Counting the omer for 50 days from the Feast of Firstfruits until the Feast of Weeks also known as Shavuot/Pentecost was in anticipation of the ripening of the wheat harvest. Throughout the period beginning after the Exodus until 10 days after Yeshua Jesus ascended to heaven, the waving of 2 wheat loaves of bread that had been baked with yeast, “leaven” in them must have puzzled the priests.
A sample of the first crop of barley was waved before the altar during the feast of
Firstfruits. Now on Shavuot a sample of the first crop of the wheat harvest was brought to the priests, baked into 2 loaves of leavened bread and then waved before the altar by the priest. This was the ONLY time leavened bread was used by the priests.
Leviticus 2:11 ‘No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the Lord made by fire.
Prophetically it was a picture of the “one new man” (composed of both Jew and
Gentile) before the altar of the LORD (Eph. 2:14).
During their journey of 40 years in the wilderness before entering the promised land, God often told Israel that there would be 1 law for both Jew and gentile. God hates partiality, bribes that perverts justice and corrupt scales.
Numbers 15:29 You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwells among them.
Leviticus 19:33-36 ‘And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. 34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
35 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. 36 You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 1:16-17 “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him. 17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.’
Solomon, known as the wisest man who ever lived knew the value Father God placed on the gentiles of the world. He had asked God for godly wisdom instead of earthly riches. In his prayer at the dedication of the 1st temple he had built for God he said this,
2 Chronicles 6:32-33 Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name’s sake, and Thy Mighty Hand, and Thy Stretched Out Arm; if they come and pray in this house;33 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel,
Although Father God always intended to incorporate gentiles into His Forever Family, He didn’t bring into view the beginning of it’s fulfillment until the day of Shavuot/Pentecost. On that day the prophetic became reality for the world to witness and declare.
Acts 2:8-12 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”
God revealed more clearly what this meant to the Apostle Peter when He instructed Peter to go to the house of Cornelius a gentile. It was so Cornelius and others too could receive the Holy Spirit as Peter would learn later when it happened.
Acts 10:19-20, 23-24, 34-35, 44-46
19 While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. 20 Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
23 Then he invited them in and lodged them. On the next day Peter went away with them, and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends.
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
So God had now put the next stage of His plan to bring salvation through the finished work of Yeshua Jesus on the cross of Calvary to Jew and gentile alike. Actually God’s plan went a little further than that. While salvation was being offered to gentiles, in a large way, God put the nation of Israel/Judah on “timeout.” When the Jews rejected Jesus as their long awaited Messiah, God set in motion the “Time of the Gentiles.” For almost 2,000 years, Israel as a nation disappeared from the face of the earth. The Apostle Paul, a pharisee of pharisees said,
Romans 11:25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
The Apostle Paul probably took no pleasure in making that statement because he understood the “blindness” God was imposing upon Israel was going to be a “timeout” until it reached its “fullness.” Many theologians believe that one day, the last gentile in the world to be saved, will be saved and that will complete the “fulness of their special” time for it. Jesus too spoke of the times of the gentiles.
Luke 21:24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
These two things that speak about the “times of the gentiles” and the “fullness of the gentiles” are for the most part 2 separate things. What is evident is that God has an order, rhyme and reason for what He does in the earth and how He brings them about. Think about when God made the statement of the rebellious Israelites that He declared would not be allowed to enter the promised land. God said that anyone over 20 years old would die in the wilderness except for Joshua and Caleb. Even Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land because of not fully obeying the Word of the LORD. The Word of God tells us this,
Deuteronomy 1:34-40 “And the Lord heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying, 35 ‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the Lord.’ 37 The Lord was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you shall not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39 ‘Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.’
God has always set an era, a set apart time period for His purpose to be accomplished. Some were for good as with the “time of the gentiles.” Some were for justice and judgement as with the 38 years the 20 and above generation of Israelites had to roam the wilderness until they died in it. God also set an era of time for the purpose of His patience, extending mercy and a chance to repent to the gentile nations in Abraham’s day until the time of the Exodus. God told Abraham,
Genesis 15:12-16 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 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. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
The Amorites were the descendants of Canaan. Amorites may not have originally referred to a specific ethnic group but to a nomadic people according to this article, https://www.ancient.eu/amorite/
Although they were not the “chosen” people of God, He had His eye on them and their accumulation of sins. If they didn’t repent, God knew they wouldn’t, the time would come when He would deal with them. Abraham was given that information, even the length of time it would be, 400 years, about 10 times that of the judgement God placed on the rebellious Israelites to wonder and die in the wilderness.
From the time Joshua entered the promised land until the time of Jesus’ ascension to heaven is about 1,300 years. For some of them Israelites, weren’t even in the land, the were slaves, captives in foreign lands. Some of the years were filled with war, plagues, and all kinds of turmoil. Think about this a moment, Israel had to stay out of the promised land for many more years than they were in it for one simple reason. They refused to do Bible things in Bible ways. They thought they knew better than God and could do it without God, sound familiar. Isn’t that the road America has taken in a large way. Christians are out numbered in America, especially the devout ones. They are ridiculed by most of Americans and even the carnal Christians for being too observant of what God says in his Word.
This Covid-19 thing has begun to make some people think that maybe life as we have known it won’t return to where we left off before it came along. We for the most part don’t like change, at least I don’t until the new normal becomes normal to me. Then it’s not so bad anymore. It’s certainly set the stage for a new era to be ushered in. The one world government, religion and monetary system is really in sight. So many things the Book of Revelation said would happen that seemed impossible are now very possible and likely in the near future. I think Covid-19 shifted Bible prophecy into a higher gear.
It doesn’t matter if we like it or not, God’s era of the gentiles may be coming to an end. I too believe that God knows who will be the last gentile to accept Yeshua Jesus as their savior, redeemer and most importantly their Lord. I believe that when the last gentile is saved, it will be a good reason to trigger the rapture of the church, the Bride of Christ to attend the marriage supper of the Lamb. Then God’s attention will be focused on Israel as a nation again. World history will again shift gears and drastic changes will take place among nations and world events.
All these eras were foretold in the Word of God. Some were only alluded to while others were described in great detail, specific names, length of times and reason for their purpose. The Word of God not boring, especially if the Holy Spirit is bringing light to it’s meaning. God’s Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost to lead, teach, convict of sin and draw us closer to Jesus and our Dear Heavenly Father. Those are only a few things the Holy Spirit does. They don’t even get into the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Without a willingness to submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit to use the gifts, you’re probably better off without them.
Getting back to the title of this post, “One New Man Was Always God’s Plan.” It was not meant to be a sexist remark. The Bible most often speaks of “Sons of God.” Daughters are mentioned but I can’t find the saying, “Daughters of God” in the Bible. If you have let me know in the comment section. The reason everyone, men and women are offered the opportunity to become a “son of God,” little “s” is because of the “Son of God,” Yeshua Jesus. When Father God looks at a man or a woman, what He is looking for is the evidence of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, being formed in them.
Being “In Christ” and “Christ being formed in us,” now that was a mystery for eons, but no more,
Colossians 1:26-27 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
In The Word 