The Daily Word of Righteousness

Three Platforms of Grace

Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty: (Deuteronomy 16:16)

The gathering of the Hebrew males in observance of God's command in Deuteronomy 16:16 typifies the three platforms of the Christian salvation:

The feast of Unleavened Bread portrays the blood atonement, repentance, water baptism, and the born-again experience.

The feast of Weeks (Pentecost) speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit—He who in faithfulness prepares the Bride for the Bridegroom.

The feast of Tabernacles represents the coming of the Father and the Son to take up their eternal abode in the saint.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

The feast of Unleavened Bread consists of three subfeasts, each representing a part of salvation as shown below:

Passover (Lev. 23:5) The Blood of the Lamb

Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:6) Repentance, Water Baptism

Firstfruits (Lev. 23:10) The Born-again Experience

The first feast of the convocation of Unleavened Bread is Passover. Passover speaks to us of the blood atonement made by the Lord's Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. No one can approach God and be saved other than through the blood of Christ. The Passover Lamb was slain at twilight on the fourteenth of the month Abib.

The second feast of the gathering of Unleavened Bread is the subfeast of the same name—Unleavened Bread. This is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the same month and begins an observance that lasts for one week. The first day of the week of Unleavened Bread is an important Sabbath.

Unleavened Bread is representative of repentance, of putting away sin. Whenever the Kingdom of God is preached correctly the command to repent is included. To become a Christian we must turn away from the world, from Satan, from the lusts of our flesh, and from our self-love and self-seeking.

If we do not repent of the ways of the world and of our lustful behavior we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. God has given us water baptism as a way of expressing our death to the world and our entrance into His Kingdom.

The repentance that takes place when we first receive Christ is a turning away from sin, from the malice, envy, and evil speaking of the world. Repentance from the various aspects of the spiritual darkness of our personality does not occur until later in our Christian experience—when we are stronger and more experienced in spiritual warfare.

The tribes of Israel encountered some warfare in the wilderness but it was not until they crossed Jordan that the conflict began in earnest and they entered their inheritance.

The third feast of the convocation of Unleavened Bread is the feast of Firstfruits. The feast of Firstfruits is observed on the sixteenth day of the first month, on the second day of the week that begins with the subfeast of Unleavened Bread.

The feast of Firstfruits speaks of the born-again experience. Christ is born in us through the working of the Holy Spirit of God. Divine Life enters us—a firstfruits of what one day will fill our entire personality.

To be continued.