Shepherd's Lighthouse Church

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; Genesis 1:14 

And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. Daniel 2:21

The history of the world is a record of human events from Adam up to the present.

To the secular mind history is only the story of a humanity striving to master its own destiny and subdue all forces and conditions that oppose it.

But all who are willing to awake from the pipe-dream of human supremacy can see history for what it really is. 

It is the  story of a loving, caring God, who is orchestrating His own plan to the benefit of all mankind.

It is God’s purpose to faithfully guide man back to Himself from the curse of Adam’s fall.

And He has given us an overview of His plan in types and shadows (patterns) throughout His Word.

He has also laid down for us a timetable of events that present a picture of gracious restoration. 

Why did He do this?

I believe that there are two main reasons that God has done this: 

1.  For our instruction – 1 Cor 10:11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

2.  To give us hope and a future – Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

Both these reasons were summed up in Jer 29:11 where God assures us, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

The future that God is referring to is an eternity with Him in Heaven – and all of human history is directing man toward that purpose.

History is divided up into years and since the time of Moses, the Jews have had two different, but related, ways of measuring their years – one is called the Secular year, and the other is called the Sacred year.

Now, when the Jews came out of Egypt, they probably measured time the same way as the Egyptians did.

Their year was based on the planting and harvesting of crops. 

This year is still used by the Jews and is called the Secular or Agricultural Year – it begins in September with what is called Rosh Hashana.

The harvest time was in the fall of the year - it was beginning the celebration of life because in the natural, food is the very means of sustaining life.

So it was only natural that they measured time from harvest to harvest.

But the road from disgrace to grace – or from grave to glory – is pictured in the seven Jewish feasts of the Lord that begin not with the Secular Year, but with a Sacred Year that God instituted through His servant Moses in Exodus 12:2

The Secular Year still begins in September-October of each year with Rosh Hashana. 

But God declared that the Sacred Year (the year of feasts) should begin with the new moon of March/April. (Nisan)

So God positioned Himself in the very middle of man’s Agricultural year.

Why do you suppose He chose this particular place in the year? 

Because it is appropriate. (Six is the number of man, and twelve is the number of governmental perfection (according to E. W. Bullinger). 

We see in this example man connected to God in perfect government.

Also, the time between the harvests (Spring) was the time of planting – and without the planting there would be no harvest.

This planting coincided with the coming of the rains – a picture of blessings.

And the first gathering to come from the planting was the barley harvest.

The barley was considered to be food fit only for animals and the poor.

But it is the barley harvest – the feast of firstfruits which is the end of Passover week – that coincides with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

So the Sacred year – the picture of God’s timetable for redemption – begins in the Spring with the feast of Passover and ends in the Fall with the feast of Tabernacles.

Each of the feasts represent a principle in God’s plan as He leads us from disgrace to Glory.

Passover speaks of Deliverance; Unleavened bread speaks of Sanctification; 

Firstfruits speaks of Resurrection; 

Pentecost (Weeks) speaks of Forgiveness (some say Inauguration); 

Trumpets, rosh hashana, speaks of Arrival (some say Judgment); 

Day of Atonement, yom kippur, speaks of Repentance; 

And Tabernacles, sukkot, speaks of Community (God with man).

Think about this....

The natural man comes into the world like the barley - he is the begining of God’s plan. 

Like the barley, natural man is poor and fit only for the ground from which he came. 

As a son of Adam he has his plans and agendas; but overshadowing it all is God’s plan and His agenda as pictured in the feasts of the Sacred Year.

Unsaved man thinks that it is all about Man securing his position as Cosmic Ruler – Lord of the Universe.

Human control of everything is the humanist agenda.

But it is God, not man, who is at the center of everything.

It is God, not man, who calls things that are not, as if they are – He alone can make something out of nothing.

While the human agenda is to replace God and ascend to the place of the most high, it is God’s agenda that all will submit to Him in adoration.

Unsaved man considers himself to be the focal point of history – he thinks that it is all about him.

But when the redeemed man looks at history, he sees the clear and unmistakable presence of God conducting His symphony of Salvation; bringing all into submission to His perfect will.

As the Scriptures promise in Romans 14:11, “…  As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee  will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'"

And in Phil 2:10, “…  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on  earth and under the earth … ”

Jesus, who is God in flesh, is the Lord of time and eternity. 

He alone is worthy to be the Supreme Ruler over all that exists.

And the Scriptures declare in 1 Cor 15:21-26,

“For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

God, in the person of Christ Jesus, is at the center of all human history.

The Sacred Calendar and the annual Feasts of the Lord proclaim Him to be the beginning and the end of human destiny.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”  Ecclesiastes 3:11

Jesus is the cause and the effect, the promise and the fulfilment, the hope and the Glory.

Praise Him and lift Him up.

 

Amen.