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Christ’s Saints Are Barley Overcomers – Christ’s Carnal Believers Are Tribulation Wheat

02 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by in Bible Prophecy

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The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words. – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, MSG

…To the one who overcomes I will give access to feast on the fruit of the Tree of Life that is found in the paradise of God. – Revelation 2:7, TPT

…To everyone who is victorious I will let him feast on the hidden manna and give him a shining white stone. And written upon the white stone is inscribed his new name, known only to the one who receives it. – Revelation 2:17, TPT

To everyone who is victorious and continues to do my works to the very end I will give you authority over the nations – Revelation 2:26, TPT

And the one who experiences victory will be dressed in white robes and I will never, no never erase your name from the Book of Life. I will acknowledge your name before my Father and his angels. – Revelation 3:5, TPT

For the one who is victorious, I will make you to be a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, permanently secure. I will write on you the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the New Jerusalem, descending from my God out of heaven. And I’ll write my own name on you. – Revelation 3:12, TPT

And to the one who conquers I will give the privilege of sitting with me on my throne, just as I conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. – Revelation 3:21, TPT

The Bride of Christ (the collective Body of His Saints) is the prophesied Barley Harvest of Overcomers (Victorious Conquerors) – the glorified firstfruits who are raptured before the Tribulation Period begins.

The Non-overcoming Carnal Believers are the Tribulation Period’s Wheat because they resemble Tares. These Wheat believers are the ones who have not cooperated with the Holy Spirit’s sanctification process (have not allowed Him to gradually change them into the image of Christ).

Prophetically speaking, the Barley Harvest represents the first of God’s three end-time Harvests and, thus, part of the first resurrection. The Scripture refers to these saints as “overcomers.” Additionally, God’s first three feast days – Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits – spiritually represent the three stages of salvation: 1. justification (Passover), 2. sanctification (Unleavened Bread), and 3. glorification (First Fruits). Just as Jesus Christ was the first holy and saintly Barley Harvest Overcomer to be resurrected from the dead as the Barley First Fruits of the greater Barley Harvest to come, the Bride of Christ also represents the rest of the holy and saintly Barley Harvest of Overcomers.

It is written that only Christ’s holy and saintly overcomers – the spiritually mature believes who are transformed into the image of Christ – will either be resurrected from the dead as part of the first resurrection or raptured alive BOTH happening during the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. These are the saints who will rule and reign on the earth during Jesus Christ’s millennial reign. Please note that no matter if God is speaking literally or figuratively, it also is written that the Barley Overcomers (symbolizing the barley grain that always is planted AFTER the Wheat) is always harvested before the Wheat.

The natural (physical) and spiritual orders of the grain harvests are why the Wheat Harvest represents “carnal believers who today are mostly ‘Christian’ churchgoers.” These carnal believers are the end-time gathered Gentile nations. Indeed, Christ’s Gospels’ description of the gathered nations is a picture of God’s Wheat Harvest (see Matthew 25:32, Mark 13:27). It is written that all nations will come to know the Lord and serve Him.

This second harvest speaks of those believers who were justified by faith, but either they did not go through or did not submit to the Holy Spirit’s sanctification process. Many of these carnal believers will also be first resurrection believers, but just barely. They will be saved but have the smell of smoke on them. Furthermore, the alive end-time Wheat (carnal) believers will need to be shifted like wheat in order to become fully sanctified so that they can wear God’s Divine Nature and Character (be glorified). Unfortunately, they will be the beheaded Tribulation martyrs.

Carnal believers who are Wheat still have some rebellion or lawlessness in their lives that must be purged by the Fire of God (the Holy Spirit). The only way for this purging to happen is for this Wheat to be exposed to the Antichrist’s wrath during the prophesied end-time Tribulation. The believers who are part of the Wheat Harvest will be brought forth in the second resurrection (Tribulation Period’s Rapture) to be glorified “ yet so as through fire.” The apostle Paul writes:

Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely. – 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, MSG

If Christ’s believers are not saintly overcomers – victorious over the flesh, the world, and the devil  –  they are not Christ’s Barley Bride. It is only with the aid of the Holy Spirit that saints who become overcomers are able to control their flesh, conquer the corrupt world systems, and defeat God’s enemy the Devil. Selah (pause and calmly think about that)!

