ment on the day of Pentecost, fifty days after our Lord’s resurrection, the day on which the Church was bom. The indefinite period of time, between the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Feast of Trumpets, is undoubtedly the present Church Age, the Age of the Holy Spirit. Two observations are here suggested, namely, that God is not now deal ing with Israel and that there is a day still future, sometime after the close of the present Church Age, when the trumpet will sound for the re gathering of Israel. Now is it mere chance that, since Christ came to His own and His own rejected Him (John 1 :11), the temple has been destroyed and the Jewish people have been scattered into all parts of the earth? The past nineteen hundred years have been for the Jews a worse bondage than that of Egypt. The many pogroms of the past which led to Hitler’s latest purge and persecution of the Jews are a prophesied event (Deut. 28:64-67). The Jews’ present suspension is no mere chance or acciden tal happening. It is a divinely-executed punitive and corrective measure. God had said, “ For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether un punished” (Jer. 30:11). This verse suggests two things, namely, God is punishing His people for their willful disobedi ence, and that He will by no means permit their complete and final disaster. Israel’s present rejec tion is but a temporary one. Our Lord Jesus Christ referred to Israel’s temporary rejection and future restoration when He said, “ 0 Jerusalem, Jerusa lem, 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 deso late. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me hence forth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 23:37-39). Their rejection shall continue “ till” He comes again and they shall say, “Blessed is He that cometh.” The Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, followed up our Lord’s teaching on Israel’s present rejection and prospective restoration, when he wrote, “ . . . Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom. 11:25). The present blindness is only “ in part,” that is, not all Jews individually are cut off from any possibility of being saved during the present parenthetical period of God’s dealings with Israel as a nation. We saw in our preceding study of the Feast of Pentecost how that the individual Jew as well as the individual Gentile has the same privi lege and possibility of being saved during the Church Age. When Paul adds the words, “And so THE KING'S BUSINESS
Our first observation is the fact that between the Feasts of Pentecost and Trumpets there is an interval of an indefinite period of time. Pentecost was observed in the early part of the third month with no convocations again until the first day of the seventh month. Of the intervals between Feasts, this one is the longest. As to the primary interpre tation of these Feasts to Israel, this period be-' tween Pentecost and Trumpets may be looked upon as parenthetical in Israel’s history. The second observation, already mentioned in the first, is the fact that this period o f time be tween Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets was of indeterminate length each year. The reason is not difficult to see. The first Feast (Passover) always came on the fourteenth day of the first month (Lev. 23:5), and this date, of course, could fall on any day of the week. The third Feast (Firstfruits) was celebrated the day after the sabbath which followed the Passover (Lev. 23:11). If the fourteenth day of the month were to fall on Friday, the wave- sheaf would be offered on Sunday the sixteenth. But if the fourteenth day of the month came on a Sunday, the next sabbath (Saturday) would come on the twentieth day of the month, causing the wave-sheaf to be offered on the twenty-first day of the month. Inasmuch as Pentecost was always the fiftieth day after the offering of the wave- sheaf, its date and day of the week would likewise vary. Now even though the Feast of Trumpets was always to be held on the first day of the seventh month, the period between Pentecost and Trumpets would be an indefinite one, varying in time from year to year. The third observation is the fact that during this interval there was no special revelation from God to Israel. The Feast of Trumpets is prefaced by a new communication from the Lord, “And the Lord spake unto Moses saying” (Lev. 23:23). Months o f silence passed before God began to mani fest Himself to His people. This same fact is true of this present age. There have been no new reve lations from God during this age. The Bible is God’s last written revelation to man. With the completion of the Canon o f Scripture, God has not inspired any man or woman to write in the same sense that He inspired the writers of the Old and New Testa ments. God’s last word to man has been spoken “by (in R.V.) His Son” (Heb. 1:2). God gave a revelation to Israel “ in time past” (Heb. 1:1). He also gave another revelation to them “ in these last days.” God came down to man “manifest in the flesh” (I Tim. 3:16), His full and final revela tion until His Son comes back again. As has been stated, the primary interpretation of these verses is to Israel. What is this indeter minate period of time, this long interval between Pentecost and Trumpets? We have seen how that the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost), in its dispen- sational and prophetic foreview, found its fulfill- 12
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