On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit, which is actually Christ Himself, was poured out on the members of Christ, His disciples, for the formation of the church.
The church was produced in Christ’s resurrection, but it was formed on the day of Pentecost with the outpouring of the Spirit.
The Feast of Pentecost was ordained by God in Lev. 23:15-22, and it was the feast of the fiftieth day, counting from the day after the Sabbath, the day on which the sheaf of the wave offering was brought to God, to the day of the seventh Sabbath.
The Feast of Firstfruits, the day on which the sheaf of Firstfruits was offered to God for His satisfaction, is a type of Christ’s resurrection, for in resurrection Christ was offered to God for His satisfaction, in the freshness of His resurrection.
Then, fifty days later, Christ as the consummated Spirit was poured out on the disciples praying in one accord in Jerusalem, and this was the formation of the church as the Body of Christ.
On the day of Pentecost, which is the fiftieth day from the day of Christ’s resurrection, the consummation of the Triune God was poured out upon the one hundred and twenty disciples as representatives of the Body of Christ.
The all-inclusive Christ passed through the process of incarnation, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension, and on the day of Pentecost He was an all-inclusive, life-giving, compound Spirit which was poured out.
This Spirit was not yet when Christ was on earth, before He died and was resurrected, for this Spirit was produced in the resurrection and ascension of Christ.
Hallelujah, the outpoured Spirit on the Body is the aggregate of the rich produce of the resurrected Christ, and we can enjoy this Spirit as the reality of Christ, the all-inclusive good land!
This Spirit was poured out at Pentecost on the Jewish part of the Body, and in the house of Cornelius on the Gentile part of the Body.
Now the all-inclusive, compound, life-giving Spirit has been poured out, and we as members of the Body can enjoy the baptism of the Holy Spirit by being in the Body and under the Head.
Whenever we go out to announce the gospel, we can simply exercise to be one spirit with the Lord and in oneness with the Body, and then claim the baptism of Spirit, and the consummated Spirit will cover us economically with power. Hallelujah!
The Spirit was Outpoured on the Day of Pentecost for the Formation of the Church as the Body of Christ
There is a distinction between the producing of the church (the birth of the church) and the formation of the church. The producing of the church was in the resurrection of Christ, for in His resurrection we all were regenerated by God to be the many sons of God and the many brothers of Christ (see 1 Pet. 1:3).
When the Lord resurrected He told Mary, Go to My brothers and tell them I ascend to My God and your God, my Father and your Father. In the resurrection of Christ the producing of the church began.
However, the formation of the church did not take place until Pentecost (see Acts 2:1-4). We emphasize a lot the matter of the producing of the church, which is the side of life, but we should not neglect the matter of the formation of the church.
In John 20:22 the Lord in the day of His resurrection came to His disciples and breathed into them saying, Receive the Holy Spirit. This was for the producing of the church in the way of life.
Then, fifty days later, the Lord Jesus was outpoured as the consummated Spirit on His believers, His disciples, for the formation of the church.
The church was brought forth organically on the day of Christ’s resurrection, and the church was formed when Christ as the Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost.
On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit, who is actually Christ Himself, was poured out upon the members of Christ, who were produced through His resurrection; in this way the church was formed (Acts 2:32-33).
Furthermore, the formation of the church was of two parts or two sections — the Jewish part and the Gentile part; these two parts of the church, which are represented by the saints in Jerusalem (ch. 2) and those in the house of Cornelius (ch. 10), are typified by the meal offering of two loaves of bread baked with leaven offered to God at the Feast of Pentecost (Lev. 23:16-17).
The formation of the church took place in two steps or stages, first it was the Jewish side of the Body and then the Gentile side of the Body that were baptised in the Spirit and were thus formed as the church.
It’s interesting to see from the record in Leviticus that two loaves were offered, baked with leaven, as a meal offering on the day of Pentecost. Usually the meal offering had no leaven, but in this case, the loaves were baked with leaven.
This signified that Christ at the stage of the firstfruits (the unleavened fine flour) has become the church as the Body of Christ in two sections at the stage of Pentecost (the two loaves — 1 Cor. 10:17), offered to God as the new meal offering for God’s satisfaction.
One of the sections is composed of the Jewish believers (Acts 2:1-4) and the other, of the Gentile believers (Acts 10:34-48). Both sections had sins (signified by the leaven) within them (cf. Acts 5:1-11; 6:1).
From the record in Acts and from our experience we can testify that in the genuine church there may still be some leaven. In Acts we see the situation with Ananias and Sapphira, and then later we see the problems in the distribution of food based on racial differences.
