Beginnings & Endings and New Beginnings

(The Last Great Day)

Fred R. Coulter—October 24, 2024

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So, we always begin in Lev. 23, which is an amazing chapter in the Bible, because when you first read it, it doesn't mean anything to anyone. They think that these are just the things for the Jews. The Jews would like to have it that way, because they don't want anyone keeping the Feasts. They view the rest of us as 'goyim' and Gentile, and therefore we are beneath them.

• God is over all
• He has made all people
• God has made time
• He's created the heavens and the earth
• He's given us a beginning and an ending

When you analyze the Bible, it is filled with beginnings and endings, beginnings and endings, beginnings and endings. Whenever there's an ending, there's a new beginning.

We will see that's the magnificence of God's Word and His Plan. We've also seen that for those who don't believe God and try and read the Bible, they'll never understand it. Those who think that they know the Bible—but they're unwilling to obey God—will never understand it either.

The three major things, which you'll hear me repeat over and over and over again, is that:

• you believe God
• you obey Him

When you find anything you need to do, you do it, because God has said so, and He's also said there's a blessing for doing it. Now if you don't do it, then you cut yourself off from God.

• to love God

Because the whole basis of everything that God does is based upon:

• His love
• His power
• His judgment

and

• the execution of that
• the carrying out of it
• the making of everything righteous and good

Now believe it or not, all of that, though not spoken of in Lev. 23, is the key that unlocks the Bible for the understanding of those very things that people want to know. But they won't understand it because they won't do what God says!

Leviticus 23:1: "And the Lord spoke to Moses saying…"

So these are not the writings of Moses that he invented. These are the words of God, which Moses wrote as a scribe to be preserved and given to us down through all generations of human time from that time forward.

Verse 2: "'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, 'Concerning the appointed Feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be Holy convocations, even these are My appointed Feasts.'"

That's the beginning. That's the first two verses. Come to the last verse and let's read it, and here we see there's the beginning and the end. Everything has a beginning and an ending within the realm of time!

Verse 44: "And Moses declared the appointed Feasts of the LORD to the children of Israel." So, you have the beginning and the ending!

Now we come to the Feast of Tabernacles, which we find in:

Verse 34: "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD."

We've done that. We've had the first day, we've had all the other days. Now let's come down to:

Verse 39—God brings an ending, but a new beginning! We will see what that means, and we will see how important that is in relationship to the Plan of God.

Verse 39: "Also, in the fifteenth day of the seventh month when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a Feast to the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath."

Now that's an amazing thing, isn't it? How often is the eighth day mentioned? Well, you look through here, the eighth day is mentioned once!Now we're going to see in the fulfillment of it a principle that applies: The least shall become the greatest! We will see what that means in the Plan of God and why we keep the Last Great Day.

We come to the Gospel of John, chapter seven. Let's see where this is mentioned and what Jesus did on that day. It's a very important thing and it gives us a clue, not a full explanation of it, but a clue of something yet in the future.

Jesus kept the Feast of Tabernacles. Then we come to this: after the Feast of Tabernacles, right when the seventh day was ending at sunset, and the eighth day was beginning at sunset, they had a special ceremony of the Ceremony of Waters, where they would pour water around the base of the altar.

John 7:37: "Now, in the last day, the great day of the Feast…"

So the eighth day is The Great Day. And it's also called a Sabbath, as we saw.

"…Jesus stood and called out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink'" (v 37).

That's interesting, isn't it? Anyone! Someone who doesn't believe the Bible or believe God and looks at all the difficulties and wars, killing and death that has taken place, they say: How can it be anyone when all of those people have lived their lives and died?'

As we read in Matt. 13, that their eyes were blinded and it wasn't given them to know the Truth. So, why does Jesus say, 'if anyone'? Well, we'll answer that.

Verse 38: "The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."

Well, that's a type of the Holy Spirit. And we see living water mentioned in Rev. 2. Also, when they built the temple, the Spring of Gihon brought up lots of water to the temple area, and it flowed out to keep the temple area clean from the sacrifices and the blood and everything like that. But living water is a type of the working of the Holy Spirit:

• It's a type of life!
• It's a type of eternal life!

Verse 39: "But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, which those who believed in Him would soon receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified." So, that's quite an amazing thing!

Now, as we do for every Holy Day, we take up an offering and we appreciate your tithes and offerings and appreciate what you do, brethren—all of us together. We manage the money the way that it should be before God, knowing that the money belongs to God to do His work, to do the things that He wants done!

For those who need help and assistance, and for this preaching of the Gospel, the spreading of the Word of God. all of you have done very good in passing out the complete Bible to many different people. As long as we have the funds for it, and as long as we have the Bibles for it, we will continue in that, because there's nothing greater that we can give to someone to say, here is the Word of God.

So let's go ahead and take a pause, knowing that whatever we sow, we shall reap. IF we do it bountifully, God will bless us bountifully!

(pause for the offering)

So thank you very much for the offering, and now let's continue on with the Last Great Day, and we will see why it's the Last Great Day. It also has a beginning and an ending. So, we will see how that flows through the whole of the Bible, but we'll start out with God.

Isaiah 57:15: "For thus says the high and lofty One Who inhabits eternity…" Dwells in eternity!

• no beginning
• no ending
• no first
• no last

But within that, He is:

• the Beginning and the Ending
• the First and the Last

"…Who inhabits eternity; Whose name is Holy; 'I dwell in the high and Holy place…'" (v 15).

But what is God interested in with those of us on the earth and all the people that have ever been? We will see this is the greatest day to explain what will happen to all of those people!

Now, right at this time, we know that God has to send out a call, and those who come to God and answer the call, then they are given the keys to understanding conversion!

Here's a part of it right here. God reaching down to these people—doesn't matter what job you hold, male or female, Jew or Gentile, rich or poor—all human beings!But this is what God is looking to. Not to those:

• who think they're intelligent
• who think they know everything
• who reject God
• who will just go their own way
• who follow Satan the devil and think they're following God

But to those who:

• follow God
• believe God
• obey God
• love God

"…I dwell in the high and Holy place, even with the one…" (v 15).

The one individual! Every single individual is important to God! Well, living in this world today, you wouldn't think so. The way that people are slaughtered, like pigs going to the slaughter—everyone!

