Christ’s 7 Ministry Titles and the Third Temple Prophecies
In our last blog post of March 2016, we noted the confusion in Israel concerning their calendar. Adherents to the traditional Rabbinical Calendar have added the 13th month of Adar 2, which celebrates Passover in April this month, while Biblical adherents of the Abib Barley found in Israel celebrated Passover last month on 3/23/16 coinciding with the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse. We also noted the significance of this Lunar Eclipse following in line with the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015, and how adherence to the Biblical Calendar dictates related to Abib Barley, provide four more Solar and Lunar Eclipses on Hebrew Feast and Holy days in 2016 added to the already eye-popping Blood Moon Tetrad documented over the last 2 years in this Blog. The structure of the O.T. Hebrew Calendar contains 3 sacred feasts, all of which commemorate the celebration of a note-worthy harvest. The first harvest was celebrated in Nisan during the Feast of Unleavened Bread when the Hebrews brought a sheaf of barley for the wave offering of the first-fruits of the barley harvest. This was the first day that Israel began counting toward Pentecost. The second harvest celebration was the wheat harvest at the Feast of Harvest, Pentecost fifty days hence.
The third harvest celebration was designated as the Feast of Tabernacles in the middle of the seventh month. This final harvest, including the harvest of grapes, was at the end of the agricultural year, before winter. Not only did these three major feasts celebrate the three times of harvest, they also celebrated three great events in the history of Israel. The first, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, celebrated the Exodus of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. The second, Pentecost was traditionally believed by Hebrews to mark the time when God first revealed the Law to Israel at Mount Sinai. The third feast, the Feast of Tabernacles was a seven-day feast commemorating God’s watchful care over Israel as they wandered in the wilderness forty years.1 [Levi. 23]
This period of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness showed not only God’s care for His chosen people during that time, but also God’s righteous judgment on Israel for their stiff-necked defiance. Each of these feasts also depicts a future event in Bible prophecy related to how these feasts are fulfilled in the ministry of Christ as Prophet, Priest and King. The feast of Unleavened Bread shows the resurrection of Christ as the first-fruits from the dead [I Cor. 15:20-23]. The wheat harvest of the Feast of Pentecost illustrates the giving of the gift of holy spirit on the Day of Pentecost, when the apostles first spoke in tongues. The Feast of Tabernacles shows the resurrection of the just and unjust, as the harvest at the end of he world.2
We also noted in our March 2016 Blog posts, how the Rabbinical Calendar still keyed the Purim Feast with the March 23rd Penumbral Lunar Eclipse, even though the other feast days of the Jubilee year of 5776/2016 do not align with these eclipses. Our summary on the comparison of the Solar and Lunar Eclipses in 2016 with those Solar and Lunar signs marking the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by the Romans in 70 AD, opened our eyes to the expectations of the coming Third Temple in Jerusalem prophesied by Daniel [9:27] and by the Apostle Paul [2 Thess. 2:3-4]. With the 2 previous Blood Moon Tetrads marking the reformation of the state of Israel in 1949-50 and the reclamation of Jerusalem by Israel in 1967-68, we can see God’s prophesied restoration of Israel which will yield the Third Temple in Jerusalem as the next logical step in this process. I have always been curious as to the means whereby Paul tells us the “man of lawlessness” will desecrate this Third Temple by declaring himself God. It helps to understand how this deception could occur if we view the import of the feasts of the Hebrew Calendar in light of the ministries of Jesus Christ, since the Anti-Christ will present a counterfeit of Christ who halts the Third Temple Sacrifices in the middle of the Tribulation period. [Dan. 9:27]
If we look at the period of Christ’s Ministry on Earth during his first Advent, we must first realize that the length of his ministry could not be three years because he had to fulfill every jot and tittle of the OT Law or else he could not have redeemed mankind, and we would still be un-saved. According to [Ex. 12:5] Jesus as the embodiment of the Passover Lamb [Jn. 1:29, 36] had to be “a lamb of the first year without spot or blemish,” so his ministry could not exceed 2 years at the maximum. The following chart from Jon Nessle’s Seminar on The Lord Jesus Christ, discloses the seven phases of Christ’s Ministry and their relation to the length of his ministry-just over a year. We have also added the correspondence of these seven phases of Christ’s ministry on earth to the Lord’s Feasts on the Hebrew Calendar.
