be planted, in order
to walk in newness of life. Only when one dies will he then,
and only then take root.
"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that
ye, being rooted and grounded in love,"(Eph 3:17)
As a seed dies and takes roots, and its roots take
nourishment, the plant grows, and as long as this root
continues to take in nourishment from the earth, it will
grow, and only when the plant is full grown will it bare
fruit. And the very same way with us who have accepted
Christ as our personal Saviour, we must die, to this world.
We must be rooted and grounded in the faith. In order to
grow, we must yield ourselves to the Father.
"I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the
increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing,
neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the
increase."(1 Cor 3:6-7)
And like the plant, we must take in nourishment before
we can grow, and in order to grow, we must yield ourselves to
the Father, for god gives the increase: and again like the
plant, we must be full grown (mature) (perfect) before we can
bare fruit. The nation Israel was commanded to offer the
Firstfruits unto God.
"Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the
firstfruits of all thine increase:"(Prov 3:9)
Just before the harvest, the people went through-out
the fields; if it were corn of wheat, they would pluck the
firstfruits, (that which is full grown), they took these
firstfruits and presented them to the high priest, and he
would take them in his hand and wave them before the Lord and
present them to Him as a special offering and a promise of a
harvest to come. So likewise, at the end of this age, the
angels will gather His elect (them that are full grown in
Christ Jesus).
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall
lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep
it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me;
and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man
serve me, him will my Father honour."(John 12:24-26)
"The firstfruits shall be gathered unto the Father:
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled
together; and every mountain and island were moved out of
their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men,
and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the
dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the
mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of
him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall
be able to stand?"(Rev 6:14-17)
Yes, the heavens shall open like a scroll and Christ
shall descend down over JERUSALEM with the departed saints,
and the angels.
"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord
shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ
shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord
in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."(1 Th
4:14-17)
As Christ is coming down to take up the throne of
David, those that are of the firstfruits shall be rising up
all over the world into the air.
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall
the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of
the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of
the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in
the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall
send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one
end of heaven to the other."(Mat 24::29-31)
Christ and the saints shall descend to Jerusalem where
Christ shall rule with a rod of iron and the saints will rule
and reign with Him. I believe Christ was speaking of this
when He said:
"And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of
God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."(John
1:51)
Christ and the saints are at Jerusalem where the
Marriage of the Lamb takes place. As typified in the shadow
under the Mosaic Law, Christ is our high priest.
Now of the things which we have spoken this is the
sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right
hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister
of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord
pitched, and not man.(Heb 8:1-2)
Christ, who is our High Priest shall take the
firstfruits that the angels have gathered to Him: He shall
present them unto the Father as a special offering; this
takes place at the Marriage of the Lamb and fulfills the
prayer Christ prayed in John 17. The whole of Palestine will
be a haven of rest and beauty, the same as the Land of Goshen
was when the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt,
while God was pouring His plagues upon Egypt. All around
Palestine will be another Land of Goshen while God is pouring
out His wrath upon all unrighteousness upon the earth. The
unfaithful saved, the lost, false prophets, and antichrist.
This completes the Harvest of the Firstfruits. All that is
left is the Harvest General and the Gleanings. THE HARVEST GENERAL
"But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart,
My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his
fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The
lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not
for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall
cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the
hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth."(Mat 24:48-51)
I believe that the harvest general is made up of two
kinds of christians; those whom God has not allowed to go on
to perfection, and those that have, but have fallen
away.
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of
Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward
God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands,
and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And
this will we do, if God permit."(Heb 6:1-3)
Those who have not come into the knowledge of the
truth will go to make up the harvest general and the only
reason that God would not permit one to go on to perfection
is because of rebellion toward Christ, and the Truth.
"For it had been better for them not to have known the
way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn
from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is
happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is
turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to
her wallowing in the mire."(2 Pet 2:21-22)
The reason it is better for them is this: That their
time spent in the "Outer Darkness" will be determined by the extent
of their rebellion toward God; whether it will be a few
stripes or many.
"And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and
prepared not himself, neither did according to his will,
shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and
did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few
stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be
much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him
they will ask the more."(Luke 12:47-48)
God's wrath will be poured out upon the earth for
three and a half years, and all during this time, the harvest
general will be coming in; each one will stay in the Outer
Darkness until he has paid the last mite. "When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite."(Luke 12:58-59) GLEANINGS
The gleanings are always the last to be taken in.
Gleanings are them that have fallen short of the mark (they
didn't make it on the wagon) and end up being trodden under
the foot of man. Salt that has lost its savor.
"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have
lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is
thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be
trodden under foot of men."(Mat 5:13)
These people have known the way of the Father but did
not His will.
"For it is impossible for those who were once
enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were
made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good
word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they
shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing
they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him
to an open shame."(Heb 6:4-6)
The gleanings are the ultimate in rebellion against
God; these people have known the "will of the
Father," have seen "the world to come," but turned
again unto the "things of the world."
"And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand
to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of
God."(Luke 9:62) |