NOTE: God established that three of His seven commanded appointed times (feast days) would be associated with two different grain harvests and one fruit of the vine harvest that took place annually in Israel. The barley grain ripens first around the time of First Fruits, the wheat grain ripens later around the time of Pentecost, and the grapes from the vine ripen last just prior to the feast of Tabernacles. Moreover, God established that these three crops (barley, wheat, and grapes) would also depict, spiritually speaking, three classes of people. The Barley represents the holy and saintly overcomers, the Wheat represents the carnal believers, and the Grapes mostly represent the unsaved unbelievers.

God’s Holy Convocations

21 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by in Spiritual

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Convocations Are Dress Rehearsals

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.  Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.’ ~ Leviticus 23:1-3, NKJV

These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. ~ Leviticus 23:4, NKJV

 

o   Feasts of God: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Feast of Firstfruits (the first Sunday after Nisan 15th), Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles ~ see Leviticus 23:4-44, NKJV

 

 

 

In some English translations of the Holy Bible (e.g., AKJV; ASV; DARBY; EXB; JUB; KJ21; KJV; NKJV, WEB; YLT), the Hebrew word miqra (pronounced mik – raw) is translated as convocation, but miqra also means a dress rehearsal.  So, it is funny how so many of today’s professed Christians believe that their life is NOT a perpetual dress rehearsal, when it most definitely is, and God confirms this very Divine Truth through His commanded and ordained Feasts and Holy Convocations. For sure, the life genuine Christians are living now is one continuous dress rehearsal—a concentrated practice in preparation for the life they will live with their Bridegroom (Jesus Christ) and Father God!

Miqra, as it is used in the Old Testament, almost always is in the context of the Sabbath and the Feasts of God. Miqra also predominately is used in the context of God’s moed, which means appointed time. Moreover, in the above listed English translations, in every one of the Old Testament verses in which the English word convocation is mentioned, the main theme is “dress rehearsal”—the act of practicing in preparation for the main event; or the act of practicing for the real thing; or the act of re-hearing what has been taught. The verses which mention convocation and/or feast are, in chronological order: Exodus 12:16; Leviticus 23:1-4, 7, 8, 21, 24, 27, 34-37; Numbers 28:17-18, 25-26; and Numbers 29:1, 7, 12.  In all of these verses, the future main events being rehearsed are Jesus Christ’s first and second comings, as well as His life and ministry.

For years after Moses first received God’s Law (The Torah), God’s chosen Jewish people gathered together (assembled) during God’s appointed times (Feasts) to participate in God’s Holy Convocations (holy rehearsals), by practicing (rehearsing) God’s Law, which Moses and the Aaronic priesthood first taught. God’s Law provides instructions not only on how to become a future priest in the Kingdom of God (how to be in the “right” place, at the “right” time, wearing the “right” or righteous clothing, and doing the “right” or holy and righteous things), but also the Law of God provides instructions on how to teach His Law to future generations.

So then, it is in The Torah that God Himself scheduled appointments (Feast Days) according to His Holy Calendar, and these planned appointments are all about future events the omniscient God foreknows will happen.  That’s why the Law of God requires that during these set appointments (Feast Days) Father God’s chosen people are to participate in thoroughgoing dress rehearsals (convocations), which are times of learning, teaching, as well as times to perform God’s dramatic overall Redemptive Plan and His Prophetic Plan, in preparation of these main events.  The dress rehearsals, thus, are really visual aids (revealed pictures) that help God’s people “see” the complete image of the coming Messiah and His Life and Ministry—the same complete picture, which the Word of God and His Holy Spirit have revealed to and then formed in the spirits of every born again, saved, justified, and being sanctified follower of Christ. That complete picture is of the true Messiah who is Jesus Christ.

