THE MYSTERY OF GOD AND THE SPRING OF THE WATER OF LIFE

Outline

The Bible tells us that God who comes in the flesh is not only the mystery of God but also the spring of the water of life (Col 1:26–27; 2:2; Jn 4:14; 7:37–38). In this book, Christ Ahnsahnghong testified about the Spirit and the Bride, that is, the mystery of God in this age and the spring of the water of life. The truth of life disappeared since the Apostolic Age and no one could be saved. The Bible prophesied that Christ would come again in the flesh to restore all the truths of the New Covenant and save His people. Christ Ahnsahnghong made known these teachings of the Bible and mentioned the Bride who would appear with the Second Coming Christ. He also explained the feasts of the New Covenant and their prophetic meanings, the teachings that God’s people should understand through the past history, the Trinity, the soul, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, the seal of God, etc.

Preface

This book is about the last secrets of God, which have been hidden only for the last remnant, as it is written in Mal 4:5-6—the last chapter of the Old Testament: “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers,” and in Am 3:7: “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan (secret, KJV) to his servants the prophets.”

Now, the time has come and the everlasting kingdom of God is near. So, all the secrets sealed in the Bible (Isa 8:16; Da 12:4, 9–10; Rev 10:4) must be revealed (Rev 10:7; 22:10): What is the order of Melchizedek and what does the history of King David represent? Will Jesus come with fire to judge at once? Or will He appear in the flesh to testify about the truth and then come as the Judge on the last day? All of these considerations should not be taken lightly.

Whoever thirsts for the truth needs to study this book. This book is worthy to be read not only by the general believers but also by pastors and professors of theological schools. As it was at the time of John the Baptist and Jesus’ first coming, so will it be in the last days. The last truth will not come out from a big church, but it will be shouted in the wilderness. Whoever reads this book with a humble mind will understand it.

Now is the time of the end to gather the elect from all sides. Whoever thirsts for the truth, please study this book. If you cannot understand it fully, visit us without hesitation. Face-to-face study will lead you to a better understanding.

As you see in the contents, these are the secrets of God, which you could have never learned in other churches or theological schools. Whoever studies this book will understand it completely. And whoever wants to do the will of God will acknowledge this book as the last notice from God (Jn 7:17). Please study this book seriously and visit us.

CONTENTS

• Chapter 1 Unsealing the Secret of the Seven Thunders
• Chapter 2 The Seven Feasts in Three Times
• Chapter 3 The Tree of Life and the Ten Commandments
• Chapter 4 Moses and Jesus
• Chapter 5 The Children of Promise and the Remnant
• Chapter 6 About the 144,000
• Chapter 7 The Last Plagues and Judgment
• Chapter 8 The Mystery of the Passover
• Chapter 9 The History of the Past Is a Shadow of the Things to Come
• Chapter 10 The Mystery of God
• Chapter 11 About Jesus
• Chapter 12 About the Trinity
• Chapter 13 About the Holy Spirit
• Chapter 14 Jesus’ First Coming and His Second Coming
• Chapter 15 The Son of Man Will Come in a Cloud
• Chapter 16 The Appearance of False Christs
• Chapter 17 The Order of Melchizedek
• Chapter 18 Meeting God in Zion
• Chapter 19 Christ Who Is to Come in Secret, and King David
• Chapter 20 God Dwells in the City of Zion in the Flesh
• Chapter 21 The Ten Commandments and the Letter
• Chapter 22 Why Did God Put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden?
• Chapter 23 The Sabbath Day and the Sabbath of a Thousand Years
• Chapter 24 The Complete and the Incomplete
• Chapter 25 Where Does the Human Soul Come From?
• Chapter 26 The Soul Made of God’s Breath of Life
• Chapter 27 Those Who Insist That There Is No Soul
• Chapter 28 The Man of the Earth and the Man of Heaven
• Chapter 29 Why Did God Allow Us to Sin in the Angelic World?
• Chapter 30 The Old Covenant Has Been Changed to the New Covenant
• Chapter 31 The Regulations of the New Covenant
• Chapter 32 The Passover and the Last Supper
• Chapter 33 God’s Sealing Work
• Chapter 34 The Prophecy About the Holy Spirit of the Latter Rain
• Chapter 35 The Spring of the Water of Life

Chapter 1 Unsealing the Secret of the Seven Thunders

Rev 10:4 『And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”』

Then, will what the seven thunders said remain sealed forever or will there be a time when it will be unsealed? There can be no word which is meaningless in the Bible. The words, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said,” imply that there will be a time when it will be opened. The 7th verse of the same chapter tells us that it will be unsealed. As it is written:

Rev 10:7 『But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.』

The mystery is the gospel of the new covenant which was announced to the apostles and the prophets of the early Church. After the Apostolic Age, this new covenant was trampled by Satan during the Dark Ages and has been sealed up until today. According to the words, “I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly,” the mystery of God is being accomplished without fail in these last days. As it is written:

Rev 22:10 『Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.”』

Isa 60:22 『“The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly.”』

“Thunder” is recorded in many places of the Bible. To those who could not hear the voice, it was just heard as thunder. As it is written:

Jn 12:28-30 『“Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine.”』

Especially, the Apostle John was given an ear to hear the voice of God directly. It is the Apostle John who wrote the Book of John. When the people just heard the sound of thunder, John correctly heard the voice of God, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again,” and wrote it down in the Book of John. So, John could hear what the seven thunders said and was about to write, but God told him to seal up the things the seven thunders uttered and so he didn’t write it down, but just wrote that it had thundered.

Then, what do the seven thunders represent? No one has been able to understand this mystery till now, because its due time has not yet come. Now is the time of the end when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet. Whoever studies the following interpretation will understand it clearly.

In regard to this matter, first we need to study the number 7 and then thunder. The number 7 means “perfection.” So, if we replace seven with “perfection,” we can say, “The seven thunders are the perfect thunders.”

Then, where did the perfect thunders speak? They spoke in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, not just in front of one or two people. In 1498 B.C., when God declared the Ten Commandments and the words of the covenant on Mount Sinai, out of the fire, He did so with the sound of thunder. As it is written:

Ex 20:18-19 『When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”』

At that time, Moses was able to understand the thunder-like voice of God, but the people couldn’t; they only heard the sound of the seven thunders. Moses, who understood what the seven thunders had said, declared it to the people. As it is written:

Dt 5:5 『At that time I stood between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.』

Every verse in the Bible has its mate; we are to interpret the Bible by the Bible.

Isa 34:16 『Look in the scroll of the LORD and read: None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together.』

A mate of the phrase “seal up” is found in the following verse:

Isa 8:16 『Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples.』

Since it is written in Rev 10:4, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down,” and in Isa 8:16, “Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples,” what the seven thunders said must be a certain part of the law. Among the law, it is only the seven feasts in three times that have been sealed until now. Through these seven feasts in three times—the secret of the seven thunders, we come to know the mystery of the heavenly sanctuary and are able to look into the den of the devil. We will also find the treasure hidden for ages for the chosen people and a prophecy about what is to happen to the church.

In ancient times, King Josiah and King Hezekiah worshiped idols when they didn’t know about the feasts, but when they realized the feasts and kept them, they destroyed all the idols completely (2 Ki 23:21-25; 2 Ch 30:1-27; 2 Ch 31:1).

Some ask, “Why has God complicated those things which the seven thunders uttered, by sealing them up?” This can be thought of in various ways. Judging from the words of the Bible, it’s because God wanted to give what is sealed only to the chosen people as a special gift. Jesus said:

Mt 13:10-11 『The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.”』

God sealed up what the seven thunders spoke in order to give it to His people so that they could be saved in case of an emergency in the last days. As it is written:

Da 12:4 『“But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”』 In the King James Version, it is written: 『But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.』

Da 12:9-10 『He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.”』

The Bible says, “None of the wicked will understand.” Who are the wicked? We can find the answer in the Bible. As it is written:

Ne 13:17 『I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day?”』

The Bible says that desecrating the Sabbath day is a wicked thing. The prophet Isaiah states that the wisdom of the wise will perish and the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish if they keep the rules of men.

Isa 29:13-14 『The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”』 But on the other hand, the Bible also says:

Rev 14:12 『This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.』

The Apostle Paul wrote about those who were given wisdom as follows:

Eph 1:7-9 『In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will . . .』

Da 12:10 『. . . None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.』

As stated above, those who have redemption through the blood of the Passover Lamb of the new covenant are abundant in all wisdom and understanding, that they can know all the mysteries of God.