"…even with the one who is of a contrite and humble spirit…" (v 15).

Who is not exalted in vanity in the self, not like it was with Solomon and how good he thought he was, or how great Job thought he was. No! The contrite one; humble spirit!

"…to revive the spirit of the humble…" (v 15).

God will give you strength! That's why it says there in John 7, rivers of living water!What God has in the Bible is the only thing that tells all of us:

• how we need to live
• what we need to do
• how we can find God
• how we can be with God
• how we can overcome the pulls of the flesh, which are called sin
• what are the commandments of God
• what is the Truth of God
• what is the history in the past
• what is the coming history in the future
• why am I here

All of those questions are answered in the Bible! But you have to be like Jesus said, 'blessed is the one who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, for he shall be filled.'The reason is a contrite and humble spirit!

"…to revive the spirit of the humble…" (v 15)—that is with God's Spirit! Like Jesus said, 'to lift you up, to give you hope'

"…and to revive the heart of the contrite ones" (v 15).

So, there's a beginning, there's an ending!

Now let's just survey the Bible and look at some of the beginnings and endings. Let's see that wherever there is an ending, there's a new beginning!

That's the whole purpose of having the 8th Day. We also find that at the beginning of the annual Feasts, it starts out with one particular day: the Passover!And all of the feasts then end with one particular day, the Last Great Day!

Now, we know this is what we're dealing with, with God inhabiting eternity!This is an amazing thing indeed.

Now let's look at something that no other book in the world can tell you or even mention or even have a glimpse of understanding. As you've heard me say many times over, the first verses of every epistle that Paul wrote, that James, Peter and John wrote, and the book of Revelation, the first verses are the most important because they introduce what's going to happen.

Titus 1:1: "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the Truth that is according to Godliness." That tells us a lot.

• God's elect
• the ones whom God has selected
• they're called, chosen and faithful.
• the knowledge of the Truth—
  • 'Your Word is Truth'
  • Jesus said it 'is Truth'
  • God is true
  • everything about God is true
  • there is no lie in God

That's why the Bible is the greatest book in the world! Being so great and given by God, and He wants it understood His way, it can't be picked up and read like an ordinary novel and know what it's talking about. The keys are what we already have covered.

Verse 2: "In the hope of eternal life…"—everyone wants to live forever!

No one wants to die, yet, everyone dies. we're told that 'in Adam we all die.' We have no choice about it, of ourselves. But eternal life comes through Jesus Christ!Who was Jesus Christ? God manifested in the flesh! He was the God Who created man and woman, made them male and female at the beginning!

Verse 2: "In the hope of eternal life, which God Who cannot lie… [the Greek there means impossible for God to lie] …promised… [He made the promise] …before the ages of time" (v 2).

That is a time-setting of which we have no comprehension. I mean, we can discuss"…before the ages of time…" here. But we don't know how far back that goes. We don't know how far out in the future it's going to go. But it is eternity! No beginning, no ending. But within the no beginning and no ending, there are many beginnings and endings! Amazing thing to understand!

Verse 3: "But revealed in its own set time…" God opening the understanding! The Old Testament has a lot of things in it, a lot of direct statements, but it doesn't tell us how and when! But the New Testament tells us how and when, beginning with Jesus Christ.

"…in the proclamation of His Word… [so it's in His Word, all there] …with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior" (v 3). That says a lot!

So, within the writings of the Bible, in the inspired writings of the Apostles, the Prophets, Moses, and whatever Noah and different ones put in up to the time of Moses. Let's look at this:

2-Tim. 1—It's very interesting that this kind of knowledge was not revealed to them until the very last part of Paul's ministry when he was in jail in Rome. The only one that was with him was Luke and Timothy. Timothy was there for a while. Mark came and picked up the Epistles of Paul and took them to Peter and Babylon. Paul is back in prison again, just before he's executed.

2-Timothy 1:1: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus." Again, eternal life!

This is the Book of Eternal Life. What we are in when we are in the Church of God, we are in the School of Eternal Life. Learning how:

• to develop the character
• to develop the Law
• to develop the obedience
• the love of God
• the faith of God
• the Truth of God

in our lives, and it becomes part of us!

The most important thing is for the complete conversion of our mind to the mind of Christ!That's the whole purpose of conversion!

Verse 2: "To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."

Let's see what Paul says here, because he says a lot. He connects today and the struggles of changing and overcoming that we are experiencing with what God has planned way back in eternity.

Verse 3: "I am grateful to God—Whom I have been serving from the days of my forefathers with a pure conscience—because I never fail to remember you in my supplications night and day." Then he tells him to stir up the Spirit and be zealous!

Verse 6: "For this reason, I admonish you to stir up the gift of God that is in you by the laying on of my hands."

That's the Holy Spirit of God. Now every one of us have the Holy Spirit of God. Sometimes some think, 'maybe they don't.' But yes, you do, because:

• IFyou have conviction of sin when you do wrong, you have God's Spirit!
• IF you have desire to do what is right and love God, you have the Holy Spirit of God!

Do you have troubles and difficulties to overcome? Yes! But God says in the Psalms that He's with us in all our troubles and will deliver us!

Paul is  saying here; v 7: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound-mindedness. Therefore, you should not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner; but jointly suffer with me for the sake of the Gospel, according to the power of God, Who has saved us and called us with a Holy calling…" (vs 7-9). Now think about that!

The reason that you have the Holy Spirit of God is because:

• you answered the call of God
• you submitted to God
• you repented
• you we're baptized
• received the Holy Spirit

Many of us have been in the Church now decades and decades and decades, and many of us are looking at the ending of our physical life. But the ending of our physical life, when the resurrection comes, will be a new beginning!And that's what I want to emphasize through all this message today:

• the beginning and the ending
• for every beginning, there's an ending
• for every ending, there's a beginning

Verse 9: "Who has saved us and called us with a Holy calling—not according to our works…"

Not like Job, who thought that because he did all of these good things, that he was as good as God.

"…but according to His own purpose…" (v 9).

If you do not have our big thick book—and it is big, and it is thick, and it is heavy—God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days.[order free at truthofGod.org} That is an amazing book! Not because we have produced it here, but because of the Word of God, and because of what is in there to help all of us:

• grow in grace and knowledge
• come to the knowledge of God

That's a tremendous thing; that's the whole purpose in God!