The Seven Phases of Christ’s Ministry
Christ Titles Length Ministry Events-Dates
Jesus Christ-Righteous 40 days Baptism-Temptation
Jesus Christ-Evangelist 3 months Ministry Inception
Jesus Christ-Apostle 3 months Pentecost-Tishri 10
Jesus Christ-High Priest 6 months Tishri 10-Nisan 10
Jesus Christ our Passover 7 days Nisan 10-Resurrection
Jesus Christ-Firstborn 40 days Resurrection-Ascension
Jesus Christ-Ascended One 10 days Ascension-Pentecost
The events above illustrate the opening of the Christ Administration and capping off the OT Law with the Ministry of John the Baptist. In [Matt. 3:17] The Voice of God in an audible “mandate from heaven” identified Jesus as “His Beloved Son in whom He is well pleased.” This opened the ministry phase of Christ the Righteous at his baptism marking the next 40 days of his temptation. During the second phase of Christ’s ministry as the Evangelist, he calls the 12 Apostles and cleanses the Temple at Passover. John 4:1 tells us the “Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John” also applies to this second phase of his ministry.3 Christ the Apostle is seen in the Sivan 13th Sabbath when he proclaimed the “acceptable year of the Lord” [Isa. 61:1-2, Lk. 4:17-21]. Notice that this year is in the singular, meaning the entire length of his ministry not exceeding 2 years, is verified by Christ and Isaiah. Jesus Christ the High Priest is seen starting with Tishri 1 where he turns 30 years of age, becoming eligible for the Priesthood for the first time, prior to the Feast of Tabernacles. In this phase of his ministry Jesus began teaching his disciples about his coming sufferings and death, laying down his life as both the High Priest and the perfect Sacrifice. This phase was also marked by an audible mandate from heaven at the Mount of Transfiguration [Matt. 17:1-8]. Jesus Christ our Passover is seen in his 2 entries into Jerusalem, the 2nd of which marked the day that the Passover Lamb was selected by the priests of Israel, [Lk. 19:29-48]. The Apostle Paul also refers to these aspects of Christ’s ministry phases as the Passover [I Cor. 5:7], and as the first-born from the dead once Christ is Resurrected, [Col. 1:18]. With the Ascension of Christ leading to the Day of Pentecost, we witness the birthday of the Church of the body of Christ. This opens the Age of Grace in the book of Acts, with sounds from Heaven; [Acts 2:4] and the Apostle Peter’s sermon,
saving over 3000 new believers in their spiritual rebirth. Herein we still reside today, as we can see the end of the Age of Grace that will climax with the Return of Christ FOR his Saints [I Thess. 4:13-18].4
We can see how the Lord’s Feasts are all highlighted with major events and transitions in the 7 phases of Christ’s ministries, and we expect to see this pattern established as the Age of Grace is concluded with more Heavenly Voices and Sounds when Christ returns FOR his Saints, [I Thess. 4:16], opening the way for a Third Temple. These are the same Feasts of the Lord that have been highlighted by the Blood Moon Tetrads since Christ’s Ascension, culminating in the 2014-15 Blood Moon Tetrad. As we re-visit the context of the Solar and Lunar Eclipses of 2016, following on the heels of the Super Blood Moon of 9/28/15, on the Feast of Tabernacles, we note these very unique elements demanding our full attention on this Blood Moon with its following 8 aspects:
A. A Full Moon
B. A Super Moon
C. A Total Lunar Eclipse
D. Visible over Israel
E. At Feast of Tabernacles
F. At the end of Shemita Cycle
G. The last of the 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad
H. 7 days after the opening of the Jubilee Year
This Feast of Sukkot fell on the 15th day of the most sacred 7th month-Tishri, following Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, as the last of 3 required assemblies of men before the LORD; Passover, Pentecost, & Sukkot. Each Feast has required offerings; with Palms waived at Passover, Bread at Pentecost, and Lulavs or palm branches at Sukkot. It follows that, as Passover precedes Pentecost by fifty days (7×7+1), so the Jubilee followed this pattern in fifty years. [Levi. 25:8] relates the “seven Sabbaths of years” and the 50th year of the Jubilee, which fell on the Day of Atonement, or the tenth day of the holiest seventh month of Tishri. In the same way that liberty was proclaimed in the Jubilee, throughout all the land to all its inhabitants [Levi. 25:10], so Jesus set at liberty them that were bruised, while proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord at the opening of his ministry as an Apostle. This is interesting when we observe that there are 30 Jubilees that bring us from the Exodus to the opening of Christ’s ministry, when opening the scroll to Isa. 61:2, he certified the “acceptable year of the Lord” in a 7-fold prophecy, (Lk. 4:17-21).5 This fits neatly with the truth that in fulfilling the O.T. Law as the embodiment of the Passover lamb of the 1st year [Exod. 12:5), Jesus was in the first year of his manhood according to Hebrew reckoning, starting at thirty years old, on his birthday on Tishri 1 making him eligible for the priesthood. During this specific period of 70 weeks; [Dan. 9:24] decreed by God as the time to fulfill this Messianic redemption in his ministry to Israel, he was crucified, resurrected, and ascended, exploding the myth that his ministry lasted till he was thirty-three. This removes any supposed relation to the 32-33 AD Blood Moon Tetrad, put forward by some. Since Jesus was crucified 4 years earlier in the year 28 AD, there is no direct link between these aspects of Christ’s ministry and this 1st Blood Moon Tetrad following his sacrifice.
