LAST GREAT DAY - 2000

Fred Coulter - October 21, 2000 

And greetings, brethren.  This is the Last Great Day for the year 2000.  And I know every year it’s a wonderful feast.  And I’m sure you’ve had a wonderful feast, and I’m sure that it’s like everything else, it goes too quickly and it’s over with.  And in a way it’s just right and God has the exact proper length of time so that we won’t wear out and that we can learn as much as we can.  And the thing about the Feast ending in such a way is this, is that you’ll miss fellowshipping with the brethren.  And that is especially so when we understand that many of us are scattered and some of us don’t even have a fellowship group to attend.  And we’ll try and do the best we can.  Just pray about it and ask God to raise up more people and always remember this: if you’re alone, someone has to be first.  And what we’ve been able to do with God’s help and God’s inspiration down through the years, the knowledge that God has given us has just been marvelous and fantastic, brethren

And so now we come to the time where we read the scriptures in Leviticus 23 concerning the Last Great Day.  So let’s go ahead and to Leviticus 23.  And I think it’s really profound and interesting that God has put all the holy days together there in Leviticus 23 so that only those who really desire the truth, only those who really believe God, only those who really truly love Him will understand that we are to keep these days today.  Especially when you consider the way that the world is going, and the way that even some of the Churches of God are going.  And it’s sad to see the things go that way and what has happened to the Church.  But brethren, God is still there.  God is right there with Christ at His right hand and He is here to show us, to teach us, to lead us, and Christ is the head of the Church.  And so let’s always keep that in mind.

Now let’s begin here in Leviticus 23:33 again.  “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying…” So these are instructions for all the children of Israel.  These are not just instructions for the priests alone.  “…The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.”  Now we’ve already had that.  “On the first day shall be a holy convocation [which we had]: ye shall do no servile work therein.  Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire…” (Lev. 23:33-36).  Now we don’t make one every day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the reason being is because those sacrifices were given then.  And some were on the first day and they would eat the first day, second day, third day.  Some would offer on the second day, and they would eat on the second day, and the third day, and the fourth day.  And some would offer on the third day and they would eat on the third day, and the fourth day, and the fifth day, so forth all the way down through the feast.

Now it says, “…on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you…” And this is the eighth day.  And as we will see number eight is the number of new beginnings.  Now that is true according to God’s word.  Now don’t be disturbed if some people come along, who are false prophets, and they steal some of the information concerning numbers in the Bible and cause you confusion.  They’re just still the same false prophets though they have that point of truth.  “…And ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein” (vs. 36).  Now servile work is the kind of work that you get paid for.  Or that you do in the normal course of your way of living.  And so whatever is necessary for keeping the Feast, that’s what we can do.  And that is what makes it so important concerning the holy days.

Now, verse 37, “These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a [meal] meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: besides the sabbaths of the LORD…”  Now let’s understand something here very important.  All of the holy days are called sabbaths.  And so if you believe in the seventh day Sabbath, then you also have to believe in the rest of the Sabbaths because those belong to God just like the seventh day Sabbath.  “…And beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD.  Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath [there it is called a sabbath directly], and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath [there it is, today is an annual sabbath]” (vs. 37-39).

“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” (vs. 40).  Now this has been a really rejoicing feast for us.  And I want you to be uplifted and inspired so that you can face the things when you go back home.  And the feast being over, the Last Great Day being over, and you go home and have to face the world, which is run by Satan the devil, have to face all the trials and difficulties that you may go through, and just remember the greatness of God and the purpose of His plan, and what He is doing.  And also, as we are going to be taking up an offering today, let that be expressed in your offering. That you love God, that you serve God, that you worship Him.

Now verse 41, “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” (vs. 41-42).  Now what they do in Jerusalem is this even to this day.  And I’ve seen pictures of the temple area, booths and dwellings that they make there.  Most of the homes in what we call Israel today, or Palestine as would be more properly called because it’s not Israel, because only when God is there can it be called Israel again.  We need to understand that.  An Israeli means, Israel without God, when you truly understand the meaning of the word.

