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However, the vital meaning is
more important than the exact date.
The very first Pentecost after
Christ ' s death and resurrection
marked the · beginning of the New
Testament Church of God. The Holy
·Spirit was then poured out on all re–
pentant believers.
In the Old Testament, this festival
was termed the "Feast of First–
fruits." The lsraelites observed it for
sorne 1500 years
before
the name of
the day was actually fulfilled. But
with the outpouring of the
~oly
Spir–
it , the harvest of the
first
of the first–
fruits began. Whereas God had only ·
called a
very few
in Old Testament
times, thousands received the Holy
Spirit (the mark of conversion) in the
first few weeks of the New Testa–
ment Church.
Penteéost teaches us that this is
not
the only day of salvation . Many
think it is. They believe that "proba–
tion shall be closed" at the second
coming of Christ. Presumably this
means that God will "burn up" the
billions in Asia and elsewhere who
have never even heard the name of
Jesus Christ.
The true meaning of the day of
Pentecost runs counter to this false,
paganized teaching. As Herbert W.
Armstrong has written: "God gave
this festival to His people in order to
reveal, and to keep them continually
informed, that the present dispensa–
tion is only the first, preliminary
'harv~st
of souls' "
(Pagan Holi–
day s- or God 's Holy Days –
Which?) .
All who have been called from the
days of Jesus Christ until now repre–
sent the
firstfruits
of God's salvation.
But they only constitute a minute
portion of all who have lived from
then until now.
Pentecost is a festival of transition.
lt
is in the midst of the three main
festival seasons. Passover and the
Days of Unleavened Bread largely
symbolize events now already past.
All of the fall festivals represent
things to come.
Pentecost symbolizes
that part of the process of fulfillment
of God's plan which is underway
right now- in this "Church age"–
but also that function of the Holy
Spirit which is both past and future.
This day not only marks the coming
The
PLAIN TRUTH March 1979
of the Holy Spirit in A.D. 31 , it also
shows that there is a great fall har–
vest of salvation yet to come.
Indeed, one of the present func–
tions of the Holy Spirit itself is to re–
vea) "things to come." Jesus Christ
said to His disciples: "Howbeit when .
he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he
will guide you into all truth: for he
shall not speak of himself; but what–
soever he shall hear, that shall he
speak:
and he wi/1
shew you
things to
come"
(John 16:13).
This same Holy Spirit has revealed
the full meaning of God's annual
holy days for, so far as we know, the
first time in the history of the
Church. Previous Church ages have
not understood the fullness of their
importance. But let's understand the
vital significance of the first fall fes–
tival , the first annual autumn holy
da
y.
The Feaat of Trumpeta
The Day of Trumpets pictures per–
haps the greatest event in the history
of this world: the second coming of
Jesus Christ. A trumpet is a symbol
of war (Joel 2:1). It is also a symbol
of victory- in this case the victory of
Christ at His second coming.
The first day in the seventh month
(Jewish calendar) points forward to
the day when the last trumpet will
sound (Rev. 11: 15-19) and the dead in
. Christ will rise to meet Him (1 Thes.
4: 16-17; 1Cor. 15:52). Christ will then
conquer the angry nations who would
presume to fight against Him.
But remember, the title of this fes–
tival is the Feast of
Trumpets
(plu–
ral). When ancient Israel was wan–
dering around in the wilderness, they
became accustomed to the blowing of
trumpets (plural) for many purposes:
the calling of assemblies, the signal
to march or halt, or
as a warning.
Those in Israel 's army carne to recog–
nize various trumpet sounds as hav–
ing specific meanings, just as various
bugle calls do in the modern mili–
tary.
There is a parallel between the
blowing of trumpets in ancient Israel
and the Work of God today. There is
a relationship between the angelic
trumpet blast signaling the imminent
return of Jesus Christ and the contin–
ua! witness conducted by God's true
Work today. We are
preparing the
way
for the return of Christ.
The successive angelic trumpet
blasts and aceompanying cataclys–
mic events on a worldwide scale will
serve as God's
final warnings
to a
sin-ravaged world! Then will come
the great trumpet blast that will ush–
er in the rule of the Kingdom of God
on .this earth. But
first
Christ must
reconcile the world to Himself and
exile the source of all sin. That is
shown in the very next festival.
The Day of Atonement
The last war between Israel and
Egypt is known as the Yom Kippur
War. This is because it occurred on
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement,
1973. Yom Kippur is perhaps the
principal festival of modern-day Ju–
daism. The Egyptians and Syrians
attacked at a time when the Jewish
nation was least prepared to fight.
It
was a masterstroke which almost
~orked .
The surprise attack occurred
not on a national day of feasting but
on a national day of fasting.
The Worldwide Church of God
also keeps the Day of Atonement. Of
course the meaning of this obser–
vance is somewhat different from
that of the Jews:
lt
looks forward to
sorne very important events to
come.
This world can never have peace as
long as Satan is still about. Not even
the universal conversion of all
peoples to true Christianity could
bring about a real, lasting peace as
long as the Adversary is allowed to
pump his thoughts and attitudes into
people's minds. The Day of Atone–
ment pictures the chaining of Satan
for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3).
No longer will he be allowed to work
his will in tlie "children of disobe–
dience."
ln symbolism, the sixteenth chap–
ter of Leviticus describes this crucial
event of future world history in great
detail. Suffice it to say here that the
live goat, upon whom all the sins of
Israel were to be confessed, and
which was led into the desolate wil–
derness, represents Satan the devil
being kept in restraint for a period of
a thousand years.
lt
is he who is
ulti–
mare/y
responsible for all angelic and
human sin. There could be no millen-
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