For the above-stated reasons, Father God primarily made His seven major Feasts (appointed times) and His Holy Convocations (holy dress rehearsals) His teaching tool—a teaching tool God gave first to His chosen Jewish people and then to His believing Gentiles. Moreover, as a teaching tool, these seven major Feasts of God and His Holy Convocations intentionally have been meant to prepare ALL of His sons and daughters (Jews and Gentiles) for the celebration of the Feasts’ fulfillments.

Of the seven major Feasts of God, the four Spring Feasts were fulfilled with the first coming of Jesus Christ, who came as the sacrificial Lamb:

  • 1. The obedient Jesus Christ died on the Feast of Passover, completing the biblical picture of the slaughtered Passover Lamb.
  • 2.  The crucified Jesus Christ was then buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, completing the biblical picture of true holiness, purity, and sinlessness. Unleavened bread represents Jesus Christ, who is the only human worthy to be sacrificed as the Lamb that is without spot or blemish.
  • 3. The buried Jesus Christ arose from the grave (was resurrected) on the Feast of First Fruits, completing the biblical picture of the firstfruits of the barley harvest offered before God on the first day of the week that came after Nisan 15 (Unleavened Bread). Thus, the risen Jesus Christ became the firstfruits’ wave offering presented before God—the firstfruits of the larger Harvest of souls yet to come.
  • 4. The resurrected Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven 10 days before the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, completing the biblical picture of God pouring out His Holy Spirit, who personifies Father God’s long anticipated New Covenant given to all who believe in Jesus Christ. Ironically, God began His New Covenant with believers in Christ on the same Feast Day that Jewish people were commanded to gather in Jerusalem to reiterate their commitment to the covenant of Moses.

The last three Fall Feasts (Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles) are the Feast Days that represent the conclusion to God’s Sovereign Redemptive Plan and His Prophetic Plan. They will be fulfilled with the second coming of Jesus Christ, who will come as the conquering Lion. At His second bodily return, Jesus Christ will pour out the wrath of God upon this Earth and upon all of the people who will be living on this Earth who have rejected Father God’s Salvation Plan, His Son (Jesus Christ), His Grace, His Mercy, and His Love.

Since Jesus Christ not only celebrated God’s seven major Feasts but also lived as the consummate spiritual reality of these Feast Days, and since every fulfilled major dress rehearsal event in His life happened on these Feast Days, wouldn’t these truths mean that it is important for all followers of Christ (Jews and Gentiles) to know and understand the significance and richness of what God’s scheduled appointments and His planned Holy Convocations mean to them? After all, the Divine Truth is that the Holy Bible’s Holy Convocations (holy dress rehearsals) and seven major Feasts (appointed times) are God’s Holy Convocations and God’s Feast Days—not Jewish convocations and Jewish feasts for only Jewish people, BUT convocations and feasts for any and everybody who belongs to the Lord, Jesus Christ. Now, although God neither commands Jewish nor Gentile followers of Christ (a.k.a., Christians) to celebrate these Holy Convocations and Feast Days; that is to say, there is NO New Testament Law that says believers in Christ are obligated to observe them, it is evident that God does want all believers in Christ to understand their spiritual and prophetic meanings.

Lastly, God says:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children. ~ Hosea 4:6, NKJV

While this above Scripture does not apply to New Testament believers in Christ who are saved by Grace, primarily because God’s Love for them, His Son’s Redemption of them, God’s Grace in them, and God’s covenant with them have guaranteed them that they will not experience everlasting destruction, their lives still can be temporarily destroyed. Then too, even though at times believers can be just as ignorant about God’s Ways and His Divine Truths, as are unsaved, unbelieving, and doubting men and women, still because believers in Christ are saved by Grace they also cannot want for knowledge.  For sure, it is God’s Perfect Will that His Holy Spirit inside believers in Christ would bring ALL saved individuals to the knowledge of God’s Ways and His Divine Truths, as well as bring ALL believers in Christ to the knowledge of ALL Spiritual Treasures, and yet there are way too many believers who still remain ignorant about the knowledge of God’s Ways, Truths, and Spiritual Treasures.