But never the less when they have their Feast of Tabernacles they set up these little booths.  And they’re like tents.  And then they decorate the front of it and on the inside of it with all of these boughs.  And then what happens is those who come and travel to Jerusalem are able to stay in the rooms of the people who now have the temporary dwelling out on the top of their flat-top house.  And so it makes a good feast that way.  Now today, it’s perfectly all right as we know to go ahead and rent a motel room or a hotel room or to rent a house and stay there because it’s a temporary dwelling.  And when you really come to understand it all, even our homes are temporary brethren.  Because our hearts, as far as our thoughts and our minds and what we are going to do are toward God the Father and Jesus Christ at His right hand, which is in heaven where we look for Christ to return and to bring the Kingdom.  And so when we give the offering here let’s just keep that in mind.

We’ve covered concerning the offering many, many times, and we know brethren, that this is all a part of our worship and service of God on the holy day, and so you give according to as you’ve proposed in your heart, and you give with rejoicing before God to serve Him in love for all the good things that He has done, and the things that come in the way of offerings and tithes are all used to go back and serve the brethren.  And so just keep that in mind.  So at this time we’ll take a pause and we’ll go ahead and take up the offering.

(Pause)

Now if you caught me speaking a little bit as the pause went on and you heard me say just in time.  Well it was just in time, because there was an airplane flying over and we didn’t want to get that on the tape.  [Laughter]  So we have all these things we need to fight when we do it.  But anyway brethren, this is a great and a marvelous day, and a special holy day for God.  And it’s very interesting that the Bible says, as we covered before, Christ said, “I’m the beginning and the ending, the first and the last.”  And the Last Great Day will be the greatest day because there are so many things that are going to take place on this day, and this knowledge is the knowledge that is hidden from the world.  They don’t know it.  They don’t understand it.  They don’t recognize it.  They don’t realize God’s plan because they don’t keep His holy days.

Now let’s just take a review of all the holy days beginning with the Passover, which we know is not a holy day but it is a commanded convocation.  Now I’m going to break it down according to Israel, and the Church, and the millennium.  Now, I’m going to go quite rapidly on this so don’t worry necessarily about taking notes on it.  You can if you are a good speed writer, but just listen to it and just see how that God’s plan is revealed step by step by step, first to Israel, then to the Church, and then to all the people during the millennium.

Now the Passover for Israel pictured the sparing of the firstborn of the children of Israel.  That means that God is Savior, He saved them.  And He destroyed all the firstborn, killed them, of the Egyptians both man and beast.  This also shows that God will fight for us.  So this shows that Christ is our Savior.

Now for the Church the Passover is that Jesus is the Passover Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.  And we look to Christ for forgiveness, for His mercy, for His kindness, or His love, for His grace.  It also pictures the institution of the New Covenant on the night of the 14^th.  Jesus took the bread and broke it and said, “Take eat, this is My body, which is broken for you.”  And likewise He took the cup of the wine and He gave it to them and said, “All of you drink of it for this is My blood in the New Covenant.”  And we are to do this as often as we do until Christ returns.  And likewise with the footwashing.  And the footwashing shows that we have part with Christ, and it shows also that it renews our baptism.  So the whole Passover for us is really a tremendous time because of renewing of the Covenant and accepting the body and the blood of Christ to cover our sins, and to renew the Covenant every year.

Now in the millennium it will also picture the New Covenant during the millennium, or we could call this the Millennium Covenant that God is going to make with the children of Israel and the rest of the world.  And it’s going to show that only through Christ do they have forgiveness of sin.  And I’m sure some of the things that apply to the Church, such as a renewing of the covenant, renewing of their baptism, accepting the truth and love of God to overcome their sins.  That will all be part of it for all the people during the millennium.

Now the Days of Unleavened Bread.  Of course you know we have two holy days in this.  That’s interesting.  It’s the only feast where we have two holy days.  Now the Feast of Tabernacles is seven days, one feast.  And there is one holy day, which is the first day.  And the eighth day is a special separate feast.  So we have seven plus one.  And when we come to the Passover, which is one day, which by the way also is an unleavened bread day.  Then we have plus seven days, so we have a total of eight.

