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Christian Biblical Church of God
Post Office Box 1442
Hollister, California 95024-1442
(831)-637-1875
Fred R. Coulter
Minister
April 10, 2008
Dear Brethren,
As you know, I have been
traveling quite extensively since November of 2007—and March was no
exception. On March 8, I gave two messages in Arcadia,
California, where we had 45 brethren in attendance. On the Sabbath of
March 15, I spoke in both
Fairfield and
Hollister, California. On March 21-22, I gave three messages in
Seattle,
Washington, where we had 43 brethren assembled. On the evening of March
22, I flew to
Spokane, Washington, in order to meet with 28 brethren on Sunday, March 23. I
gave two sermons in
Spokane. Unfortunately, because of snow storms in Canada, the 8-12 brethren
who normally come to Spokane were not able to make the trip. It is always
heart-warming to fellowship with the brethren and to share meals together,
as we do on these special visits.
Because of the number of
sermons and Bible Studies I have given on these recent trips, you are
receiving two CDs with this mailing. The first CD includes the entire
Passover Ceremony, The Night to Be much Observed, The Passover Sabbath, the
First and Last Holy Days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Before the
Foundations of the World.
The second CD includes The
Meaning of Footwashing, The Meaning of the Blood of Jesus Christ, The
Meaning of the Body of Christ, John the Baptist—Bridge Between the OT and
NT, Historical Proof of God’s Plagues Against Egypt, as well as two regular
Bible Studies. All of these will give you more than enough spiritual food
for the entire Feast of Unleavened Bread.
For most of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, I will be in the
Boise and
Twin Falls, Idaho, areas and in Salt Lake City,
Utah. For the last holy day, I will fly to
Atlanta,
Georgia, and on up to
Manchester, New Hampshire,
on the following Sunday. That will take care of my travel schedule for
April. In May, we will have the Elders’ Conference in Cincinnati,
Ohio, ending with all-day services on the Sabbath of May 17 at
the Hilton Airport Hotel. After that, we will have to wait and see what else
comes up.
The True Origin of Passover:
The Bible reveals that God the Father carefully planned the crucifixion of
Jesus Christ, which occurred on the Passover day, April 5, 30 AD. Unfortunately, most people—as well as too many brethren in the churches
of God—believe that God originated the Passover with the children of
Israel while they were
still in Egypt. Because they fail to carefully study, examine or even read
the Scriptures, most also assume that all twelve tribes of Israel make up
the Jews—which is absolutely incorrect. The true Jews, however, are
actually the descendants of the tribe of Judah, which was but one of
the twelve tribes of Israel. In fact, the men of war from Judah numbered at
74,600, which represented a little more than ten percent of the total of
Israel’s men of war, which was 630,550 (Num. 1:27, 46).
However, it is true that the combined twelve
tribes of the children of Israel did observe their first
Passover on the night of Abib/Nisan 14 according to all the instructions God
gave to Moses: “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first
year. You shall take it from the sheep or from the goats. And you
shall keep it up until the beginning of the fourteenth day of the
same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill
it between the two evenings [right after sunset of the 13th, at the
beginning of the 14th before dark].
“And they shall take of the
blood and strike it on the two side posts and upon the upper door
post of the houses in which they shall eat it. And they shall eat the
flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They
shall eat it with bitter herbs. Do not eat of it raw, nor boiled at
all with water, but roasted with fire, its head with its legs, and
with its inward parts. And you shall not let any of it remain until the
morning. And that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with
fire.
“And this is the way you
shall eat it: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and
your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in trepidation. It is
the Lord’s Passover, for I
will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And I will execute
judgment against all the gods of
Egypt. I am
the Lord.
And the blood shall be a sign to you upon the houses where you are.
And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be
upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of
Egypt. And this day shall be a memorial to you. And you shall keep
it a feast to the Lord
throughout your generations. You shall keep it a feast [the 14th Passover]
as a law forever” (Exodus 12:5-14).
The Passover was to always
be kept in remembrance of God executing the firstborn of the Egyptians (man
and beast) and His sparing the firstborn of the children of Israel: “And it
shall be when you have come to the land which the Lord
will give you, according as He has promised, that you shall keep this
service. And it will be, when your children shall say to you, ‘What does
this service mean to you?’, then you shall say, ‘It is the
sacrifice of the Lord’s
Passover, Who passed over the houses of the children of
Israel in Egypt, when He
struck the Egyptians and delivered our houses.’
And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
“And the children of Israel
went away and did as the Lord
had commanded Moses and Aaron; so they did. And it came to pass at
midnight the Lord struck all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his
throne, to the firstborn of the captive that was in the prison, also
all the firstborn of livestock” (verses 25-29).