This Super Blood Moon fell on the Tabernacles Feast also activating a Week of Rejoicing, a 7-Day feast with the 8th Day as a corporate Assembly with Torah readings, known as the Hakhel; meaning “to assemble.” This festival at the start of the 8th year (the first of the new seven-year Shemittah cycle), on the second day of the Sukkot Feast, the 16th day of the New Year-marked a holy day where all the people were to gather both now and in the coming Third Temple for an inspirational message. The 8th day of this Solemn Assembly is also called Shemini Atzeret [Num. 29: 35] a Sabbath day distinctly set aside from the annual Sabbath of the Feast of Tabernacles. It is recognized as an “appointed time,” the day following Sukkot when Israel assembles. Attendance was required by all, similar to the gathering of Israel at Mt. Sinai when the Heavenly Father first gave His Holy Scripture-the 10 Commandments to the Man of God Moses to teach the people. [Levi. 23:32]
Historically, the Hakhel assembly was important in bringing Jews & Gentiles together, to assemble before the King of Israel, [Levi. 23:36]. Today there is no earthly King or practicing High Priest in Israel, but when the expected prophetic Third Temple is restored in Jerusalem the opening for someone to fill this void will exist, embodying the High Priest to lead these proceedings on a coming Feast of Tabernacles. This Super Blood Moon foreshadows the return of the actual High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ who will gather the spiritual bodyof his Churchtaking them to heaven. It can also mark the “man of sin” who will reveal himself, resulting from the removal of the obstaclethat prevents him from doing so now, the spiritual lightembodied in the membersof the Church of the Body of Christ currently on Earth, [2 Thess. 2:1-12]. It is key to realize that the Man of sin will counterfeit the officeof the High Priest in a Third Temple based on OT standards of the Law, that relates to the lack of the Jews recognition of Jesus as their Messiah, the Mystery that has blinded Israel for centuries. [Rom. 9:29-33, 11:7-10, 25-33]
The Hakhel festival during Tishri, and the Super Blood Moon of Sept. 2015 that also opened the 50-year Hebrew Jubilee on their calendar provides a very unique celestial configuration, the climax of the 2014-15 Blood Moon Tetrad, foreshadowing Jesus the King as he prepares to lead the corporate Church to the Heavenly assembly on Mount Zion to, and to reward the believers for their faithful works on earth at the Bema Seatof Christ. As judgment begins in the House of God, so the spiritual down-payment [Eph. 1:10-14, 4:30] that the believers shared in the New Birth, will be paid in full at the Bema, after the Gathering Together of the Body of Christ. To this august Assembly will he proclaim the Heavenly Shemittah; as a blessing of release to the Body from the slavery of the world, into the eternal freedom and abundance with the Almighty, followed by the release of the curse of the Seal Judgments upon Satan and the world under his thumb at that time. The breaking of the 7 Seals of Judgment by Christ the King, [Rev. 5:1-9] upon the earth’s evil inhabitants-and the Seed of the Serpent, will incur the Shemittah judgments as they befall the Nations under Lucifer and his minions. Once these judgments are complete, Jesus will return WITH his Saints to vanquish evil from the earth, and set up his Millennial Kingdom Reign. This will also be marked with another audible mandate from Heaven, and mighty Hallelujahs as the heavenly order is restored in Christ the Lord, [Rev. 19:1-2].
Christ Titles Hebrew Feast/Holy Days
Jesus Christ-Righteous Nisan 1/Feb. 16 -March 28th, 27 AD [John 1:29-33]
Jesus Christ-Evangelist Calls 12, Nisan/14-21/27 [Jn. 1:35-51]
Jesus Christ-Apostle Sivan 7-6/1/27-Pentecost, Sivan 13/Jesus-Apostle [Lk. 4:17-21]
Jesus Christ-High Priest Tishri 1-9/20/ 27 Tabernacle Feast, [Mk. 9:2-10]
Jesus Christ-Passover Nisan 8-4/22/28, [Mk. 11:1-11] [Jn. 12:28-30].