"…but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time" (v 9).

And with in that eternity, there are beginnings and there are endings, and there are beginnings and there are endings. Let's look at some of those.

Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

1 Timothy 3.16: "…God was manifested in the flesh…" Who was Jesus Christ!

Now in each of these, we have a beginning,and we have an ending!

In the beginning, God created everything that there was in six days and made man male and female. And then made the Sabbath Holy, and taught Adam and Eve on that Sabbath Day. That was the beginning of their life, the beginning of their relationship with God!And it could have been a whole lot different if they would have made the right choices.

Now that also ended the first week. The beginning was day one, the ending was day seven! Since then, every seven days there is a Sabbath,whether people keep it or not.

The whole lesson with beginning with Adam and Eve was to choose the way of God!And there was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Now, we're not told how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, and they probably saw every day the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Also, we don't know how long it was that God taught them before the serpent—Satan the devil—was allowed to come into the garden. But we can be guaranteed this: God gave them more than sufficient knowledge to understand that the only way they're going to be successful in life is IF they follow God and IF they love God, obey God and keep His commandments! That's the whole story of Genesis there!

Now, when the serpent came in we find about Satan the devil that in the beginning he was created and he was a cherub and was perfect in his ways until sin was in his heart. Then he rebelled, and this ended his righteousness.

In the beginning created perfect, but when he sinned and rebelled, that ended his righteousness and began his wickedness!

God wants us to be able to know right and wrong, good from evil, and to understand that we need our lives:

• completely dedicated to God
• filled with the Holy Spirit of God
• loving Him
• keeping His commandments

That is the greatest thing that can happen in anyone's life!

• not riches
• not wealth
• not notoriety
• not recognition by millions of people

but

• recognition by God
• blessings of God

So, they chose to go the way of Satan. He told them, look, you don't have to follow God's way because

• you're smart
• you're wise
• you have understanding
• you can make right decisions

And IF you eat of this Tree the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you will know good and evil, and you'll become like God!Well, how did that turn out? That was not true! Satan was 'a liar from the beginning'!He lied to Adam and Eve.

You cannot have eternal life any other way except through God and Jesus Christ—period! There is none!

We had the beginning with the Garden of Eden. When the sin happened, the ending of them being in the Garden of Eden and they were cut off from God!

Then we had the beginning of life with Adam and Eve; they had the children of Cain and Abel. So, in each one of these things is a little beginning and a little ending all the way through.

Abel was righteous; Cain was sinful. What did Cain do? He killed Abel!So, Abel had a beginning, and he had an ending, cut short by evil.

Then Cain had a greater evil beginning after killing Abel. And he was exiled into the land of wandering, and he then developed his own civilization in rebellion against God. So, that lasted until the Flood.

What happened with the Flood? We all know the reason the Flood was because:

Genesis 6:5: "…and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually"—ALL OF THE TIME!

A little prophetic forward here. What did Jesus say of the days before His coming? As in the days of Noah before the Flood!

We're reaching that point that the minds of most of the people today are only evil all of the time! Then came the Flood that ended everything that God had created up to that time on the earth. It covered the earth with water 15 cubits high over the highest mountains.

Now we've got a booklet on that: Which is the True Calendar of God? That will take you day-by-day as listed out right in Gen. 7 & 8, and it all fits on the Calculated Hebrew Calendar. That's how we know that that's the calendar we are to have today.

Yet, there are many people who come along—and I get them all the time:

• here's the calendar, here's how to count it.
• we counted from the first visible new moon

Well, they don't understand that the new moon doesn't appear on one day everywhere on the earth. Sometimes it takes two, two and a half days. They get everything all mixed up, and that's only a scheme to destroy the Sabbath and the seven-day cycle! We won't get carried away with that.

There was a new beginning after the Flood! Noah and his family came out of the ark; they were able to establish their civilization again. God gave them instructions on what to do.

Then sin entered in with the grandson of Ham—Canaan—and whatever happened there with Noah, was so evil that the sentence of punishment upon the Canaanites from that day forward--as well as on Ham—comes to this day!

That was the beginning of the curse of Canaan and the curse of Ham. That means the penalty, and it carries right on down.

So then what happened? Nimrod came along. 'We're going to build a great thing like we had before the Flood.' So they built the tower, and what happened? That beginning came to an end quickly because God shut it down and changed their languages so they couldn't understand one another to build the tower!

Then they were sent out to their inheritances that God gave to the different nations where they're scattered. Now, here's a real clue concerning the religions of the world: the religions of the world only get down to Nimrod, Semiramis, and Tamuz!

Every other religion comes out of the Tower of Babel and is a variation with different names in the different languages of the same system of Satan that was right there that he had with the Tower of Babel and Nimrod.

Then we come to another beginning, a great and fantastic beginning,an amazing thing! From here we find something that's important because it affects all people of all time, everywhere. This Last Great Day explains how God is going to make it happen.

Some people will say, 'What does this have to do with the Last Great Day? Because there's a beginning and an ending!

Here's a new beginning: Abram before he was called Abraham, had to end his life in Mesopotamia. He came to Haran and there his dad died, and then God spoke to him here in Gen.12. God selected him, calling of God. Here's what He told Abram, and everything else in the Bible from that place forward comes from this covenant of Abraham!

So, we need to understand that so we can understand the beginning and the ending and the importance of this day!

Genesis 12:1: "And the LORD said to Abram, 'Get out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house into a land that I will show you.'"

God will make us stop doing what we are doing and living the way that we are doing so we can live His way.

And in this case, you read this, it's the same thing for being converted. Christ said, You're not going to receive eternal life unless you love God and Me more than your father, mother, brother, sister, lands, whatever. This is New Testament teaching right here in Gen. 12.

A lot of people today, the evangelicals and those who think they're Christians are born again, they don't know anything about the Bible so they say, 'We don't need the Old Testament.'

You need the Old Testament because it tells you how we got to where we are with the New.

Verse 2: "And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing." Broad! Wonderful! Promise!

Verse 3: "And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you. And in you…" You've got to think of:

• past, present, and future
• beginning and ending
• beginning and ending
• beginning and ending

"…And in you… [this one man] …shall all families of the earth be blessed" (v 3). Now think of that!

