Dear Family,
Today is Friday, April 28, 2023. It is Day 20; and, Day 6 of Week 3 as we Count to Pentecost.
Counting the omer to Pentecost everyday is a spiritual training in obedience and overcoming. Are we faithful? Throughout the pages of the Bible, we learn over and over that God really does pay attention to little details. We learn from the Book of Luke that when we are faithful in little, we can be trusted to be faithful when given more.
Luke19:17 And he said unto him; Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
There are so many lessons in the Counting to 50 and in the recalling of the details of Israel’s experiences. We can find many beautiful and significant parallels between what happened to the ancient Israelites and what occurs in the lives of true disciples today. Here is a partial list. Egypt pictures our living in bondage to sin. The Passover lamb pictures the sacrifice of God’s Perfect Lamb, the Son of God. The blood over the door pictures the blood of our Savior covering our sins. The death angel passing over the homes where the inhabitants were obedient, pictures our being spared from the second death. Israel’s walk out of Egypt pictures our moving away from our old life of bondage. Crossing the Red Sea pictures our baptism and the beginning of our walk with God. The trials and tests of the journey to Mt. Sinai picture the life we live after our calling, repentance, and baptism.
Israel’s meeting with God at Mt. Sinai and making a covenant with Him on the 50th day pictures a covenant being formalized between Christ and His Church. The Book of Ruth (especially chapter 3), which is traditionally connected to Pentecost; also shows such a covenant being made between Boaz and Ruth regarding their eventual marriage.
The 50th day, like the Jubilee that occurred every 50 years, is a type of the great liberation and TOTAL SALVATION that will occur for the Church eventually. There was a tremendous display of God’s power at Mt. Sinai thousands of years ago and again in Jerusalem about 2000 years ago. On that first Pentecost, God’s people received the Law and made a marriage covenant with Him. On another Pentecost, God sent His Holy Spirit that provides us with the power to become Sons of God. We need both of these for God to finally prepare us for our eternal release from the bondage of human flesh that will occur at the Feast of Trumpets. Let us remember that much of God’s Plan remains a mystery that He will “finish” in His time and in His way.
May God make us faithful!
Ben Faulkner, Pastor
©2023, Church of the Sovereign God