THE HOLY DAYS OF HEBREWS 6!
"THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF CHRIST"
Hebrews Chapter 6 begins by mentioning the "elementary principles of Christ". It also mentions that they are directed toward the "enlightened". They are also "the heavenly gift" and "the good word of God and the powers of the age to come". This is definitely not concerning fringe areas! These topics are, "the foundation" of Christianity, the trunk of the tree. The seven "principles" listed in Hebrews Ch. 6 seem to precisely define the meaning of the Holy Days and they are all in the right order!
"Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance of dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment." (vs.1-2) Now does this sound to you like a thumb nail sketch of the Holy Days? If it does, then don't bother with reading the rest of this article. However since it’s unlikely that anyone has ever explained these scriptures in this manner. Let’s analyze these phrases one at a time with the Holy Days in mind.
1) "GO ON TO PERFECTION": This is the very reason for the Passover. Christ was the perfect sacrificial Lamb. We are to examine ourselves by comparing ourselves to the perfect standard, Jesus Christ. "though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been PERFECTED, He became the author of eternal salvation…". (Hebrews 5:8-9) Matthew 5:48 should read "Become you therefore PERFECT even as your Father in heaven is PERFECT." Every year at the Passover we read the following words: "I in them and You in Me; that THEY MAY BE MADE PERFECT IN ONE, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." (John 17:23) The process of becoming perfect will not be totally completed until Jesus Christ is "ONE" with His Bride. Just as the "The first man Adam became a living being" but was quite incomplete, or even imperfect, before Eve was created. "The last Adam became a LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT". (1 Cor.15:45) The Bride will "be MADE perfect" when she is made "one" with the "Life - Giving Spirit". (Explained further in ‘When is the Marriage of the Lamb’.)
"And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, (that is the promise of eternal life) God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made PERFECT (actually born again) apart from (that is, ahead of) us." (Heb.11:39-40) God wants for us to be spiritual perfectionists.
2) "REPENTANCE FROM DEAD WORKS": During The Days of Unleavened Bread we remove leaven, symbolic of sin or "dead works", from every corner of our lives. At the Passover we made a binding commitment with God to strive for perfection. The next seven days may portray for us the remainder of our lives, in which we make good on our sacred vow, as well as represent the seven millennial days. During these seven special days of the year, we make an even greater effort to overcome sin. "How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from DEAD WORKS to serve the living God?" (Heb. 9:14) The phrase "dead works" is similar to what is expressed by James, "But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without WORKS is DEAD? Was not Abraham our Father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?" (James 2:20-22) "Repentance" leads to "faith" which leads to "baptism". "Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (dead works); and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Consider this paraphrased version of 1 Cor.5:6-9 with only the bread terminology rephrased. "Do you not know that a [few dead works] corrupts the whole [person]? Therefore purge out the old [dead works], that you may be a new [person], since you truly are [becoming perfect]. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with our old [dead works], nor with the [sins] of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
3) "Faith toward God": Receiving the Holy Spirit is what the Day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts Ch. 2 is all about. "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused because everyone heard them speak in his own language." (Acts 2:38 & 41) Question: What was the difference between the Jews who received the Holy Spirit and the "devout Jews" who were confused? Answer: It was their "Faith Toward God". Some of these Jews mockingly said that "They are full of new wine." Peter assured them that it was only the third hour of the day and, unlike today, people patiently waited until the evening to get drunk. I believe that when Peter and John later healed the lame man on the ninth hour of the day, it was the same day. "And His name, through FAITH in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the FAITH which comes through Him has given him his perfect soundness in the presence of you all." (Acts 3:16) Our faith should lead us to perfect spiritual soundness! My article: Pentecost Is Not Fulfilled is all about this day and it’s future fulfillment.
4) "Baptisms": Baptism specifically symbolizes of our death and resurrection. When you are dunked you are being buried, as well as washing away sins, but when you are lifted up, that symbolizes your own resurrection. Baptism begins the chain of events, which including the laying on of hands, will prepare you for your life long journey that will lead us directly to The Feast of Trumpets, the day "the resurrection of life" occurs. Notice: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Cor. 15:51-53) Further, "But someone will say, 'How are the dead raised up'? And with what body do they come? Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. (vs.35-36) "So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown (buried) in corruption, it is raised (resurrected) in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." (vs.42-44) At baptism, that spiritual body is our future hope!
5) "Laying on of hands": There are only a few references to the laying on of hands in scripture. The Day of Atonement is one of the more interesting instances. The lightly concealed symbolism of Lev.Ch.16 depicts an astounding series of events. "And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering…"(v.5) "He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting." (v.7) "Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, [and] bring its blood inside the veil…" (v.15) Jesus Christ is symbolized as a goat here, rather than as a lamb. Goats are symbolic of evil, which is mentioned later. For a time our savior was burdened with all of the evil of humanity, past, present and future! God the Father actually turned His back on His Son! His blood was shed for us. The guilt from these sins was soon transferred to their rightful owner - Satan. "Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man." (v.21) The Day of Atonement alludes to Judgment Day concerning both "iniquities" and "mercy"! Breaking into the thought, "…and sprinkle* it [the blood] on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins…." (vs.15-16) *Each of us is responsible for a sprinkling of Christ’s shed blood. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said "Behold! The LAMB of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) Today, Christ is pictured as a perfect Lamb.
