THE BLOOD OF BULLS AND GOATS – PART THREE
Wednesday – February 7, 2018
Welcome back to this anointed teaching, Bible Study from the Book of Hebrews. We have moved into the tenth chapter of Hebrews and for the last two days I have been discussing the Feasts of the Lord. I am doing this by way of reviewing these Feasts of the Lord which tend to be ignored in the Church and to recognize that our primary text has been and is talking about the Feast of the Lord known as the Day of Atonement. Our featured picture today is of the Feast of Firstfruits. First let’s review our primary Bible text then we will return to this wonderful discussion of the Feasts of the Lord.
Hebrews 10:1-4 (KJV)
1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
The Feast of the Lord known as Passover is a type and shadow of our redemption to come by the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus. Jesus the Lamb of God ratified The New Blood Covenant by the shedding of His innocent sinless Blood for man and for God. He was a man, a sinless man in the earth. He was God from Heaven who was willing to lay aside His attributes as God to become like other men. God doesn’t any longer just pass over our sin, He does not see any sin when He looks at us for we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We talked about how the Feast of Unleavened Bread looked forward to Jesus, who is unleavened (without sin) Bread, the Bread that gives eternal life. Just as the Israelites of old purged all of the leaven from their homes and did not eat leavened bread so we to identify and purge all sin from our lives by repentance. They left Egypt (type of sin) and Pharaoh (type of the devil) and are we to do the same. This brings us to the Feast of Firstfruits.
Leviticus 23:10-12 (KJV)
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
The Feast of Firstfruits starts on the sixteenth of Nisan (the third day) and starts the count of fifty days to the sixth of Sivan and the Feast of Pentecost (fiftieth day). Firstfruits was looking forward to the Resurrection of Jesus. Let us take a moment and see what Jesus had to say about the sowing of the Lamb of God which corresponds to the Passover Lamb.
John 12:23-25 (KJV)
23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Jesus told His disciples that day and us now that unless He die His life could not produce fruit. That seems counter-intuitive however He goes on to explain. He gives the example of “a corn of wheat”. As you may know the life of a seed is on the inside and the outer hull is dead and shed in the process of producing new life. When the corn or other fruit for that matter come up there is the main stem or vine and the fruit is attached to it.
John 15:4-5 (KJV)
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
That outer hull, the flesh was made sin in our stead and that was shed, Jesus had died spiritually upon the Cross (law of sin and death) however His mind was fully renewed to the Word of God. Justice found Him innocent (His blood was innocent and He proclaimed the Word of God in Hell). Therefore, He was the first born from the spiritually dead, and the first to attain to the resurrection of the dead. He was restored as God, all things were restored to Him, and in Him all things are restored to us. Christ Jesus is our firstfruits.
1 Corinthians 15:20-23 (KJV)
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
Jesus Christ was born again from above by Grace just as we are and not only was his physical body raised from the dead but transfigured to an uncorrupted eternal form. Consider the following verse.
Revelation 1:5 (KJV)
5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Jesus Christ is the faithful witness for in Him we have entered the same Blood Covenant that brought Him from the dead. He shed His physical body corrupted beyond recognition with our sin and all the curse and was given a glorious body incorruptible in His restoration as God. Likewise, we are separated from all our sin, and are born from the spiritually dead to the living. All of God’s original intent for His children of dominion and the Blessing are restored. All we lack and patiently await is our glorious physical body like unto His. We are the kings of the earth referred to and Jesus Christ is the prince. Today we do not tend to think of a prince as being of greater rank than a king but in Scripture a prince is higher than a king, in other places it says He is King of kings (capitol K vs little k). The Blood of Jesus identifies us as a Blood Covenant child of God. In Him we receive His salvation. As we think on this we will know that this is beyond good. Tomorrow I will pick up with the Feast of Pentecost.
Until our next publication, I speak blessing into your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
Numbers 6:24-26 (KJV)
24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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