The Three Levels to Transfiguration – Tabernacles

By Thomas Blasi

 

4/28/2021

John said in Revelation 20 that the first resurrection is limited to those called to be “priests of God and of Christ.”

• There are no unbelievers in that first resurrection.
• Jesus spoke of the second resurrection in John 5:28, 29, where ALL would be raised—some given life (immortality), and some to judgment.
• The fact that some would be given life at the time that others would be judged shows clearly that He was speaking of the second resurrection at the time of the Great White Throne judgment.
• This means there will be believers raised in the second resurrection.
• And this, in turn, means that the first resurrection includes ONLY believers, but NOT ALL believers.

And so Hebrews 4:1 exhorts believers to follow the example of Caleb and Joshua, rather than that of the Israelite Church.

• It is quite possible for believers to fall short of entering the “Promised Land.”
• But this does not mean they will “go to hell.”
• The Promised Land is not heaven, as opposed to hell.
• The Promised Land is the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.
• This is the true goal of the Christian life.

So, What is the purpose of the Feast of Tabernacles ?

• What is the Promised Land ?

Yahweh stated that the ‘3’ Feasts are to be visited (studied, learned to be understood) and Jesus walked the path of the Feasts.

• Especially note that Jesus displayed the Transfiguration right before He went to Jerusalem for the crucifixion.
• He showed us the fulfilment of Tabernacles.
• We (the Overcomers) will do this too.

Following is some revelation from God’s Kingdom Ministries to help be a seer :

• The final verses of Hebrews 3 introduced us to the idea that not every believer is an overcomer.
• The example is given of the Church in the wilderness under Moses.
• These Israelites had enough faith to accept the Passover Lamb, but they did not have sufficient faith to hear God’s voice at Sinai (Pentecost) or to enter the Promised Land at Tabernacles after the twelve spies gave their report.

As I pointed out, this is not about salvation.

• It is about true believers who have been covered by the blood of the Lamb.
• But it is about true believers dying in the wilderness without receiving the promise.
• And, as Hebrews 4 points out, the problem is insufficient faith.
• The author of Hebrews uses the example of Israel as an exhortation and warning to the New Testament Church, lest we follow their example.
• Hebrews 4:1 says,

 

“Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it.”

 

• It is common to view Israel’s biblical journey as an allegory and yet misunderstand the symbolism.
• There are two levels of meaning in this allegory: Personal and Corporate.
• In the personal application, “Egypt” represents the Sin that keeps us in bondage.
• Paul speaks of this in Rom. 6:20, saying, “when you were slaves of sin.”
• Sin is personified as a hard taskmaster, much like the Egyptians were to Israel (Exodus 1:11).

When we became believers in Christ, however, the effect of Passover in our lives was to set us free from this Egypt-Sin, for it was on the day of Passover that Israel was set free from bondage in Egypt.

• Not only did Passover make “believers” out of the individual Israelites, but Passover also created the Church in the wilderness (as a corporate unit, a nation made up of individuals).

It was a “Passover Church,” because it was created on the day of Passover.

• From there, Israel was baptized at the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10:1, 2) and then went to Mount Sinai to receive the law on the day that became known as the feast of Pentecost.
• Here Israel refused to hear the voice of God, as we saw in Hebrews 3, and this failure ensured that Israel would remain a Passover-level Church.
• It would not be until Acts 2 that the Pentecost-level Church was formed.
• It was, again, a corporate church or nation made up of individuals.

But even the Church under Pentecost was not the final Church that Christ was forming.

• There was a third feast (Tabernacles) which even the Pentecostal Church could not attain during the Pentecostal Age.
• It was reserved for our time after the end of the Pentecostal Age.
• Those who come into this third level of faith are the overcomers, who will inherit the first resurrection to reign with Christ during the Tabernacles Age to come.

Thus, the “Promised Land” is not heaven, but “the promises of God” that have been given from the beginning.

• On an individual level, it is the promise of life in The Age, called in the New Testament, “aionian zoe”.
• Those who attain this promise will be given immortality in the first resurrection and will not have to await the general resurrection like the rest of the believers.
• The fact that there will be believers in that second resurrection is made clear by comparing Rev. 20:4-6 with John 5:28, 29.

John said in Revelation 20 that the first resurrection is limited to those called to be “priests of God and of Christ.”

• There are no unbelievers in that first resurrection.
• Jesus spoke of the second resurrection in John 5:28, 29, where ALL would be raised—some given life (immortality), and some to judgment.
• The fact that some would be given life at the time that others would be judged shows clearly that He was speaking of the second resurrection at the time of the Great White Throne judgment.
• This means there will be believers raised in the second resurrection. And this, in turn, means that the first resurrection includes ONLY believers, but NOT ALL believers.

And so Hebrews 4:1 exhorts believers to follow the example of Caleb and Joshua, rather than that of the Israelite Church.

• It is quite possible for believers to fall short of entering the “Promised Land.”
• But this does not mean they will “go to hell.”
• The Promised Land is not heaven, as opposed to hell. The Promised Land is the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.
• This is the true goal of the Christian life.