In resurrection Christ is the Firstfruits, and He became a meal offering. He was reproduced as the church, the corporate meal offering. In Christ there is no leaven, but in us there still is leaven.
But Hallelujah, we are being purified and produced to be a meal offering for God’s satisfaction!
Thank You God for regenerating us with Your divine life in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Hallelujah, the church was produced in the resurrection of Christ, when all the believers in Christ were regenerated to be the many sons of God and the many brothers of Christ, the many members of the Body of Christ. Thank You Lord for being outpoured as the consummated, life-giving, compound Spirit on the day of Pentecost on the members of Your Body for the formation of the church. Hallelujah, we are now a corporate meal offering, a genuine church, for God’s satisfaction and man’s supply and enjoyment! We praise You, Lord!
The Feast of Tabernacles signifies Israel’s full Enjoyment in the Millennium
When we come to the Feast of Tabernacles, the last feast, there are two main points of view: one is prophetic and the other is experiential.
From the prophetic point of view, this feast has a dispensational meaning; it will be experienced by the recovered Jews who will repent (according to Zech. 12), grieve, and mourn; they will come to know Christ as both the only begotten Son and the Firstborn Son, and they will deeply repent.
Then, as we see in Zech. 14, for one thousand years there will be a feast of tabernacles, and people from every tribe and nation will be required to go before Jehovah, the Lord of hosts, who is also the Son of Man reigning in Jerusalem. And if anyone doesn’t go, there will be no rain on their land.
The Feast of Tabernacles – the last feast – signifies Israel’s full enjoyment of the restored old creation in the millennium; this feast will usher in the new heaven and the new earth (see Lev. 23:33-43; Zech. 14:16-21; Rev. 21:1).
This feast signifies the coming millennium as a dispensational, joyful blessing for God’s redeemed people to enjoy with God for a full period of time in God’s old creation.
It will not happen in the new heaven and new earth, but in the restored old creation in the millennium, which will take place right after the age of the church is over. The seven days in Lev. 23:34 for the Feast of tabernacles shows that this feast is for a complete course of days, which will be a thousand years.
The matter of the interpretation of the Feast of Tabernacles is not a matter of the faith, so different believers have different views on this matter. We do not want to debate or make a division based on this, and we should not emphasize the interpretation that we understand from God’s word on this topic to the point of separating ourselves from other believers.
Rather, in this article we simply want to share our understanding of what the Bible means when it speaks of the Feast of Tabernacles; and if the reader doesn’t agree with it, we still want to remain one with the Lord and with one another, standing in the faith common to all believers.
The sequence of the feasts is very interesting: first there was the Feast of the Passover (typifying Christ’s death, see Matt. 26:2, 17-19, 26-28), then there was the Feast of Unleavened Bread (fulfilled in this age, as we feast on Christ), then the Feast of Firstfruits (typifying Christ’s resurrection), and the Feast of Pentecost (typifying His ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit).
Through these processes that the Lord went He has produced and formed the church. Now the Feast of Tabernacles is a type of the millennium, and during this feast every day for seven days there was an offering by fire presented to Jehovah.
This signifies the offering of Christ day after day as food to God for the satisfaction of both God and man. Hallelujah, in the millennium every day there will be an offering presented to Jehovah as a type of Christ as God’s food in our experiences, offered to God for His satisfaction so that we and God may enjoy mutual rest!
Lord, open our eyes to see the proper interpretation of Your word in the light of Your economy in the entire Bible. Bring us into the proper experience of the rich, all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land and of all the feasts. Lord, we take You as the reality of all the offerings, and we want to eat You, enjoy You, feast on You both personally and together with all the saints. Amen, Lord, You make us happy, You fill us, You satisfy us, and You are the reality. We want to offer You to the Father for His satisfaction so that we and God may enjoy mutual rest.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Numbers, msg. 40 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (2), week 9, The Feasts (2) – The Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Send us Thy power with its full sway, / As Thou didst send on Pentecost day; / Answer our prayer and make no delay, / Clothe us with pow’r we pray! (Hymns #274)
# Baptized in the Holy Spirit, / In the Spirit we’re immersed; / All the church is born of Spirit, / All religion is dispersed. / In the Spirit, in the Spirit— / Brothers, this is all we need. / Now the church must be in Spirit, / Not in teaching, form, or creed. (Hymns #1123)
# New man of new creation, / Born through her risen Lord, / Baptized in God the Spirit, / Made holy by His Word; / Christ is her life and content, / Himself her glorious Head; / She has ascended with Him / O’er all her foes to tread. (Hymns #824)
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