As It Was In The Days*

      We are in the days of the fall Feasts of the LORD. Most of the Church is never taught about the feasts, even though the first coming of Christ and His sacrifice as the Lamb of God and the Firstfruits of the resurrection fulfills the spring feasts, and the second coming of Christ, the rapture of the Church and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb are reflected prophetically in the fall feasts. The Church continues on being what we are rather than what we are supposed to be.

     In Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, Solomon wrote of how the past things are tied to the future things: "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun..." The things shown in the past in scripture are also prophecies of the things to come, but are we heeding them? Jeremiah the prophet spoke to the people of Judah, saying, "And the LORD has sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear. They said, Turn ye again now everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings...And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them...with the works of your hands...Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt." (Jer. 25:4-7). These fall feasts are a call to the people of God to repent and return to the Lord and reflect upon what we need to change about ourselves. However, I am troubled by what I see rising up in the Body of Christ - things like Christian Nationalism, a movement that is neither Christian according to scripture, nor patriotic.

     The LORD sent messengers to His people in the past with words of warning and correction, and those Words have prophetic significance to us for today and the future. He also continues to send messengers to preach these Words. The prophet, Malachi, wrote of a messenger: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts." (Mal. 3:1). John the Baptist came to prepare the way of the Lord, but said that he, himself, was unworthy to touch the laces of His shoes. He said that he was only the messenger.

     Malachi asked: "But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's sope (soap)..." As the LORD comes to refine, He also comes to judge and be a swift witness against sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers, against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, against those who oppress the widows and the fatherless and turn away from the foreigner/stranger (v. 5). The only reason that His own people are not consumed (kala - consume, end, finish, destroy, perish, cause to cease) in judgment is because of the promise that the LORD made to the fathers, and "I changeth not", the LORD said. (v. 6). In view of this, the LORD continues: "Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?" (v. 7). The people of the LORD had gone so far from Him, that they had no idea why He was saying that they needed to return to Him. Is the same true today? Jesus said that the commandments of the LORD can be summed up by these two commands: Love God, and, love your neighbor. On these two things hang all the law and the prophets.

     In Matthew 23:37-39, Jesus wept over Jerusalem, saying: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not? Behold, your house is left unto you desolate....You shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Immediately after this, in Matthew 24, Jesus begins to tell His disciples (and us) the signs they will see in the last days. His first remark deals with the destruction of the temple of God: "See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." (Mt. 24:1-2). The disciples then questioned Him as to when this would happen, what shall be the sign of His coming and of the end of the world (this is more accurately translated as "the end of the age")? God deals with His people in dispensations and ages.

     Jesus answered them that there would be many deceptions, even those claiming to be Christ (v. 4-5). We have seen this in our time with false messiahs/christs like Jim Jones and David Koresh and doomsday cults in opposition to scripture that deceive many people. There will be wars and threats of wars, involving kingdoms and ethnic groups. There would be famines, pestilences and earthquakes (v. 7). Are we heeding these signs as we see them take place in our generation? The generation of Noah and the impending flood did not pay attention to the prophetic sign of the building of the ark by a righteous man. Life went on as usual for them until it was too late (see also 2 Peter 2:5). No one knows the exact day or hour but the Father, Jesus said, but we do have the warnings contained in the signs, the messengers and even the Feasts that come at their appointed times. (see v. 36-39). The same was true with Sodom and Gomorrah which had the righteous witness and warning from Lot, which they did not heed, before their destruction came upon them (see 2 Peter 2:6-8). 

     In these latter days, Peter warned that the Church will be vulnerable to false teachers and false prophets, who teach lies to God's people because of covetousness for material gain. Not only do they teach lies, but they speak evil of the way of truth. Many will follow these false ways. Peter said that the judgment against them is sure. We have heard the hatred and mockery of Christianity, and the scriptures mocked and twisted for these purposes today.

     Peter wanted to stir up the Church's pure mind in a reminder against these things, telling them to rely upon the words spoken before to them by the prophets and apostles (see 2 Tim. 3:16-17), as well as warning them of the mockers who do not believe that the judgment of God will come, willfully forgetting that God judged the earth previously with flood waters. This time, however, Peter said that the judgment would not be by water but by fire: "But the heavens and earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (2 Pet. 3:1-8). Considering the pattern set by the days of creation, we are completing the sixth day (6,000 years), and we are about to enter the seventh day, the day of rest.

     We are required to preach the truth in love, including the things that God calls sin, even as scripture says that all have sinned. We are wrong if we do not say, "This is sin, an abomination, don't do it!" I am a sinner saved by grace. I am responsible to preach the same so that others may be saved also. (see 2 Tim. 4:1-4).

     Peter explained why this falsehood believed by some that the judgment will not come is wrong: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (v. 9). The Lord wants to see saving repentance for as many as will return to Him.

     After one of His great miracles, the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and demanded that He show them a sign from heaven. Jesus scolded them saying that they could look at the sky and predict the weather for the day, but they could not discern the signs that they were being given right before their eyes, meaning Himself and the works of the Father that He did. He asked: "...can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall be no sign given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas." (Mt. 16:1-3). The sign of Jonas referred to by Jesus was being in the belly of the fish, or death, for three days, and then being returned to life, which Jesus fulfilled.

     Even the foreign Maji, who became part of the Gospel of the birth of Jesus, saw the sign, a new star in the heavens, of the birth of a new King, and travelled far, bringing costly gifts, to pay honor to that King. God's own people had the words of the prophets given to them about the coming Messiah/Christ, but failed to acknowledge the sign given to them of the appointed time being at hand. Herod, however, understood that sign and sought to have the children of Bethlehem killed. The stars and planets of heaven are used by God as signs and appointed times as He promised in Gen. 1:14. Jesus even mentioned signs in the heavens as being part of the last days before His return in Matthew 24. This has nothing to do with astrology, which is an occultic twisting of God's provision, but it is another means by which God may provide signs for His people. Currently, during this fall Feast season, we are seeing very unusual events occurring in the heavens that are meant to be warning signs to us if we will heed them.

     God's desire is to be reconciled with man, and He made that promise from the beginning when He promised Eve that her seed, the Savior to be born, would crush the serpent's head. He made the promise before He created anything as the Hebrew language depicts the presence of our Aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega Savior as the very spoken Word of creation. This desire and plan for reconciliation is also found in the Day of Atonement Feast, Yom Kippur. Jesus became the atonement for all who would accept Him. Yet, during this Feast season of repentance and return (see also 2 Chron. 7:14), America is embroiled in politics instead. 

     The signs are all around us, if we will heed them.

     *Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 10/6/24 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on Dr. Stevenson's Facebook page. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook.