Contextualizing ‘Thus Saith the Lord’:: By Mark A. Becker

ourCOG August 24, 2024 4:32 pm Uncategorized 1

Introduction

In my own personal Bible study time, I have discovered the student of the Bible should be very cognizant when God speaks with an introductory statement, such as, “Thus saith the Lord…” or “The Lord said to…” and other Divinely spoken Words – particularly in the Tanakh (Old Testament). Oftentimes, these Divinely spoken introductory statements can be introducing a new topic or subdivision within an already established narrative, or an entirely different subject or theme is to be introduced altogether.

Of course, this is in no way to be thought of as a universal law, as often it is just a continuation of the narrative. Context, if properly understood, will help the Bible student determine whether this should be applied or not within any given section of Scripture.

I have had, on at least two occasions, this truth presented to me in unique and powerful ways, and I would like to share these two examples with the reader in an effort to illustrate what I am speaking of so they too can be on the lookout for similar situations that may arise in their own Bible study time.

Underlined Scripture passages are my own emphasis.

Example #1 – Ezekiel 39

The first time I really discovered this was in our study, Possibilities: The Ezekiel 39 Aftermath. Here is a portion of our introduction:

While there are some who believe, as my earthy mentor Dave Hunt did, that this battle could very well be the end-time battle known as Armageddon, this cannot be for the following reasons:

While there are many nations in this battle, all of the nations of the earth are not represented as they will be at Christ’s Second Coming. [i.e., Joel 3:2]
The Jews will not be present in Israel at Christ’s Second Coming – as they will have been forcibly exiled to the mountains after the Abomination of Desolation – but are present in the land of Israel and living in relative peace during this battle.
In the Gog/Magog war, the nations invading Israel will be repelled from their attack, while during Christ’s Second Coming, all the nations will already be waiting for Him stationed south/southeast of Jerusalem.

We then continued to examine the Gog/Magog invasion of Israel and its aftermath from Ezekiel 39:1-16 and discovered that there was a jump in time at verse 17 that was signified by the Lord’s introduction to a new topic by stating, “And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God.”

Here is what we observed regarding this jump in time:

“And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.

“Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

“Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God.” – Ezekiel 39:17-20

Here, from Ezekiel 39:17-29, the prophecy jumps forward seven-plus years into the future to the Lord’s Second Coming (as God already prophesied to the Gog/Magog invaders that they would be feasted on by the animals of prey in Ezekiel 39:4, and we just read of their burial in Ezekiel 39:11-16).

But how do we know this?

The first observational consideration in this particular prophecy is that there’s a pause after the burial of the Gog/Magog invaders – climaxing the end of the prophecy – and God proclaims a new Word through Ezekiel when He says, “And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God.” The second takeaway, as always and of most importance when studying Scripture, is context.

The context is made evident when one closely analyzes the last remaining verses of this chapter, which can only refer to the Second Coming, especially when it states in verse 25: “Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob.” Jacob, or Israel, will not be in captivity during and immediately following the Gog/Magog invasion but will be in captivity during the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer. 30:7) in the Great Tribulation (the last three and one-half years of the seven-year Tribulation).

Not only that, but God states: “Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.” – Ezekiel 39:29.

[The last reason can be found in The Mark of the Beasts]

It is because of this jump in prophetic time that some believe that the Gog/Magog invasion is Christ’s Second Coming.

For an even more detailed examination of this passage, please see Ezekiel 38 and 39: Nuances, under the subheading Ezekiel 39:17-29 – A New Prophecy.

This example of God, through Ezekiel, presenting a new prophecy toward the end of chapter 39 is why I stress so often in my studies Paul’s admonition to Timothy:

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing [cutting straight] the word of truth.” – 2 Timothy 2:15

Example #2 – Leviticus 23: The Feasts of the Lord

In Observations of the Feasts of the LORD, we discussed the Feast of First Fruits and the fact that when Jesus was crucified, the Feast of First Fruits fell within the Feasts of Passover/Unleavened Bread beautifully. We also discussed how the Feast of First Fruits was a dateless feast, totally dependent upon when the crops would be ripe and ready for the harvest to offer Israel’s First Fruits to the Lord.

Here is the passage we discussed regarding the Feast of First Fruits in Observations of the Feasts of the LORD:

“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.” – Leviticus 23:10-11

Virtually every Bible teacher assumes this “sabbath” is the first sabbath that follows the Passover, depending on what day of the week it is observed. The problem that I found, however, is that there is no link between the Feast of First Fruits and Passover/Unleavened Bread in the text.

In fact, the Feast of First Fruits is never mentioned in Leviticus 23:5-8, where Passover and Unleavened Bread are delineated, nor is Passover or the Feast of Unleavened Bread mentioned in Leviticus 23:10-14, where the Feast of First Fruits is defined.

[As noted above, and in Observations of the Feasts of the LORD, Passover/Unleavened Bread and First Fruits worked out perfectly together the year Christ offered Himself for our redemption, which is what we would expect as Christ fulfilled all three feasts when He went to the cross on Passover, died, was buried, and then resurrected as the First Fruits to God.]

According to Leviticus 23:10-11, the sole requirement for the Feast of First Fruits is entirely predicated on when Israel would “reap the harvest thereof” (when the harvest was obviously ready) and with Israel bringing “a sheaf of the firstfruits of [their] harvest unto the priest.”

Because Passover/Unleavened Bread inevitably moves back and forth on the lunar calendar (not the date of Nissan 14/15 itself, but the seasonal timing of the feasts), the chances that the harvest will be ripe the week of Passover/Unleavened Bread are totally dependent upon timing. In some instances, Passover/Unleavened Bread would fall out of favor with the timing of the harvest. This feast, being entirely subject to the first fruits being ripe for harvest, would be one logical reason why – along with the metaphorical allusions to future prophetic “first fruits,” such as the resurrection/rapture of the church (which is a “first fruits” of other coming resurrections) and the 144,000 Israeli Witnesses “being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb” (Revelation 14:4) – First Fruits is listed as an independent feast that is intrinsically linked to Pentecost in Leviticus 23, which we are going to break down for the reader.

So why do I bring all of this up, and why did I come to the conclusions that I did?

First, I read the text for what it says, irrespective of how Israel may or may not have celebrated – or celebrate now – the Feast of First Fruits in relation to Passover/Unleavened Bread and how Bible teachers and commentators generally understood these feasts.

For instance, I did not assume that the sabbath mentioned was the sabbath that would follow the Passover but took literally the command for Israel to bring in their first fruits when the harvest was ripe and ready for harvest, which, depending on many factors, could vary year-to-year. Contingent upon when Israel presented the sheaf to the Priest, when the harvest was ready with the first fruits to be harvested, the very next sabbath following Israel’s sheaf offering to the Priest would be the sabbath mentioned in the text.

Secondly – regarding our study’s theme – I observed the contextualized separation of the Feasts of the Lord in Leviticus 23. Though we did not mention this fact in Observations of the Feasts of the LORD, the seven Feasts of the Lord are presented in distinct sections, with each feast or related feasts being introduced by the statement, “And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying…”

Here are how the seven Feasts of the Lord are broken down by the divine feast or related feasts dividing statement, “And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying…”

Passover [Pesach] and Unleavened Bread [Chag Hamotzi] are related feasts and are listed together (along with the weekly Sabbath in the introduction) in Leviticus 23:1-8.

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

“These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

“In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s passover.

“And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.”

First Fruits [Bikkurim] and Pentecost [Shavuot] are related feasts and are listed together in Leviticus 23:9-18.

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

“And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord…”

Here is where First Fruits has a direct connection with Pentecost, with the former invariably leading to the latter. For once the ripened First Fruits were gathered and taken to the Priest and then offered to the LORD on “the morrow after the Sabbath,” the countdown to Pentecost would begin!

The Feast of Trumpets [Rosh Hashanah or Yom Ter’uah] is an independent feast and is listed in its section alone in Leviticus 23:23-25.

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.”

The Day of Atonement [Yom Ha-Kippurim] is an independent feast and is listed in its section alone in Leviticus 23:26-32.

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

“Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord…

“It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.”

Tabernacles [Sukkot] is an independent feast and is listed in its section alone in Leviticus 23:33-43.

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord…

“And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.

“And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

The seven Feasts of the Lord include three singular feasts and two separate pairs of feasts that are interconnected and related to each other, and they are introduced and separated by the divine feast or related feasts dividing statement, “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying…!”

Conclusion

I hope the reader has found that Contextualizing’ Thus Saith the Lord’ and its ramifications to be as fascinating to them as it has been for me when it comes to studying the Scriptures.

I think this to be a potentially valuable study tool for the Bible student in their personal studies going forward. I also suspect that the premise will not always be so pronounced as they were in our two examples, but I do expect to find some other gems along the way in my Bible study journey as I look for this divine statement and other like expressions to help me navigate any given Bible narrative.

If nothing else, paying close attention any time God personally speaks in Scripture is always of immense importance!

Because of these two observations we have examined regarding the premise of Contextualizing ‘Thus Saith the Lord’ and other like derivatives in Holy Writ, I am surely going to be on the lookout to see if there are any other important insights of relevant significance to be gleaned. If the reader, in their own Bible study time, notices any other passages of Scripture that illuminate the presentation in greater detail regarding our topic, please do not hesitate to reach out to me and share what you have found.

***

May we all keep Answering the Call of The Great Commission, and giving an answer to every man and woman who so desperately needs Jesus and asks us, “Why Am I Here and What Is It All About?”

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Love, grace, mercy, and shalom in Messiah Yeshua, and Maranatha!

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