• How many did God kill with the Flood?
• How many have died in wars?
• How many have died because of plagues?
• How many have died because of famine?
• How many have had short lives?
• How many were slaughtered and killed and beheaded and eaten?

There's a whole story about how the cannibals down in New Guinea would eat people who died and their brains. And they had the most horrible diseases because of it!

• completely blinded
• completely dedicated to Satan the devil
• they knew nothing
• they know nothing
• they had nothing

God didn't call them; so:

• What is God going to do?
• Did they not have families?
• Are they not included in all families?
• Are they not included in allpeople?
• Everywhere?

This is tremendous! How is this going to be? This is going to be what the rest of the Bible tells us!

Then Abram obeyed and he left. He was 75-years-old at that time. Then when he was 85, God came to him and said—Gen. 15—'I'm going to give you a son from your own loins.'

• we have the promise in Gen. 12
• we have the covenant in Gen. 15

So, we have a beginning and then we have a covenant to seal the beginning,to let it be carried to the end. Everyone who comes to Christ must be in a covenant with Him by water baptism and receiving of the Holy Spirit after repentance! Because IF you are not baptized properly, and IF you don't believe God and obey God and keep His commandments, all of your fake Christianity won't do you any good!

Gen. 15—here's the covenant that was made! I won't go through it because we covered it many times. This is a new beginning!

The first part was physical for all families. Here's another part now for the children that would come down through Isaac and Jacob, and then that comes down to the Christ.

This covenant that we have here in Gen. 15 covers:

• the covenant with Israel
• the covenant with Christ
• the covenant with every one of us who are baptized

The same thing! That's why it's important! Beginning and ending!

Abraham came to an end, and Isaac carried on. Let's see something very important right here in

Genesis 26:5—This is what God told Isaac after Abraham died. God is going to give the promise to Isaac; he was the only son with Sarah. Abraham had other sons through Keturah, but they didn't receive the same blessing. This shows how important that it is when you come to God. He received the blessing:

Genesis 26:5: "Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.'" That is the sum of our obedience to God!

Everything that is in the Bible concerning obedience to God and love to God centers the same way as it did with Abraham.

We have the beginning of Israel, and they went into slavery. That slavery ended with coming out of Egypt, and God brought them to Mount Sinai to give them the Ten Commandments.

Then there was a whole generation of those who didn't believe God, and they died in the wilderness. So their ending came quickly!

Then their children went into the 'promised land,' which was a new beginning!That continued on and off with various beginnings and endings, with righteous kings and evil kings and things and wickedness and sin that they did.

• every time that there was sin
• every time there was disobedience to God
• every time there was a rejection of God

They went into captivity!

They were punished until they repented, and yet the promise from God for the end-time promises that He gave to Abraham still continued with them to the fulfillment of it as we have it is today.

That's why we have the book America and Britain in Prophecy.

Now then, all of this comes down to where the ten tribes, their occupation of the land ended, and they were sent off into captivity. Then later, because of the sins of Judah, they were taken off in captivity to Babylon. Then they were brought back under Ezra and Nehemiah, and they built a second temple. That second temple lasted down to the time of Jesus Christ.

We will see how God is going to solve all the problems of the world centered around this Last Great Day.

(break@45:25)

Now let's continue on with the Last Great Day, the beginning and the ending, the beginning and the ending! As we have seen, there are

• many beginnings and many endings
• major beginnings and major endings

which you can liken unto epics of time within the timeframe of eternity, which are part of the ages of timein which we are living now.

We are living in the time that the Bible describes as the 'last days,' but also for every single one who comes into this world, they have:

• a beginning with their conception
• an ending of the time in the womb
• that's the birth, which is a new beginning
• they live their life for however long it is

So there are all these, everything that there is in what we know of existence and time and space and things; there are always beginnings and endings!

Now likewise, with the Plan of God concerning mankind, because men and women are all physical, and they are all temporary, we all have a beginning, we all have an ending, and what we do with our lives, we must choose, because God has made us independent free moral agents!He won't take that away from us.

We also have to fight against the evil that is here, because of the way that Adam and Eve chose to do, clear back at the very beginning, which is a problem that at the ending God is going to solve.

Isa. 9—let's look at a new beginning phase within the Plan of God that will have a beginning and ending, and then a beginning again!

So, this is the whole story of the Bible, the beginning and the ending!We will see that when we get to the book of Revelation.

Isa. 9:6—here's the promise that was given to Adam and Eve in Gen. 3:15-16, that there would come a Savior. When we come down to the time of Abraham, Isaac was a type of Christ: the only child, born to a woman who is past childbearing age at 90.

Now there are some women out here who are listening to the message and are 90-years-old: Would you also not laugh if someone told you that you were going to have a child?

So, God does the impossible so that we understand what He's going to do will happen! Everything that God does that's impossible for men—because nothing's impossible for God—is to prove to man that God is right!

Here is the beginning with a prophecy of Christ. Now this one here is listed in such a way that unless you understand the timeframe of the Holy Days and the Plan of God, you'll never understand it.

I asked Michael Heiss, who's the one who did the translating for the Old Testament for The Faithful Version, and I asked him: How do the Jews understand Isaiah 9:6? He said they don't! That's why today the Jews will be looking for a physical messiah!

They don't believe in Christ except just a few who do. There are some who profess just like the Protestants and Catholics profess, but they don't know God. They don't know Christ.

Isaiah 9:6: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God…. [a man being called God?] …the Everlasting Father…"

He won't become the Everlasting Father until, as we have seen with the Millennium, that between Christ and the Church, His Bride, they will bring many, many, many children into the spiritual realm of God!

They will become spirit beings, and that's when He will become an Everlasting Father! But not until then! This is talking about everything about Christ, but it's not listed in chronological order.

"…Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and over His Kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with righteousness from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this" (vs 6-7).

Now remember that IF God says it's going to be, it will be!

So, right in here, we have the beginning, He is born! We have the ending that He's going to take over the Government!

He's going to sit on the Throne of David; He is called God! How does man become God? That's what the New Testament is all about! So, let's come here to Luke 1. Let's look at it, because in the ages of time, this is one of the beginnings!

Because the One Who was God of the Old Testament became Jesus Christ of the New, by divesting Himself of His Holy Power as God to become the pinpoint of life and to be impregnated into the womb of the virgin Mary (Philip. 2). She gave birth to the Son of God, the only Begotten; this was prophesied back in Isa. 6. A virgin will give birth—impossible, but not with God!