Contrary to God’s
instructions, traditional Judaism later changed the meaning of the Passover
to celebrate the exodus itself—not the passing over of the firstborn.
However, the Passover never commemorated
Israel’s exodus from
Egypt. Rather, the exodus from
Egypt occurred the next night at the beginning of the 15th. “It
is a night to be much observed to the Lord
for bringing them out from the
land of
Egypt. This
is that night of the Lord
to be observed by all the children of
Israel in their generations….
And it came to pass the very same day, when the Lord
brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies,
then the Lord spoke to Moses,
saying, ‘Sanctify all the firstborn to Me, whatever opens the womb among the
children of Israel, of man and of beast. It is Mine.’
“And Moses said to the
people, ‘Remember this day [the 15th of Abib/Nisan] in
which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for the Lord
brought you out from this place by the strength of His hand. There
shall be no leavened bread eaten. On this day [the 15th, the night after the
14th Passover] you are going out, in the month Abib’ ” (Ex. 12:42, 51;
13:1-4).
Thus, there are two
days and two nights that we are to remember: 1) the Passover on Abib/Nisan
14; and 2) the Night to be Much Observed on Abib/Nisan 15, the first day—a
holy day—that begins the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread (the seventh
day is also a holy day). The two are separate, but related and
intertwined feasts.
The significance and purpose of both of
these days—Abib/Nisan 14 and 15—actually originated 430 years before
the Passover in Egypt and the exodus from Egypt! “And it came to pass at
the end of the four hundred and thirty years, it was even on that very same
day, all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12:41).
In last month’s mailing, you received an
article connecting the 430 years of Exodus 12 to the events described in
Genesis 15, in which God made a special sacrificial covenant with Abraham
known as a maledictory oath. A complete, detailed explanation of this
covenant can be found in The Christian Passover, chapters 21-24. If
you have a copy of The Christian Passover, please re-read this
important section. For those who do not have a copy, you may order the book
by contacting the CBCG office (call, write, e-mail, or use the CBCG Web
site).
Comprehending this special
covenant between God and Abraham—which occurred over a two-day period—is
vitally important in correctly understanding the entire Bible. As you will
see, it is the foundation of both the Old Covenant with Israel and the New
Covenant with the Church through Jesus Christ.
It is absolutely amazing to
realize that exactly 430 years after this special covenant was made, the
same two days became Abib/Nisan 14 and 15—the Passover and the first day
of the Feast of Unleavened Bread! When we understand the full significance
of Genesis 15, it becomes clear that there are four specific promises that
God made to Abraham upon which the entire Word of God is anchored:
·
The promise of physical seed
·
The promise of spiritual seed
·
The promise of physical land
·
The promise of the spiritual Kingdom
of God
The first promise
was fulfilled through the birth of Abraham’s son of promise, Isaac. From
Isaac’s son, Jacob, came the twelve tribes of
Israel.
The second promise
was fulfilled through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ and the spiritual children of the New Covenant—the sons and daughters
of God the Father’s special calling.
The third promise
was fulfilled through the physical “promised land” for the children of
Israel.
The fourth promise
is yet to be fulfilled through the spiritual
Kingdom of God, which
will endure throughout the coming ages of eternity.
Brethren, please study
chapters 21-24 of The Christian Passover. Then you will more fully
realize why Paul wrote, “[Y]ou are all sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on
Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free;
there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs
according to the promise…. Now we, brethren, like Isaac, are
the children of promise” (Gal. 3:26-29; 4:28).
God’s covenant sacrifice with Abraham in
Genesis 15 foreshadowed Christ’s crucifixion and burial, which was fulfilled
on Jesus’ last Passover on Nisan 14 (April 5) in 30 AD. In addition, the
confirmation of the covenant to Isaac in Genesis 22 also portrays the
meaning of Jesus’ crucifixion. (Please refer to and study the two-page chart
on the following pages.) There is no doubt that these two events were
prophetic types of the death of Jesus Christ on the Passover day. This is
why Jesus is called “our Passover Who was sacrificed for us” (I Cor. 5:7).