However, God makes His mysteries known to the chosen prophet first, and then through him He makes them known to you who have received the truth. As it is written:

Am 3:7 『Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.』

Every mystery of God has its own time. The last secret of what the seven thunders said, too, will be unsealed by an appointed man at its appointed time. For if it were not sealed up, the last work of God would be at the risk of disruption.

God sealed up what the seven thunders said for the same reason that He made Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon forget his dream. If the king had not forgotten his dream, all the magicians, sorcerers and astrologers of Babylon would have falsely interpreted it. The king’s dream concerned the important matter that God’s people would possess the everlasting kingdom at the end of the age. If the dream had been misinterpreted, what would have become of it? For this reason, God made the king forget his dream and entrusted Daniel with its correct interpretation.

Da 2:9 『“If you do not tell me the dream, there is just one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.”』

This dream was related to a matter of such a serious concern that not only the magicians, sorcerers and astrologers in Babylon but even Daniel and his three friends—the people of God—should be put to death unless they made it known to the king and correctly interpreted it. So God caused the king to forget his dream and allowed only Daniel to know the dream and let only his interpretation be acknowledged as correct. Likewise, what the seven thunders said is a great truth which decides the fate of the church. Unless it is opened, all the magicians in Babylon—false churches—and even the souls of God’s people will all be destroyed. So God sealed up what the seven thunders said and allowed only an appointed man to open it so that those who would receive the truth might have confidence in the truth. If God had not sealed up what the seven thunders spoke, all the false teachers would have misinterpreted it and thereby ruined the will of God. God sealed up what the seven thunders spoke because it is the solemn truth concerning the destiny of the last Church. Then, who will break the seals and open up what the seven thunders said? The Apostle John wrote:

Rev 5:1-6 『Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.』

As it is written, “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain,” the Lamb to come secretly in the name of David in the last days is to break the seven seals and open what the seven thunders said. The Bible prophesies that the unsealing of what the seven thunders said will occur within one generation in the last days. So it cannot occur in the churches that were built 100 or 200 years ago. For it is written:

Mt 24:31-34 『“And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”』

Even if a member of a church understands the mystery of the seven thunders and testifies to it, his church will not accept it. That is because every church is under the control of its own tradition.

Chapter 2 The Seven Feasts in Three Times

In the law of Moses, there are seven feasts grouped into three times a year: In Exodus there are the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest and the Feast of Ingathering (Ex 23:14-17; 34:18-23), and in Deuteronomy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles (Dt 16:16-17), and in 2 Chronicles the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles (2 Ch 8:13).

Then, why are the names of the feasts in three times different respectively? Sometimes one feast has two or three different names, so that it may show its meaning properly. Even though a feast is called by another name, the two are not different but the same. For example, the Feast of Harvest and the Feast of Weeks are the same feast, and the Feast of Ingathering and the Feast of Tabernacles are the same feast of the seventh month. Even though they are called the feasts in three times, they are not three but seven. These seven feasts have more than fifteen names including their derived names. Also, there are the Feast of Purim and the Feast of Dedication that do not belong to the law of Moses (Est 9:21, 31; Jn 10:22).

The original names of the seven feasts are as follows: the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Day of Firstfruits, the Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. These are grouped into three times:

The 1st time: the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
The 2nd time: the Day of Firstfruits and the Pentecost
The 3rd time: the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles

These seven feasts are sometimes called by other names. For example, the Feast of Unleavened Bread is called a feast lasting seven days (Eze 45:21), the Day of Firstfruits is called the feast of the wave offering (Lev 23:11; Ex 23:15-16; Ex 34:22), and the Feast of Tabernacles is called the Feast of Booths (Ezr 3:4-6; Jn 7:2, NASB). The seven feasts are called by various names, and all their names are as follows: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Passover, a feast lasting seven days, the Feast of Harvest, the Day of Firstfruits, the feast of the wave offering, the Feast of Weeks, the Pentecost, the Feast of Ingathering, the feast of harvest, the feast of the seventh month, the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Trumpets, and the Day of Atonement (Ne 8:2, 14; Ex 23:15-17; 34:18-22; Lev 23:10-16, 39-41; Dt 16:9-10).