So, the whole story of that is buried in Luke 1, but let's see what Gabriel told Mary. Gabriel came at the set time. Remember where we started? The appointed time! This is one of them. The appointed times! Jesus was begotten at the appointed time. We don't know exactly when that was, but we pretty well know when He was born, the appointed time of the Feast of Trumpets!So, this goes back nine months before that.

Luke 1:29: "But when she saw him, she was greatly perplexed at his message, and was considering what kind of salutation this might be.: Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found grace with God; and behold, you shall conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of David, His forefather… [tie in Isa. 9] …and He shall reign over the house of Jacob into the ages, and of His Kingdom there shall be no end'" (vs 29-33).

Now, within this is talking about His conception, His birth, His life, His ministry, His death, and His resurrection. All right here. Amazing!

Verse 34: "But Mary said to the angel, 'How shall this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?' And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest…'" (vs 34-35).

This shows that the Holy Spirit is the power of God and not a person, because if it were a person, then the Holy Spirit would be the Father of Jesus and not the Father.

So the convoluted reasoning of the Trinity is nothing but the myth of men engaging in trying to bring in the philosophical teachings of pagans and marry them with the Word of God. It won't work.

"…'The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; and for this reason, the Holy One being begotten in you… [that's present tense participle, being done right there when He was speaking] …shall be called the Son of God'" (v 35).

Then she's told about Elizabeth, who was her aunt, that she was pregnant for the one who was to become known as John the Baptist, who would be the messenger before the Lord.

So, here's a beginning the beginning of begettal and then His birth. Then we have the beginning of the ministry of Christ.

• How did that begin?
• How did the beginning of the ministry of Christ begin?

It was after He was baptized and received the Holy Spirit. This also is the beginning of the end of Satan's rule!

But not yet, because there's another Holy Day that pictures it, as we have seen, the Day of Atonement. Here we have 'the temptation' of Jesus. This encapsulates all the things that every man and woman ever conceived, and born and lived and died, is going to go through.

• Who are we going to love?
• Who are we going to obey?
• What are we going to do?
• How are we going to succeed?
• What do we do when we're confronted with evil?
• What do we do when we need to know and understand Truth?

All of these things are compacted right here in the temptation of Jesus Christ, as we find in Matt. 4 and also in Luke 4. Let's read just some of it here.

Matthew 4:1: "Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit in order to be tempted by the devil."

Why did he do that? He had to overcome Satan because He allowed Satan to come in and persuade Adam and Eve to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

So you have the knowledge of good and evil Satan's way on one hand—and the 'knowledge of good and evil—and God's way on the other hand!

Since they chose to go the way of Satan, then in order to go to the way of God, they have got to overcome Satan. But the only one to completely first overcome Satan the devil, was the One Who became Jesus Christ, God manifested in the flesh!

So, here's the beginning of His ministry right here when He was 30-years-old.

Verse 2: "And when He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, afterwards He was famished. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread'" (vs 2-3).

He could do that! No problem at all! But notice Jesus' answer; here is the answer for every man, woman and child in the whole world all the time:

• whatever age you're in
• whenever you were born
• how long you live
• how you live

Here is the key right here. This is why He came:

• so we can receive the Holy Spirit and enter into covenant with God
• so that we can do the things that God wants us to do
• so that we can live the way that God wants us to live

But we have to choose it! Just like this, Jesus had to choose!

Verse 4: "But He answered and said, 'It is written…'"

That's why we have the Word of God. It's not passed down by tradition or word of mouth. Never has been; it's always written down. So, here's His answer:

"…'Man… [any man, woman or child] …shall not live by bread alone…" (v 4).

But unless we eat, we don't live, physically! But that's not the whole of life, because that will never get us to where we need to go and fulfill the promise of God if we're just looking to the physical things! That's what Jesus is talking about here.

"…but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (v 4).

What are we told today by the false preachers? Everything in the Old Testament has been fulfilled!

• Did all of that come out of the mouth of God?
• Was all of that was inspired to be written down by the faithful servants and scribes of God?
• Yes!

Those things that are changed, only God can change!No man can change what God has given, only God!

That's why we have the book of Hebrews to show that the animal sacrifices and the works of law that those include: all of the traditions of all men and all religions are works of law; those do not count before God. But the keeping of the commandments, living by every Word of God!

Then He went through a couple of other massive temptations, but He succeeded in them. So then, that's the end of the temptation. When those ended, then we come to the book of Mark and we will see another beginning, which was:

Mark 1:1: "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

Mark talks about the baptism of Jesus Christ.

Verse 14: "Now, after the imprisonment of John…"—John the Baptist!

• what a ministry he had
• what a special function that he had
• he died an ignominious death by being beheaded by Herod

But he was a righteous man and was the messenger to prepare the way for Jesus!

Verse 14: "Now, after the imprisonment of John, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God."

Here's an ending and a new beginning, right here in this one verse.

Verse 15: "And saying, 'The time has been fulfilled…"—the time has been completed!

What is the new beginning? "…and the Kingdom of God is near at hand…" (v 15).

• He's proclaiming the Kingdom of God
• He is proclaiming salvation
• He is proclaiming individual salvation to everyone who will repent

"…repent and believe in the Gospel" (v 15).

In that one verse, it includes everything that Jesus did in His life. Then He had a three and a half year ministry! That was quite a thing!

When we come to the end of it, it's very interesting; very interesting indeed.

John 12—Let's see the end of Jesus' ministry, all of His miracles, everything that He did, all the instructions that were given to Him. This part of it was on a weekly Sabbath, which was the Sabbath before His crucifixion.

So here again, we have a miniature beginningand endingwithin that time period. We'll see what that is, and then we'll see how important that is as we go forward.

After Philip and Andrew came and brought some of the Greek disciples, they wanted to see Jesus:

John 12:23: "But Jesus answered them, saying, 'The time has come for the Son of man to be glorified.'"

We will see that Jesus said, 'It is finished!' Very interesting! "…'The time has come…'" the beginning of the last week, right here, on a Sabbath Day.

Verse 24: "Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. The one who loves his life shall lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life…. [that's a promise] …If anyone will serve Me, let him follow Me…" (vs 24-26).

• Did Jesus ever sin? No!
• Did he ever break a commandment of God? No!