Just as Passover is for our justification, and Pentecost for our sanctification, so also is Tabernacles for our glorification.

• Passover brings salvation to our spirit; Pentecost brings salvation to our soul (mind); and Tabernacles brings salvation to our body.
• This was Paul’s thought as he wrote in 1 Thess. 5:23,

 

‘Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

The glorification of the body does not mean that our present body will be glorified.

• Rather, Paul speaks of two bodies, one earthly and one heavenly (2 Cor. 5:1). Paul does not answer the rhetorical question in 1 Cor. 15:35,

 

“And with what body do they come?”

 

• Instead, he focuses on the FACT of resurrection and the various kinds of glory that people will receive, depending upon their calling and their faithfulness.
• Yet we are given the example of Jesus’ body after His resurrection.
• It was the same, yet different.
• No one recognized Him after His resurrection until He did something or said something.
• Yet the body in which He appeared on earth was certainly “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39).
• He went out of His way to prove that He was not a spirit—not until He disappeared, of course.

That glorified body has authority in both heaven and in earth and therefore has the ability to be flesh and bone one moment and spirit the next.

• This is the promise of Tabernacles that Hebrews 4:1 exhorts us to attain.
• The Promised Land is made of dirt.
• So are we.
• The Promised Land is not heaven up there, but heaven on earth.
• The bodies of the manifested Sons of God will show Christ to the rest of humanity—believers and unbelievers.
• The believers will receive extra incentive to press on to receive the full promise of God by the next resurrection.
• The unbelievers will “come to Zion” to learn of His ways as well (Isaiah 2:3).
• During the Tabernacles Age, most of the nations on earth will come to know Christ, for He will rule all nations with a “rod of iron” (Rev. 2:27); that is, His rod, or scepter, will be unbreakable.

 

“For indeed we have had good news [the Gospel] preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.”  Hebrews 4:2

 

• The first thing to note is that the Gospel, i.e., “good news,” did not begin with the New Testament.
• It was preached to the Israelites as well.
• Any word from God is the Gospel, whether veiled or openly preached with understanding.
• The gospel of the cross was preached to Israel by means of the Passover Lamb and its specific ceremonies.
• Though the people did not understand the prophetic significance of their actions, it still required a certain amount of faith to be obedient.

Verse 2 above should not be taken to mean that the Israelites had no faith at all.

• Certainly, they all had sufficient faith to leave Egypt.
• The verse above does not focus upon their leaving Egypt, but upon their hearing God’s voice at Pentecost (Mount Sinai).
• That is where they “heard” the voice of God giving them the Ten Commandments.
• But that hearing did not profit them, because they lacked the faith to draw near to God and to continue hearing His voice.
• Faith comes by hearing, Paul says in Rom. 10:17.
• The people refused to hear, preferring that Moses would hear God and then tell Israel what God had told him.

Moses did tell Israel what God had said, but it produced no faith in them, because they wanted to hear a man, rather than God Himself.

• They even lacked the ability to hear the voice of God through Moses, which would have produced faith.
• It would seem that only a few like Caleb and Joshua had the ability to hear God through Moses.

The exhortation for us today is the based upon the same facts.

• The Church under Pentecost from Acts 2 until the present day has experienced the same problems as Israel in the wilderness under Moses.
• Men have often lacked the ability to hear God for themselves and have thus preferred to hear God through men.
• This could have worked out, if the people had had the ability to hear God through men, instead of desiring to hear men.
• But this was not often the case.
• Worse yet, they often elected leaders who were just like them, lacking the ability to hear God.

As time passed, many church leaders discouraged their congregations from learning to hear God for themselves, fearing that the people would soon “hear” something contrary to the word or opinion of the leader.

• Without love, Christians cannot walk together in the face of doctrinal disagreements.
• But instead of training Christians in love, it was easier to train them in fear, so that the congregations would be held together by fear, rather than by love.

To summarize Hebrews 4:2, Israel refused to hear God (Ex. 20:18-21).

• Since faith comes by hearing, the result of their refusal was insufficient faith to enter the Promised Land the following year.
• Having Moses tell them what God said was no substitute for hearing God directly or indirectly.
• So they fell short of the promise (vs. 1) because the word was not united by faith in those who heard at the base of Mount Sinai.

 

‘For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.’

 

• It is assumed everywhere in the New Testament that believers would be able to hear God’s voice and follow the leading of the Spirit.
• This is the essence of the Christian life once he or she has been justified by faith. Whereas Israel had refused to hear at that Sinai Pentecost, the disciples went to the upper room to hear His voice in Acts 2.
• The disciples succeeded where Israel had failed.

So it was assumed that everyone would be a true Pentecostal in those days.

• It was assumed that everyone would at least strive to follow the example of Caleb and Joshua.
• It was assumed that everyone had gotten past Mount Sinai and was on the way toward the Promised Land to fulfill the feast of Tabernacles.