The Feasts and Their Prophecies

The LORD established the seven feasts in three times through the works of Moses, which would be fulfilled through Jesus from the Cross until His coming. These seven feasts are grouped into three times.

The first time, the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread start simultaneously; the people commemorated these days every year, eating unleavened bread for seven days from the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month of the sacred year to the evening of the twenty-first day of the same month (Ex 12:18). The LORD commanded the Israelites to keep the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for the generations to come, so that they might commemorate God’s power and remember the suffering they underwent until they crossed the Red Sea after leaving Egypt on the Passover night (Ex 13:7-8). During this feast the LORD had them use the bitter herbs and unleavened bread, that they might remember their suffering. This unleavened bread was called the bread of affliction (Dt 16:3; Ex 12:17-18; Nu 9:11; Lev 23:5-6; 2 Ch 35:17; Mk 14:12).

This feast represents Jesus’ suffering which He underwent from the Passover night until His death in the body on the cross. The Israelites’ going into the Red Sea represents Jesus’ going into the tomb, and their landing from the sea His resurrection. Its meaning is seen in baptism that we undergo now (1 Co 10:1-2; 1 Pe 3:21).

The second time, the Feast of Harvest begins; the Israelites brought a sheaf of the first grain to the priest as a wave offering on the day after the first Sabbath (on Sunday) following the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and then they presented an offering of new grain on the Day of Pentecost, the day after the seventh following Sabbath, the fiftieth day after they presented the wave offering (Lev 23:10-16; Ex 34:22; Nu 28:26; Dt 16:9-10; Ac 2:1). It took a total of fifty days from the twenty-second day of the first month when the Israelites passed through the Red Sea after the Exodus, up to the eleventh day of the third month when Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments (Ex 19:16-25; 24:1-18). God appointed the Feast of Harvest, so that they might remember these days and commemorate them for the generations to come (Ex 14:29-31; 19:1-2; 24:12-16). The prophecy of this feast was fulfilled by Jesus when He was resurrected and entered the Most Holy Place in heaven to pour out the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day after the Resurrection. Moses went up Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments, which represented that Jesus would enter the Most Holy Place in heaven and receive the Holy Spirit and pour it out on His disciples (Ac 2:1-4; Heb 9:11-12).

Moses camped in front of Mount Sinai and went up to the mountain before God on the first day of the third month of the sacred year, the fortieth day after his landing from the Red Sea on the twenty-second day of the first month. This event indicated that Jesus would go up to heaven on the fortieth day after His resurrection (Ex 19:1-7; Ac 1:3-9). In the Good News Bible it is written, “the first day of the third month” (Ex 19:1). Thus, the works of Moses on Mount Sinai show those of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary.

The third time, the autumn harvest feast begins. This feast is called the feast of the seventh month (Ne 8:13-14). On the first day of the seventh month of the sacred year, the people prepared for the Day of Atonement by blowing their trumpets loudly. On the tenth day of the same month, the high priest offered to the LORD the blood of a bull and of a goat to make atonement for himself and for the people; once a year he entered the Most Holy Place and burned incense. And from the fifteenth day of the seventh month they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days; they went out to the hill and brought some olive and palm branches to make booths and spread them on the roof of their houses or in the court of the house of God, and dwelt in the booths to commemorate the tabernacle built through Moses, joyfully helping one another (Dt 16:11-15; Lev 23:39-43; Ne 8:9-18).

This feast was appointed according to Moses’ works as follows: Moses went up Mount Sinai before the LORD to receive the Ten Commandments on the eleventh day of the third month (Ex 24:15-18). While he stayed there forty days and nights, the people made an idol in the form of a golden calf and worshiped it. When Moses came down from the mountain after receiving the Ten Commandments on the twenty-first day of the fourth month, he saw the people dancing and eating around the golden calf. Then he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. This event brought a great disaster upon them, and about three thousand of them died (Ex 32:1-28). After that, they put all things in order and renewed their minds, and took off all their ornaments. And then Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp some distance away, and he went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp and worshiped the LORD (Ex 33:1-11). Owing to Moses’ earnest pleading, the LORD showed His grace again to the Israelites and ordered him to come up to the mountain with two tablets of stone like the first ones (Ex 33:12-17).