1-John 2 says we are to walk in His steps!

• He kept the Sabbath
• He kept the Holy Days
• He kept the Laws of God
• He kept them in the Spirit

"…and where I am, there shall My servant be also… [He's talking about the resurrection right here] …And if anyone serves Me, him shall the Father honor" (v 26). That's an amazing thing!

Verse 27: "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour? But for this very purpose I have come to this hour." Right down to the hour, fulfillment!

Notice this was the voice that came on the Sabbath; I want you to pay attention to it.

Jesus says, v 28: "'Father, glorify Your name.' Then a voice came from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.' Then the people standing there, who heard it, said, 'It thundered.' Others said, 'An angel spoke to Him.' Jesus answered and said, 'This voice did not come because of Me, but because of you'" (vs 28-30).

Here is the final judgment of Satan the devil, requiring the death of God manifested in the flesh! So, He says, on this Sabbath…

You can get our book A Harmony of the Gospels,  and see how all of this flows out.

Verse 31: "'Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself.' But He said this to signify by what death He was about to die" (vs 31-33).

They couldn't understand it because they said, 'Christ is going to live forever. So, if He dies, how can He be the Christ?' Now then, let's do some counting just so we understand it.

Here is the beginning of the last of Christ in the flesh. We will see there are eight days involved from the time of this voice from heaven until He ascends up to heaven to be accepted of God the Father. There will be eight days that will be completed. On the first day of the next week, He ascends to the Father. We have:

• Passover
• Sabbath
• Sunday
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday (DAY 4)

He was crucified on the 4th day; then He was put into the tomb. He had to be in there three days and three nights:

• Wednesday night
• Thursday night
• Friday night

• Thursday day
• Friday day
• Sabbath day

He died on the cross at the 9th hour, which is about 3 p.m. That ended His life; that ended His ministry.

He was in the tomb three days and three nights before He was resurrected! So, He died at the 9th[transcriber's correction] hour, and he was resurrected at the 9th[transcriber's correction] hour, but stayed in the tomb until three days and three nights were completed, because:

He was put into the tomb just as the Passover Day was ending and the 1st day of Unleavened Bread was beginning. Then, when they came on the first day of the week; now, listen carefully:

• Thursday
• Friday
• Sabbath

There we have three more days. So, that is eight days from Sabbath to Sabbath, inclusive counting. He was crucified in the middle.

Then He is resurrected, beginning a new day, beginning a new recovering back as a Spirit Being!

Now begins the acceptance of Christ on the Wave Sheaf Offering Day, the first day of the week—that has nothing to do with Sunday-keeping—which has to do with the special accepting of Jesus Christ by God the Father as the sacrifice for the sins of the world!

So then, His ministry had ended! He was raised from the dead. He ascended to the Father. And now He begins the New Covenant ministry, beginning on that very same day that He ascended to the Father.

First he appeared to the two going to Emmaus. Then He appeared to all of them as we find in Luke 24. Then He spent 40 days with the disciples. So we have:

• at the beginning 40 days of fasting against Satan the devil and overcoming him
• at the end, after His resurrection, we have 40 days teaching the Apostles

Then we have the Day of Pentecost and the beginning, of the Church!

So look at the beginnings and look at the endings and look at all of the things that have taken place. Then we have the Church down through history in the book of Revelation.

Now let's come to the book of Revelation, because this is important for us to understand, because the book of Revelation is filled with beginnings and ending! Amazing book!

Now remember our In-Depth Study: Daniel/Revelation, with charts and graphs.

• Daniel is the lock
• Revelation is the key that unlocks

Revelation is an amazing book, but it can't be understood without:

• the knowledge of the Holy Days
• the knowledge of Who Christ really was

Rev. 1—this comes from God the Father to Jesus Christ, down to John. So, John writes this—here's a new beginning, a beginning to understand the prophecies which lead to the fulfillment of all the other prophecies in their set time. And when they are fulfilled, they end. But every ending has a new beginning!

Revelation 1:4: "John to the seven Churches…

Verse 5: "And from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood."

That fulfilled what was given in Gen. 3:15. That was what was fulfilled there in Psa. 22 and in Isa. 53, and all of the others concerning His life, death and resurrection.

Verse 6: "And has made us… [he's talking about all the saints] … kings and priests to God and His Father; to Him be the glory and the sovereignty into the ages of eternity. Amen."

Now Christ is going to come. We've explained that. We won't bring that out here because that is for the Feast of Trumpets.

Verse 7: "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him…"

This will be well known. As we know, there's no such thing as a secret rapture! How can every eye see Him and it be a secret rapture?

"…and those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen. 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending,' says the Lord, 'Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come—the Almighty'" (vs 7-8).

• no one's going to be against Him
• no one is going to stop Him
• His Plan is going to work out

Verse 10—John says: "I was in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord…" That's not Sunday; that is the day of Christ's return!

"…and I heard a loud voice like a trumpet behind me, saying, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last…'" (vs 10-11)—the Beginning and the Ending! That's something! God is always involved!

"…'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, and what you see, write in a book, and send it to the churches…'" (v 11).

Let's see what Christ said. John saw Him and this is what he saw:

Verse 12: "…I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of man…" (vs 12-13)—here Christ is in the midst of it! The seven churches are the lampstands which surround Him!

"…One like the Son of man, clothed in a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about the chest with a golden breastplate. And His head and hair were like white wool, white as snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire" (vs 13-14).

Now remember this, 1-John 3&4, we will see Him exactly as He is!

John saw Him here, but when we are resurrected, we will see Him exactly as He is, because we'll be like Him! Not in the same glory, but:

• we're all going to have glory
• we're all going to have power
• we're all going to have authority
• we're going to rule the nations
• we're going to bring salvation to the world

for a thousand years; as we covered in the Feast of Tabernacles!

Verse 15: "And His feet were like fine brass, as if they glowed in a furnace; and His voice was like the sound of many waters. And in His right hand He had seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword went out of His mouth…" (vs 15-16)—the Word of God!

The Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, cutting asunder the soul and the spirit, and the joints and the marrow, and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart!

By the word of God, He's going to destroy all the armies coming to fight against him in Rev. 19. Amazing! So here's the beginning, and there's the ending!