Jesus Christ-Firstborn Nisan 17-5/1/28 to 6/10/28 [Ps. 2:6-8, I Cor. 15:20-23]
Jesus Christ-Ascended Sivan 8-6/11 to 6/20/28. [Mk. 16:15-19].
The “BEMA” Seat of Rewards in Christ
In two of our recent March Blog posts, we referenced how Christ as the Prince of Peace, unifies the Jews and Gentiles removing the obstacle of the the OT Law between them, as he fulfilled it in the combined seven phases of his ministries above, [Eph. 2:3-6]. The Church birthed in Christ consists of this one ‘New Man,’ both Jew and Gentile. The foreshadowing of the Blood Super Moon is seen during the Feast of Tabernacles 2015, opening the 50-year Jubilee as potential for Christians and Jews to unify in the Messiah. Jesus in the office of the High Priest exceeds the Aaronic High Priest in every sense. More than ever Jesus is our sinless High Priest [Heb. 7:26] for both Jews and Gentiles, in an Everlasting Priesthood [Heb.7:24], in a Heavenly not earthly Temple, not made with hands, [Heb.8:1-5, 9:23-24, 10:9-14]. His Priesthood is of a better Covenant [Heb. 8:6, 10-11, 9:9-14, 10:15-18], and with Better Promises [Heb. 9:15, 26-28, 10:19-23].8 As the Messiah fulfilled the requirements of the Law, he ushered in this New and better Covenant with all of its eternal benefits for everyone who comes unto him. He is truly the universal Savior for All Mankind. Those realizing these Messianic realities in Christ, will partake in Christ’s Gathering, and not be deceived by the Anti-Christ, declaring himself God in the coming Third Temple of Jerusalem.
God’s people are no longer dependent upon the sacrifices of bulls and goats by a High Priest that could only enter the presence of God once a year, but would have continual access to the Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, the High Priest after the order of Melchisedek. As we have pointed out in other blog posts, the planet Jupiter, the planet leading the Magi to Jesus was known by the Hebrew name Sedeq, showing the link with the planet Jupiter and Melchisedek. The Jews looked upon the Messiah as the royal offspring of David,” the Sedeq Branch” [Jer. 23:5 Jehovah-Tsidkenu]. Also the word Sedeq is associated with the word Melek (King) that was combined forming Melchisedek, the Righteous King.6
Hebrews 7:11
If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
Heb 10:19 -20
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
As the redeemer and High Priest for all mankind, the ministry of Jesus Christ would include not only the restoration of man to the principles that governed the Paradise Administration before the serpent’s temptation of Eve, but much more. Christ’s redeeming work encompasses not only the sins of Adam and Eve, but also the many offenses of man since the fall of Adam. Thus we regain in Christ much more than we lost in Adam’s fall, resulting from his one sin. The death of the first Adam, the death of a sinless man, initiated the ruin of Paradise and the transfer of Adam’s dominion over the earth, to the serpent. Only a similar sacrifice would pay the legal debt of our salvation!
To redeem humanity, Jesus had to come to us, [I John 4:1-3] totally within the category of flesh to redeem those born into the same category, [Heb. 2:16-17, 4:15]. A “God-man” would not be tempted by the world of fleshly things as all humanity [Js. 1:13-15]. If Jesus was not a man of flesh as he called himself in his resurrected body, [Jn. 20:27] then he could not have been the perfect sacrifice required-the death of a sinless man, to redeem all men and we would remain unsaved! This is consummated in the final Paradise Administration/2nd Universe referred to in Revelation 21-22. We find this in the reference to Jesus Christ as the “no more curse” in Rev. 22:3, who healed the curse that was put upon man as a result Adam’s fall in Genesis 3:17.
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
Praise God for His Abundant Grace and Mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Footnotes
1. Jesus Christ our Passover, VP Wierwille, ppg. 407-408.
2. IBID. chart on p. 409
3. “Sound Out 84-A Harmony of the Gospels” American Christian Press 1984.
4. Seminar on The Lord Jesus Christ, Rev. Jon Nessle
5. IBID, Rev. Jon Nessle
6. Number in Scripture, E.W. Bullinger, p. 4.
7. The Star that Astonished the World, Earnest Martin p. 58
8. Seminar on The Lord Jesus Christ, Rev. Jon Nessle
