About Thirds – bringing together the Feasts and the Trumpets

And I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God. Zch 13:9

God does much in threes. One example is the three big feasts during the biblical year cycle: Pessach, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. In earlier posts, I showed how the feasts and the priestly garments—just as two examples of threes—signify three maturity levels in the lives of Christians: saved, Spirit filled, mature.

In the above verse God does not speak of a mathematical third of the people, but of these three groups.

Why would he only bless the third third, after being refined and tried? To stand still is backsliding. Who looks back like two thirds of the deer in the picture is not fit for the Kingdom of God. Put differently: when the season of a feast comes and I decide to stay in the old, that is just like an Israelite deciding not to move when the cloud lifted. Whoever did not experience Pentecost after Pessach did not belong to the church. Remember the 380, the ones of the 500 that left before Pentecost? No? There is a reason.

But God is grace: he sent Paul to Ephesus to ask the believers whether they knew the baptism of the Spirit. And just like that he sent revival around 1900 to reestablish this fundamental truth.

And since Later Rain the truths of Tabernacles are restored.

My last post was about the 7 trumpets in Revelation. Remember – these are the 7 messages:

Our flesh does not rule any longer. Our doubts have been extinct. Bitterness uprooted. The old covenant came to an end. We died as him. The religious systems of Babylon have been overcome. Jesus is King over everything.

In Revelation 8, 9, and 11 there is much mention of thirds in context of the trumpets: a third of the grass, trees, sea, rivers and springs. Why? For sure not because the trumpets are only effective 33%, putting us to death one third. No, whom the Lord sets free is free indeed.

Could it be that only those that accept the truths of all three feasts experience the full effect of the 7 trumpets, the dealings of the cross? That we only grow into all these truths if we have an attitude of letting God get his will and do his work in us?

That makes much more sense. In Proverbs, God calls us to be teachable at all times and become wise that way. If we now at any time decide not to accept newly restored truths we shut ourselves up to the dealings of the Spirit. We stop the maturing process and therefore stop renewing our mind (Rom 12:1-2). The truth is here, but we deliberately close our eyes.

Do I say that only people in third day churches get it? No, rather people that have not stopped the process. Is it about salvation in the first place? No, rather about finding rest and coming into ones calling. Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how effective will he be here on earth? Will he gather hay and stubble or gold and silver?

It is so good that we live in a time of grace. Strive for God, be teachable, sit with the wise – that, by the way, are the leaders and the church God has placed you in. God finds you there and leads you on into his rest. Into maturity. Into a deep relationship with him.

Any thoughts, additions, questions? Leave a comment!

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