The Day When Moses Received the Ten Commandments

On the first day of the sixth month, Moses went up Mount Sinai with a new set of tablets like the ones previously broken. While he stayed there forty days and nights without eating or drinking, the LORD wrote again the Ten Commandments on the tablets of stone. On the tenth day of the seventh month, Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments, and declared to the people all the commands of the LORD and the matter of building the tabernacle. From the fifteenth day of the seventh month, those who were willing brought offerings such as gold, silver, fine linen, skins and so on, as materials for the making of the tabernacle. Their freewill offerings were more than enough for the making of the tabernacle (Ex 34:4-35; 36:5-7). For seven days, they made every effort to provide materials for the building of the tabernacle. According to the works of Moses, the LORD established the feasts so that the people would remember all these things for the generations to come: He appointed the day, on which Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, as the Day of Atonement; He appointed the day when the people began to bring their freewill offerings for the tabernacle as the Feast of Tabernacles, so that they might commemorate the work of making the tabernacle by keeping it holy for seven days.

In preparation for the Day of Atonement, the LORD appointed the first day of the seventh month as the Feast of Trumpets. The LORD chose the day on which Moses went up Mount Sinai for the first time to receive the Ten Commandments, and appointed it as the Pentecost; for He had already declared the Ten Commandments with His voice before Moses went up the mountain to receive them (Ex 20:1-19; 24:15-18). And He chose the day on which Moses received the Ten Commandments a second time after forty days of fasting on the mountain, and appointed it as the Day of Atonement for the forgiveness of the people’s sins.

The Feast of Tabernacles and Its Prophecy

Every feast is a shadow of the things to come. Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and gave them to the people. This event showed that Jesus would later receive the Holy Spirit and pour it out on the apostles by entering the Most Holy Place in heaven (Ac 2:32-33).

However, as Moses broke the first two tablets of the Ten Commandments into pieces because his people committed the sin of idolatry by making a golden calf and worshiping it, so the Holy Spirit, which Jesus poured out on the apostles on the Day of Pentecost when He entered the Most Holy Place in heaven for the first time, was withdrawn because the church became corrupt and worshiped the sun god. Only a narrow streak of light has remained for Christ. As it is written: “. . . David my servant may always have a lamp before me . . .” (1 Ki 11:36). God spoke these words when the kingdom was split into two nations due to the sins of Solomon, the son of David (1 Ki 11:1-13).

This was a prophecy about what would be fulfilled after the Apostolic Age. The church was severely trampled and persecuted by Satan for a long time. Moses went up Mount Sinai a second time to receive the Ten Commandments. This event showed that Jesus would enter the Most Holy Place in the heavenly sanctuary a second time for the gospel work of the last days, on October 22, 1844, the Day of Atonement—the tenth day of the seventh month in the sacred calendar.

The seven feasts in three times contain infinite truths, which show what should be fulfilled from Moses to the end of the age. God has revealed His power through the feasts in three times, which represent the Age of the Father, the Age of the Son and the Age of the Holy Spirit.

The first is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which corresponds to the Age of the Father: The LORD Himself delivered the natural Israelites from Egypt.

The second is the Feast of Harvest, which represents the Age of the Son: Jesus was raised from the dead as the firstfruits of those who had fallen asleep (1 Co 15:20), went up to heaven, entered the Most Holy Place in the heavenly sanctuary, poured out the Holy Spirit of the former rain and gathered all the wheat in the Age of the Early Church.

The third is the Feast of Tabernacles, which refers to the Age of the Holy Spirit: This feast indicates the last harvest time of autumn crops when all the wheat of the world is gathered and brought into the heavenly barn.

Until now all the prophecies of the feasts have been fulfilled except one—the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast represents that there will be a movement for Jesus’ coming after the appointed time of His coming is proclaimed. The last fulfillment of the prophecy of the Feast of Tabernacles, which has been observed from ancient times, is the last movement for Jesus’ coming.