There is a lot more to the comparison between Leviticus Ch.16 and the dialog that that was begun in Hebrews Chapter 6. This chapter ends making reference to "behind the veil". Notice: "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek". Chapter 7 continues the comparison of the old covenant and the new one, with the emphasis on Melchizedek, who is Christ. There is a connection between the Day of Atonement, with the Azazel goat that was set free, and the Sacrificial goat that was killed, which is our Passover. The bottom line is this: "For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins [as in Lev.Ch.16] and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself." (Heb.7:26-27)
There is, of course, positive instruction about the laying on of hands, yet even here sin is lurking. "And when Simon [the sorcerer] saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’". (Acts 8:18-19) The laying on of hands is the next step to follow our acceptance of the Lamb of God who takes away our own sins, helping to prepare us for our resurrection!
6) "Resurrection of the dead": The high point of the year, for most of us, is the Feast of Tabernacles. Our goal is to be resurrected from the dead, and participate in God’s family plan. Unless we are among those fortunate enough to be alive when Christ returns, then our prayer “thy kingdom come” will be accomplished for us by the “Resurrection of the dead”. This is the actual fulfillment of the process that was only symbolically begun at baptism. "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment (the next step) also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which ALL who are in their graves will hear His voice and come fourth - those who have done good, to the Resurrection of Life, and those who have done evil to the Resurrection of Condemnation. (John 5:25-29) As I explain in The Place of Safety, we will have a glorious "Tabernacle", the New Jerusalem, right here with us putting the "TABERNACLE" in "THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES!" During the seventh millennium, people resurrected from the dead will be keeping the Feast of Tabernacles, and enjoying New Jerusalem, who had lived in all of the previous six millennia. Seven days portray seven millennia of overcoming!
7) "Eternal judgment" is the very purpose of The Last Great Day. Christ’s separating of the "sheep from the goats" in Matthew Ch.25 is a synopsis of all of the preceding parables, but not a parable itself. While the terms "sheep" and "goats" are used, there is no room for misinterpretation. "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate THEM one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those (sheep) on His right hand, ‘Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…" continuing: "Then He will say to those (goats) on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels…" (v.41) "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Mat.25:31-46) Jesus "finished all these sayings" with these powerful concluding remarks.
"On the Last Day, that Great Day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me ‘as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’" But He spoke concerning the Spirit [which] those believing in Him would receive…". (John 7:37) That was all He apparently said, which makes it of the utmost importance that it is recorded that Christ spoke these particular words on the Last Great Day, this is a most relevant statement concerning the meaning of the day, it is was and is "meat in due season".
There also appears to be a connection between the Passover, which began the salvation process and the Last Great Day, which ends it. Here is the common factor concerning both the Passover and the Last Great Day. "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger."…"This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me, I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."…"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise Him up at the last day." (John 6:35-40) Why do you suppose that God referred to the resurrection as "the last day"? Throughout the entire Holy Day cycle we focus on the end result - the last day, or culmination, of this evil age, which prepares us for rulership following the first Passover of the next millennium! During the last three and one half years of this age, we will be preparing for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We will have been resurrected on Trumpets of year 6000 but we won't be born and married on the same day. God has waited for this marriage since before the foundation of the earth, He won't rush His marriage! Like the ancient legends, the Hero comes riding on a white horse at the last minute to save the King’s virgin daughter from the dragon, killing it with a sword (Isa.27:1), and soon thereafter He marries His Bride. (Passover 6001)!
This ends the first millennial week, but what about the "Big Bang Theory" concerning the physical universe being blown up after the Last Great Day? Is the seven thousand year plan only week number one of a much larger plan?
God, on three occasions in scripture, told of a One Thousand Generation Plan, all three of these scriptural passages are confirmations of the covenant which God swore in an oath to Abraham’s descendants.
"For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. 7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps COVENANT and mercy for a THOUSAND GENERATIONS with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. 11 Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them." (Deut. 7:6-11) This one thousand generation covenant is integrally involved with commandment keeping, physical blessings and continued destruction of the wicked.
"Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth, 13 O seed of Israel His servant, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones! 14 He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. 15 Remember His COVENANT forever, the word which He commanded, for a THOUSAND GENERATIONS, 16 the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, 17 and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant, 18 saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance." (1 Chr. 16:12-18)
"He remembers His COVENANT forever, the word which He commanded, for a THOUSAND GENERATIONS, 9 the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, 10 and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, 11 saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance..." ( Psa.105:8-11)
How long is a generation? Ironically or not, there is a Bible ‘definition’ of "generation" and it also mentions the covenant to Abraham. This is the duration of the generations applicable in God’s covenant. You don't change the terms of a contract after the deal is made. These generations are longer than those of today.
"But Abram said, ‘Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless…Then He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness…13 Then He said to Abram: ‘Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years…16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete… On the same day the Lord made a COVENANT with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates - 19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." (Gen. 15: 2-21)
A generation would have to exceed 100 years and be less than 133 years for this to have happened this way. To cram a ‘thousand generations’ between Abraham’s time and the end of the millennium would make a generation only about five years long! Perhaps there is a 120,000 year plan. Or did God exaggerate His covenant oath to Abraham?
Here are more details of the contract that God made with Abraham. I am not sure that all of the terms have even begun to be met yet. Note that ‘everlasting’ in the Hebrew means a very long time or eternity. "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.’ 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 ‘As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, (1000 generations is the minimum duration!) to be God to you and your descendants after you. 8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.’ 9 And God said to Abraham: ‘As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their GENERATIONS’". (Gen.17:1-9)
Abraham’s descendants were to number as the stars of heaven, which are beyond counting. I believe that God’s, statement: "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars", was also not an exaggeration but rather a clue that reveals where these descendants will eventually colonize, due to the extreme limitations of the earth.
Lon Martin
April 15, 2000 a
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