Historical Proof of God’s Plagues on
Egypt:
The Ipuwer Papyrus—discovered in 1828 and translated by Alan
H. Gardiner in 1909—contains astonishing information about the biblical
plagues on Egypt. For the most part, however, this information has gone
unrecognized by the world—and even the Christian community. In all my years
of study and research, I had never heard of this firsthand eyewitness
account of God’s plagues on Egypt—written an by Egyptian who apparently
survived those very plagues. In this mailing, we have enclosed an amazing
paper compiled by Roger Waite and Todd Dragger comparing the Ipuwer
Papyrus and the parallel accounts from the book of Exodus. The
correlation between the plagues of God as recorded in the book of Exodus and
this eyewitness account is absolutely amazing. This paper was the basis of
my sermon about the plagues against
Egypt from the book of Exodus.
The Economy:
Brethren, we need to keep a close watch on the economy—not only in America,
but also in the world. Last month, the United States Federal Reserve Bank,
which is actually a privately owned corporation and not a governmental
agency, seized control of the investment banking firm of Bear Stearns and
sold it to JP Morgan Chase. If Bear Stearns had totally collapsed, the
entire interconnected global banking system would have likewise fallen. This
was a stunning event. Now the US Congress will give the Federal Reserve Bank
sweeping new powers to regulate and control investment banks.
Because the entire world’s banking system is
founded on credit and debt, many of the world’s leading financial experts
are fearful that the Bear Stearns collapse may only be the first of more
giant investment bank failures. Also, remember that the British government
had to nationalize the Northern Rock Bank of England because of similar
financial problems. The banking systems in Europe and Japan are also in deep
trouble, and will no doubt face a severe financial crisis similar to the one
in America. It is only a matter of time.
There is a great lesson in this for all of
us: It is impossible to borrow yourself out of debt, individually or
nationally.
What we see before our very eyes is the
fulfillment of God’s prophecies—resulting from our great national sins. As
the end-time descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel, the people of the
USA, Canada, the UK, Western Europe,
Australia and New Zealand are
subject to the prophetic blessings and cursings of God as found in
Deuteronomy 28. You need to read the entire chapter and compare what is
happening in these countries with the warnings of Almighty God. Then you
will realize that God’s mighty hand of correction is now upon end-time
Israel, just as He warned.
The modern nations of Israel have God’s
Word, the Bible, and profess to believe in God. Yet as a people, they have
rejected God. Therefore, all these prophecies will surely continue to come
to pass. In the areas of government and banking, the following prophecy is
being fulfilled with astonishing speed: “The stranger dwelling
among you shall get up above you very high, and you shall come down very
low. He shall loan to you, and you shall not loan to him. He shall be the
head, and you shall be the tail.
“And all these curses
shall come on you, and shall pursue you and overtake you, until you are
destroyed because you did not obey the voice of the Lord
your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.
And they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed
forever, because you did not serve the Lord
your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of
all things” (Deut. 28:43-47).
God’s Warning to His Church:
Just as God has warned the
nations of Israel, Jesus Christ has warned the brethren of His Church. To
the Laodiceans He says: “These things says the Amen, the faithful and true
Witness, the Beginner of the creation of God. I know your works, that you
are neither cold nor hot; I would that you be either cold or
hot.
“So then, because you
are lukewarm, and are neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My
mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of
nothing’; and you do not understand that you are wretched, and miserable,
and poor, and blind, and naked.
“I counsel you to buy from
Me gold purified by fire so that you may be rich; and white garments so that
you may be clothed, and the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and
to anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that you may see.
“As many as I love, I
rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at
the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come
in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. To the one who overcomes
will I give authority to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also
overcame, and sat down with My Father in His throne. The one who has an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 3:14-22).
With the upcoming Feast of Unleavened Bread,
let us all heed Jesus’ warning to His Church and repent, draw close to God,
and be filled with His Spirit.
Bible Project:
As I am writing this letter, I just received a completed copy of the
paperback version of The Holy Bible In Its Original Order. It
is tremendous and looks wonderful. The paper is super fine, the print easy
to read, and the artwork on the cover is outstanding. We should receive a
competed copy of the lambskin version within a week. When it is approved we
will finally be on the home stretch. While it has taken longer than
anticipated, the Bible project is almost finished. Thank you for your
patience.
Brethren, in spite of the great stress and
difficulties in the world and even in our own lives, we have the greatest
hope possible! We believe in God the Father and Jesus Christ, Who love us
and are always for us. In fact, they are training us to take over the
world with Jesus when He returns to set up the Kingdom of God. So never get
discouraged—God loves you and is watching over you. Thank you for your love,
prayers and continued support with your tithes and offerings. May God
continue to bless you with His love and grace in all things.
With love in Christ Jesus,
Fred R. Coulter
FRC
Supplements:
1)
The Plagues of Egypt - PDF
format
2)
Genesis 15 Covenant Sacrifice and
the Death of Jesus Christ - PDF
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