The Feasts and the Cross

Now, what we must especially know is what Jesus is doing in the heavenly sanctuary and what age this is. God prepared the earthly sanctuary through Moses, so that we might see everything of the heavenly sanctuary by studying the earthly one. When Moses was about to build the tabernacle, he was instructed to build it according to the pattern of the heavenly sanctuary shown to him, in which Jesus would later do His ministry. As it is written:

Heb 8:1-5 『The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”』

Therefore, what God showed Moses in those days was the heavenly sanctuary that would be set up by Jesus in the New Testament times. By studying the earthly sanctuary, we can find an important truth concerning the heavenly sanctuary and the ministry Jesus is doing there for the redemption of mankind. The earthly tabernacle is a model, through which we can imagine the heavenly one where Christ renders a service to God. Without studying the sanctuary, we cannot realize God’s administration of redemption; without understanding God’s administration of redemption, we cannot know about salvation. The sacrifice of the letter, which had been offered according to the seven feasts in three times, was changed into a spiritual and truthful worship through the Cross (Heb 7:12; 8:3; 1 Co 5:7-8; Jn 4:24).

How Many Kinds of Sacrifices Did Jesus Fulfill?

The Cross fulfilled all the feasts at once. Jesus’ precious blood fulfilled everything: the blood of the Passover lamb, the blood of a bull which was a sin offering for the priests, and the blood of a male goat which was a sin offering for the people. Thus, Christ became an eternal sin offering (Heb 13:10-12; Ro 3:25). Jesus’ suffering and death in the body on the cross fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread on which the natural Israelites left Egypt, the land of sin. His resurrection as the firstfruits of the wheat harvest on the Day of Firstfruits fulfilled the wave offering. By entering the Most Holy Place in heaven on the first Pentecost after His resurrection, Jesus received the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured it out upon the apostles (cf. Heb 9:11-12, 24; 6:19-20; Ac 2:33). And by entering the Most Holy Place in heaven a second time on October 22, 1844, the tenth day of the seventh month in the sacred calendar, He fulfilled the Day of Atonement. So, Jesus’ crucifixion is an eternal symbol of the new covenant, which should be commemorated until the last day (1 Co 11:26; Isa 33:20; Zep 3:18).

In the law of Moses, the LORD commanded the people to remember and keep all these feasts as everlasting ordinances throughout the generations (Ex 12:14, 24; Lev 23:21; Dt 16:3). Whoever participates in each feast will come to understand its truth: He who keeps the Passover holy will know the truth of the Passover, and he who keeps the Day of Firstfruits and the Pentecost holy will realize the truth of them. The seven feasts in three times under the law of Moses were changed into God’s mighty days fulfilled through the Cross. Therefore, as the ancient Israelites were given physical blessings by keeping all the feasts holy (cf. Ex 20:24; Zep 3:18-20; Ezr 6:19-22; Mal 2:4-9), so we are now given spiritual blessings by celebrating God’s mighty days fulfilled through the Cross.

Where we worship now is the heavenly sanctuary. In this sanctuary, our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit through Jesus’ blood of the new covenant written on our hearts (cf. Heb 12:18-24; 8:6-10; 2 Co 3:3). Wherever the covenant is observed is God’s temple.

Chapter 3 The Tree of Life and the Ten Commandments

After God created the heavens and the earth, He put the tree of life in the Garden of Eden and allowed the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, to eat from it and live forever. However, Adam and Eve sinned, and God drove them out of the Garden of Eden and placed two cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. As it is written:

Ge 3:22-24 『And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.』

If a sinner stretched out his hand and touched the tree of life, he would be put to death by the flaming sword. Since Adam sinned, he lost the right to the tree of life and lamented over it, as Paul stated: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Ro 7:24). Then God showed him the truth from a distance, which was the way to eat from the tree of life again through Christ’s precious blood shed on the cross (Heb 11:4, 13). He showed it to Cain and Abel; Cain did not accept the way of truth and offered the products of the soil according to his own opinion, but Abel accepted it with a heart of obedience and sacrificed a lamb with its blood symbolizing the precious blood of Christ (Ge 4:1-4).