For these reasons, no one who professes to be a Christian should continue to be ignorant about and/or unresponsive to the Holy Spirit’s teachings and leadings concerning God’s Holy Convocations and His seven major Feasts. Without doubt, God’s Holy Convocations (dress rehearsals) and His seven major Feasts (appointed times) contain valuable information about the Bride of Christ’s dress rehearsals for these future events—the Rapture of the Bride (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), the Bride and Bridegroom’s consummation of their marriage vows (cf. Isaiah 26:20, Matthew 25:10, John 14:2-3), and the Bride’s place at the Wedding Table during the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (cf. Revelation 19:7-10).

A word to the wise should be sufficient. Shalom . . . . 

Waiting On My Reason-For-Existing Comeback

01 Wednesday Sep 2010

Posted by in Faith and Wisdom

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Every lapse in progress, or setback, that has happened to me over the past twelve years of my life has been divinely designed. There is no doubt in my mind that God’s plan for my life has been for Him to use my every setback as a setup for my reason-for-existing comeback.

In the last twelve years, I have gone through long seasons of displacement—times when I have felt like I had lost God’s favor . . . felt like nothing I did pleased God. These times of feeling as if I were flying below God’s radar have been extremely uncomfortable, like I was in quicksand and sinking fast. Even so, His Holy Spirit always has confirmed in my spirit, always has made it crystal clear to me, that God was using my times of displacement (seasons of being moved or shifted from the usual place or position) to show me that He was unsettling me so that He can settle me in my divinely appointed place. Currently, I am waiting on my reason-for-existing comeback.

The divine truth is that my displacements meant that I had outgrown my prior places: relationships, jobs, spiritual maturity, and ministerial duties. Thus, in the last twelve years of my life, my divorce setbacks, my employment setbacks, my familial setbacks, my social setbacks (loss of friends or the lack of close interaction from friends), my emotional setbacks, my “calling” setbacks, my sanctification setbacks (spiritual growth at a stand still . . . spiritual discernment disabled), and, the biggest setback of all, my financial setbacks are those divinely appointed setups (God’s predestined plans for the future He has for me) that, at the time of most of my goings through, it seemed as though my circumstances only had created a kicked in my gut effect.

Needless to say, I didn’t always recognize how God was working in my life. I didn’t always discern His plans to take care of me, not abandon me, but to give me the future I also hoped for (Jeremiah 29:11), especially not while I was feeling frustrated, stressed, worried, and sometimes convinced to give up on God’s promises, and even give up on my own life.

I am thankful to God that, in spite of my feelings of lost, my feelings of not belonging or fitting in anywhere, He has never failed to see me through my worst of times. Having comeback stronger, spiritually speaking, than I was before each displacement takes place, I now know what I need to do this time. In particular, I am spiritually mature enough to wait on my next comeback without contemplating the give up and go back to Egypt (back to the places that I have outgrown) thoughts that come against God’s Truth (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

However, I have to say that it usually is only in retrospect that even seasoned believers, who are weathering life’s storms, can respond to their displacements like seasoned sailors who never look back, never look down, and never give up; it often takes much time and many storms before Christians become the kind of seasoned believers who just keep on anticipating their comeback, which by the way doesn’t always mean economic recovery . . . comeback doesn’t always pertain to getting ahead in life, as in prospering financially.

In my case, even though I am waiting on my next comeback, I know that comeback for me means God is going to bring me back stronger, greater, and more committed to my call—more committed to what God already has promised me. If financial prosperity flourishes in my life during this comeback, then the monetary increase that God transfers to me is that which He gives me to advance the Kingdom of God on Earth.

What I am experiencing right now (my setback) is solely because the devil senses that God has set me up for a comeback, and that I am just a short distance away from walking in my destiny. So, in this pressing time, I will continue to press, to press, and to press on, while, in between my old and my new place, I also will be sure to take every thought captive, for I am fully aware of the direction my thoughts will take me if I act on those thoughts that are not in harmony with God’s purpose and plan for my life.

God has me on the move, and soon He will make the shift . . . place me where I am destined to fulfill that which He has intended for me to accomplish. When He shifts me, I will find myself no longer displaced, but rather in the right place at the right time, and doing the Will of my Father on time!