Verse 16: "And in His right hand He had seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword went out of His mouth, and His countenance was as the sun shining in its full power. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead; but He laid His right hand upon me, saying to me, 'Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last, even the One Who is living; for I was dead, and behold, I am alive into the ages of eternity. Amen. And I [Christ] have the keys of the grave and of death'" (vs 16-18).

Only God has that! Now then, this begins the beginningof understanding the flow of events all the way to Rev. 11 with the first resurrection. Then on to Rev. 19, the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Rev. 20—we come to something that is buried in one verse, which tells us the meaning of this day!It tells us what's going to happen to all of those who lost their lives. Their lives came to an end:

• cut off from God
• blinded
• under different governments
• under different religions
• they didn't know better
• they didn't completely follow Satan the devil to commit the unpardonable sin

So what's going to happen to those people? No one knows unless they read this in Rev. 20!

Now then, here's one sentence, and this one sentence unlocks the mystery of what God is going to do for all of those who lived and died and never had an opportunity for salvation! God didn't give them the opportunity for salvation,  because when we read about the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13), that:

• they are blinded
• they don't see
• they don't hear
• they couldn't receive conversion

But they didn't commit the unpardonable sin!

Rev. 20:4 talks about the first resurrection.

Revelation 20:5: "But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed…."

Who are the rest of the dead? All of those who were never called; who never had an opportunity for salvation.

Rev. 20 also talks about the resurrection of the wicked to go into the Lake of Fire. There are two parts to this resurrection:

• the resurrection for those to receive salvation
• those who are resurrected to be cast into the Lake of Fire, because they've committed the unpardonable sin

They have rebelled against God,and won't repent!They cannot have eternal life!

That one sentence: "…the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed…."

Verse 12: "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works."

They have an opportunity for salvation. Just like during the Millennium, they have 100 years to live. So likewise, with this resurrection, they'll have 100 years to live, to see and understand what they're going to do; and God will be with them!

Ezek. 37—this part is the most difficult for the Jews to understand. How can this be? You can't have understanding of it unless you have Rev. 20, which says, the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years are finished!

We also have this, which is important to understand, too: God said to the Jew first, or the Israelite first, and then to the Gentiles! But we find in Matt. 12 that there's going to be a resurrection of all.

Matt. 12—let's see where Jesus said that this was going to happen, so that we have it all together. This resurrection in Matt. 12 is going to be a new beginning for those people.

• their lives ended, but they weren't called
• their lives ended, but they didn't have the understanding
• their lives ended, but they didn't sin to commit the unpardonable sin

Matthew 12:31: "Because of this, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men except the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit; that shall not be forgiven to men"—mankind!

Why? Because that's rejecting God the Father, that's rejecting His Spirit with malice and hatred and satanic disposition of the highest extreme!

Verse 32: "And whoever… [we'll see how this applies in Ezek. 37] … speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the coming age. Either make the tree good and the fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for a tree is known by its fruit" (vs 32-33).

Verse 35: "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out good things; and the wicked man out of the wicked treasure brings out wicked things. But I say to you, for every idle word that men may speak, they shall be held accountable in the day of judgment" (vs 35-36).

That day of judgment is a judgment to a resurrection, to judgment, to live, to have an opportunity for salvation; then the unpardonable sin if they don't!

Verse 37: "For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.' Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, 'Master, we desire to see a sign from You.' And He answered and said to them, 'A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, in like manner the Son of man shall be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment… [they shall rise, stand up from being, laying in the grave] …with this generation and shall condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here" (vs 37-41).

Now, in another time setting, in another generation, and notice that he's talking about Gentiles:

Verse 42: "The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here."

• this shows a resurrection
• Rev. 20:5 shows a resurrection

Now let's come to Ezek. 37 and we will see that it is a resurrection to a second physical life for their first opportunity for salvation!That is an amazing thing, indeed!

Ezekiel didn't understand it and the Jews today don't understand it. How many people understand it? You must have that one sentence, Rev. 20:5, the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years are finished!Then you have to combine that with Matt. 12 like we did here.

Ezekiel 37:1: "The hand of the LORD was on me, and brought me by the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of a valley, and it was full of bones. And He made me walk among them all around. And behold, very many were in the open valley. And lo, they were very dry…. [showing that they had been dead a long time] …And He said to me…" (vs 1-3)

Imagine Ezekiel when God said this to him, he's looking at all these bones all around.

"…'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord GOD, You know.' Again He said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, "O dry bones, hear the Word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live'" (vs 3-5). Notice what kind of life it will be.

Verse 6: "And I will lay sin you upon you, bring flesh upon you and cover you with skin, put breath in you and you shall live…. [the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were finished] …And you shall know that I am the Lord."

Verse 7: "So, I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise. And behold, a shaking! And the bones came together, a bone to its bone. And as I watched, behold the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them above. But there was no breath in them" (vs 7-8).

So here they are, all these laying new newly formed human beings from their old form; no breath in them.

Verse 9: "And He said to me, 'Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain that they may live.'"'

This reminds me of when Jesus was being on His triumphal entry going into Jerusalem and all of the disciples were singing Hosanna to the King, and the Pharisees said, 'Tell Him to quit speaking. And Jesus said, 'If he did, the stones would speak.' So here it is. God speaks to the bones and they live!

Verse 10: "So, I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army." So many you can see him standing all right there!

Verse 11: "And He said to me, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel….'"

How did the whole house of Israel die? Without knowledge of the Savior:

• they died for their sins
• they were sent off into captivity
• they died in wars

We saw in Matt. 12 that the Gentiles will be raised at the same time with them!

"…Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried and our hope is lost; we ourselves are completely cut off'" (v 11).

Now, listen to this. He says four times You come out of your graves! If you are dead and you come out of the grave, that's a resurrection to physical life so you can have salvation.

Verse 12: "Therefore, prophesy and say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, O My people, I will open your [#1]graves and cause you to come up out of your [#2]graves, and will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD… [conversion] …when I have opened your [#3]graves, O My people, and have brought you up out of your [#4]graves. And I shall put My Spirit in you…[there's the conversion] …and you shall live…." (vs 12-14).

So here's a new beginning! Now, that'll last 100-years. At the end of that, all of those who come to conversion and live the way that they should, they will be changed from flesh to spirit.