Now for Israel the Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures the deliverance from the bondage of Egypt.  It also pictures the leaving of Egypt with the night much to be remembered.  And the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread they crossed the Red Sea.  And it also shows in Exodus 13 that they are to keep this feast so that the commandments and laws of God would always be before them.  And so likewise some of these things carry over for us.

For the Church the Days of Unleavened Bread picture that we are delivered from the bondage of sin and Satan the devil.  This also shows that we have been given a new nature, which is putting out the sin, receiving the Holy Spirit of God.  That pictures the unleavened bread that we eat.  And it is that now we live in grace and we have access to God the Father.  We have justification from our sins.  And also we have keeping the commandments in the spirit of the law now, and we also our hearts and our minds changed by the Spirit of God being converted and having the laws and commandments of God written in our hearts and in our minds now.  And also that we are going to overcome and get rid of human nature.  So that’s quite a bit for the Church.

Now for the millennium.  We will have some of the same things with it, which is this: physical life is temporary, and that human nature is filled with vanity.  And that’s why they keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, to overcome the vanity that they have as we studied that part of it with the book of Ecclesiastes.  Now it shows also that Christ only can forgive their sins.  Salvation only is through Jesus Christ.  And there is also a great gulf fixed between those who are spiritual, those who are in the first resurrection and serve as kings and priests and the bride of Christ, between the flesh of the human beings then and the spirit beings who will be ruling an controlling it.  And during the millennium it’s going to be where there is not going to be Satan at all.  There is going to be also a change even in human nature cause Satan won’t be there to tempt them.

Now then let’s come to the Feast of Pentecost.  Now here’s the meaning for Israel.  For Israel it’s a receiving of the Ten Commandment at Mt. Sinai the very first Pentecost that the children of Israel kept after they left Egypt.  It also pictures when they entered into the land that they would reap of the harvest and they would have the harvest of the firstfruits.  Now the harvest of the firstfruits ties in with the wave sheaf offering that they did on the first day of the week after the regular Sabbath during Unleavened Bread.  That pictured the beginning of the acceptance of God of the harvest and for the Church that pictures Christ ascending to be the first of the firstfruits accepted by God the Father for us for the offering of sin.

Now for the Church.  Pentecost has greater meaning for the Church.  Receiving of the Holy Spirit, as we find there in Acts 2.  The beginning of the Church.  It pictures the spiritual harvest of the firstfruits by the first resurrection, and we are the Church of the Firstborn.  It also pictures the marriage of Christ and the bride.  It also pictures the saving of the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude in Revelation 7, which happens on the day of Pentecost.

Now then, during the millennium the firstfruits in the first resurrection will always be first.  And they will always have a special and different relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ than the rest of the human beings who come into the Kingdom of God through the operation of the millennium.  And it will also picture, I am sure that it will be a remembrance of what each one of them received the Holy Spirit whenever they were baptized.

Now let’s come down to the Feast of Trumpets.  Now the Feast of Trumpets is a very interesting feast and one of the most important things it does, it shows that God is King.  God is warrior.  He will fight for us.  And also it is the day which is the beginning of the calculated Hebrew calendar.

And let me just say right here brethren, please do not let anyone lead you astray with their own invention with their own calendar.  God gave to the Levites the method in operation of calculating the calendar.  It is valid going clear back to the 5^th and 6^th century B.C., and all of those things follow right through down on through our time.  And please understand this, nowhere did God give any authority to any other man to give the calendar, other than through the Levites.  So when we come down to the time of Hillel the second in the 300’s A.D., please understand this, as a Levite he made it known to all the world how that the holy days can be calculated with the method given to the Levites and so in fact it has been perpetually proclaimed by the proper Levitical authorities from that time unto this.  And don’t let anyone mislead you or deceive you on this.  So the Feast of Trumpet pictures the calculated Hebrew calendar for us.

Now also for the Church it pictures the first coming of Christ and the second coming of Christ.  And it pictures the beginning of the destruction of Babylon the Great.  And it is also the day in which God is going to take vengeance upon the Beast and the false prophet, destroy their armies, and cast them into the lake of fire.  Now it also is the installation of Christ as King, the beginning of the Kingdom of God on earth, and the beginning of our reign as kings and priests with Christ.