This sacrifice was handed down until the time of Moses (Ge 8:20-22; 12:7; 15:9). In the time of Moses, God completely established and codified His laws and regulations; He established the seven feasts in three times through Moses, which testified to Christ who was to come later (Heb 3:5). When Moses built the earthly tabernacle, he made it according to the pattern of the heavenly one where Jesus would carry out His ministry later. The tabernacle God showed Moses through revelation was not one of those days, but the true tabernacle which Jesus would set up through the Cross later. God ordered him to build the earthly tabernacle according to the pattern which was shown to him (cf. Heb 8:2, 5; 9:11-12, 24; 10:1).

The Tree of Life and Cherubim

In the earthly sanctuary there was the Most Holy Place behind the second curtain, and inside the Most Holy Place there was the ark of the covenant with the cherubim at both ends of the cover. As it is written:

Ex 25:18-21 『“And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you.”』

Then, why did God make two cherubim at the two ends of the mercy seat on top of the ark? It’s because the tree of life leading to eternal life was in the ark. In other words, the Ten Commandments were given instead of the tree of life from which Adam and Eve had eaten. So Jesus said: “If you want to enter life, obey the commandments” (Mt 19:16-17). If anyone eats from the tree of life in heaven, he can live forever. But men are not allowed to eat from the tree of life, which was lost on account of sin, until the perishable body is changed into the imperishable. For this reason, God gave them the Ten Commandments instead of the tree of life. However, even the Ten Commandments couldn’t be given to a body of sin; the people were allowed to receive them after being purified with the blood of the sacrifice of the sin offering. When a sinner went near the ark or touched it with unclean hands, he was put to death (cf. Lev 10:1-2; Nu 18:3; 1 Sa 6:19; 2 Sa 6:6-7). It’s because the two cherubim guarded the ark with a flaming sword, just as they guarded the tree of life in heaven with a flaming sword. The guarding of the tree of life in heaven represented the guarding of the ark in the true tabernacle which would be built through the precious blood of Christ (Ge 3:22-24; Ex 25:16-22, 40). As it is written:

Rev 11:19 『Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant.』

Even the high priest was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place and burn incense only after being purified with the blood of the sin offering (Lev 16:1-34; Heb 9:18-28).

All these things are a shadow of the things to come. The typical ceremony, which had been coming down from Moses, symbolized the precious blood of Christ. So we are not purified with the blood of animals, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Since Jesus shed His precious blood on the cross for the wages of all mankind’s sins, only through His blood can we enter the Most Holy Place and receive the Ten Commandments [the tree of life] leading to eternal life (cf. Heb 10:19-20; 6:19-20; Ro 3:22-25; 8:3-4). Though a man is said to be righteous in this world, unless he is purified with the precious blood of Christ, he can never enter eternal life (cf. Ac 4:12; Jn 6:48-57; Heb 10:19-20).

We shall fulfill the meaning of the Ten Commandments by keeping all the feasts symbolizing the precious blood of Christ. No one can be purified without the feasts. Both in the Old Testament times and in the New Testament times people can be purified with the precious blood of Christ through the feasts. Therefore God said, “I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them” (Eze 20:11; 18:9; Lev 18:4, 5).

The ceremony held in the earthly sanctuary is to be done in the heavenly sanctuary through Christ; everything performed in the earthly sanctuary as a shadow will be conducted in the heavenly sanctuary. If the feasts had been abolished, Jesus would not have done His ministry as the high priest (Heb 8:3; Isa 33:20).

Some say that the feasts have nothing to do with the Ten Commandments. Such people are those who do not understand God’s administration of redemption. Actually, the sanctuary was built because the Ten Commandments existed, and the feasts were required because the sanctuary was built. God’s people must keep His laws and statutes in all His appointed feasts given through Moses, as the first commandment of God.

If we do not keep the feasts of the LORD, we come to worship other gods, unaware of what gods we worship among the many gods of this world. In ancient times, Jeroboam king of Israel made golden calves when he intended to prohibit his people from keeping the feasts of God (1 Ki 12:25-33). On the contrary, King Hezekiah and King Josiah destroyed all the idols, the altars and the mediums when they came to realize the feasts of the LORD and kept them (2 Ch 30:1-5; 31:1-2; 2 Ki 23:1-4, 21-24). Even King Josiah worshiped altars and idols built by his grandfather, Manasseh, before he came to understand the feasts of the LORD. Whoever does not realize the true will of God comes to worship idols.