Let's come back here to Rev. 20 we will finish what this Last Great Day pictures, because it is a new beginning on into eternity!Within that time of eternity, there's going to be new beginnings and new endings in the Plan of God. But God will have to reveal it.

In the last part of Rev. 20, all of those who then are converted and are ready for the change from flesh to spirit, that will happen. All of the wicked who committed the unpardonable sin will be resurrected and cast into the Lake of Fire.

Satan the devil will be removed now into the darkest of blackness as we covered already. Then we come to Rev. 21, a new beginning, so everything about the Plan of God has a beginning and an ending, a beginning and an ending, and every ending has a beginning! Every beginning has an ending, just like everything that there is on earth, there's a new day; the day is over, and we have a new day. That day is gone,

• there's another day
• there's another week
• there's another Sabbath
• there's another Passover
• there's another Unleavened Bread and all the Holy Days of God

Revelation 21:1: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (vs 1-2).

Verse 3: "And I heard a great voice from heaven say, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men… [men and women made perfect spirit beings] and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people; and God Himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall not be anymore death, or sorrow, or crying; neither shall there be any more pain, because the former things have passed away.'…. [an ending] …And He Who sits on the Throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'…. [new beginning] …Then He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful'" (vs 3-5).

Verse 6: "And He said to me, 'It is done…. [ending] …I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End…..'"

See how this goes through the whole Bible? All the way here.

"…To the one who thirsts, I will give freely of the fountain of the Water of Life. The one who overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death'" (vs 6-8)—in the Lake of Fire!

Then it describes New Jerusalem coming down. How it is made. Beautiful, beautiful, absolutely amazing! Streets paved with gold, precious stones everywhere, great doors to come in, and angels guarding them. And New Jerusalem is where those of the first resurrection will live.

Verse 22: "And I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city has no need of the sun, or of the moon… [they're still there, but they don't need it] that they should shine in it; because the glory of God enlightens it, and the Light of it is the Lamb. And the nations that are saved…" (vs 22-24).

All of those that we talked about in the second resurrection that qualify for eternal life, they are there. Those in the first resurrection will live in New Jerusalem. Those in the second resurrection will live in the nations on the earth. It will be all spirit. They will be spirit.

Verse 24: "And the nations that are saved shall walk in its light; and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. And its gates shall never be shut by day; for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it" (vs 24-26).

• never again sin and that which defiles
• never again rebellion against God to try and take away what God is doing

Verse 27: "And nothing that defiles shall ever enter into it, nor shall anyone who practices an abomination or devises a lie; but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life."

So that's going to be something! And then we have Rev 22, which is quite an amazing chapter—a new beginning that goes on to eternity! And within the ages of time, there will also be new beginnings and endings!

Revelation 22:1: "Then he showed me a pure river of the Water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing out from the Throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the middle of the street, and on this side and that side of the river, was the Tree of Life, producing twelve manner of fruits, each month yielding its fruit; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations" (vs 1-2).

Exactly how that works we won't know, but it's consistently taking or incorporating everything that has to do with eternal life.

Verse 3: "And there shall be no more curse; and the Throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face..." (vs 3-4).

What is that going to be like? To come up to God the Father and look at Him face-to-face! That is going to be an amazing thing!

"…and His name is in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; for they have no need of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God enlightens them; and they shall reign into the ages of eternity" (vs 4-5).

Forever and ever! Remember where we started? God inhabits eternity!So will we in New Jerusalem. What an amazing thing.

Verse 6: "And he said to me, 'These words are faithful and true; and the Lord God of the Holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things that must shortly come to pass.' "Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book"'" (vs 6-7). Blessed!

• keeping the prophecy
• keeping the commandments
• keeping the love of God

Verse 8: "Now I, John, was the one who saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who was showing me these things. But he said to me, 'See that you do not do this! For I am a fellow servant of yours, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.' And he said to me, 'Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book because the time is near.' Let the one who is unrighteous be unrighteous still…" (vs 8-11).

Verse 13: "I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." That's where we started! So here it is at the end of the book of Revelation!

Verse 14: "Blessed are those who keep His commandments, that they may have the right to eat of the Tree of Life, and may enter by the gates into the city. But excluded are dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone who loves and devises a lie. I, Jesus, sent My angel to testify these things to you in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and Morning Star'" (vs 14-16)—fulfilling the prophecies of God!

Verse 17: "And the Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.'…."

That's what we're going to do all during the Millennium, and all during the Great White Throne Judgment.

"…And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who thirsts come; and let the one who desires partake of the water of life freely. For I jointly testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, that if anyone adds to these things, God shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, and from the Holy City, and from the things that are written in this book. He Who testifies these things says, 'Surely, I am coming quickly.' Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen" (vs 17-21).

This is the meaning of the Last Great Day, and a great day indeed! So we have this from the beginning to the ending, to the beginning and eternity, and everything that God wants us to do!

Brethren, drive safely, have a good trip home. Glad you came to the Feast of Tabernacles, and we'll see you Sabbath, which is just a couple days away!

Scriptural References:

• Leviticus 23:1-2, 44, 34. 39
• John 7:37-39

• Isaiah 57:15
• Titus 1:1-3
• 2 Timothy 1:1-3, 6-9
• Genesis 1:1
• John 1:1
• I Timothy 3:16
• Genesis 6:5
• Genesis 12:1-3
• Genesis 26:5
• Isaiah 9:6-7
• Luke 1:29-35
• Matthew 4:1-4
• Mark 1:1, 14-15
• John 12:23-33
• Revelation 1:4-8, 10-18
• Revelation 20:5, 12
• Matthew 12:31-33, 35-42
• Ezekiel 37:1-14
• Revelation 21:1-8, 22-27
• Revelation 22:1-11, 13-21

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Matthew 13
• Revelation 2

• Genesis 7; 8; 15; 3:15-16
• Philippians 2
• Isaiah 6
• Luke 4
• 1 John 2
• Luke 24
• Psalm 22
• Isaiah 53
• 1-John 3; 4
• Revelation 19; 11
• Matthew 13
• Revelation 20:4-5

Also referenced:{truthofGod.org}

Books:

• God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days
• America and Britain in Prophecy
• A Harmony of the Gospels

Booklet: Which is the True Calendar of God? by Carl Franklin & Fred Coulter

In-Depth Study: Daniel/Revelation, with charts and graphs

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 9/11/24

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