Now for the millennium it’s going to always picture the proper calendar.  And of course there is probably going to be a restoration of all things and at that time in the restoration of all things during the millennium, I am sure that God is going to give us a 360 day calendar and a 30 day month, and 12 equal months so we won’t have to fight all the problems that we do today, which by the way brethren is a result of sin.  It’s also going to be a continuous remembrance for them during the millennium of Christ’s return, that Christ is King.  And also a continuous remembrance to them that the kings and priests of God reign and rule on the earth.

Now the Day of Atonement for Israel.  It pictured a special day when all of their sins were atoned for.  And with the two goats, one for the Lord and one for Azazel showing that in order to get rid of sin you have got to remove the author of sin.  Now the children of Israel didn’t quite fully understand that but nevertheless it was there.  And for them it showed that as a nation and a people that they could be at one with God through the covenant that God established with them at Mt. Sinai, and that would be then in the letter of the law.

Now for the Church.  It pictures the removal of Satan the devil and binding him in the abyss.  It pictures us being at one with God through having received the Holy Spirit.  And to be at one with God shows then that we can have the mind of Christ.  And that’s all pictured by the day of Atonement.  Plus there is something very important for the world and that is the Day of Atonement pictures when God, after removing Satan the devil, has the sacrifice of Christ then made available to the whole world.

Now for the millennium, the world will be living in a state of at-one-ment with God, because Christ will be on the earth, the saints will be ruling, and they will be at one with God.  And as we have covered for the meaning of the feast during the Feast of Tabernacles, and so forth, we’ll be teaching them.  And also there’s going to be a special thing that will be for the millennium, which will be also for the Day of Atonement, which is that Satan is bound, no longer influencing the world.  And it will show that the flesh must inherit eternal life, and there is no permanence in the flesh.

Now the Feast of Tabernacles for Israel pictured, number one, living in the land and dwelling in booths while they were on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land.  It was the great ingathering of the physical harvest of all the crops that they had.  And it also shows that God dwelling with them dwelt in a tabernacle.  And we also saw, as we did on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, that God put His presence in the temple on the first holy day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

For the Church it shows that Christ dwelt on earth in the flesh, and John 1:14 says, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us”, and the word there is “tabernacled”.   And He did, He dwelt among us temporarily.  It is also a time where it is picturing for the Church that Christ is dwelling in us by the power of His Holy Spirit.  And also it shows for the Church there in 2 Corinthians 5, that our bodies then are temporary tabernacles for the housing of God’s Holy Spirit within us that we may grow in character and grow to have the mind of Christ.  Now it also pictures for the Church when we will live with God.  When we will be dwelling with God.  Now that’s a tremendous meaning.  And it also pictures Christ and God the Father living and dwelling in New Jerusalem and we are dwelling there with them.  And there will be no more temple. Now we’ll see that a little bit later on.

For the millennium, for the people on the earth, they will know that they are dwelling with the sons and daughters of God, who are also dwelling with them as their teachers and leaders, and priests and kings.  And also pictures when we will be dwelling with men.  Now, universal salvation will be given to all who repent and come to desire it.  It’s not going to be given to everyone, but the vast majority during that time will choose salvation.  It shows for all the people during the millennium that this physical life is temporary, and it is going to be the great spiritual harvest for all the nations.

Now the Last Great Day.  Now I don’t think Israel understood too much about the Last Great Day because they did not understand about the first resurrection, and they didn’t understand about the second resurrection.  But for Israel it pictures their day of salvation because God did not give and grant salvation to the children of Israel when He brought them into the Promised Land, or when He called them out of Egypt, and so forth.

Now for the Church.  It pictures a time of the second resurrection, God’s final judgment, and we will judge.  And one of the first things we are going to do on the Last Great Day when Satan is cast into the lake of fire, we are going to judge the angels.  Paul said, “Know you not that we shall judge angels.”  That’s when we will judge them, on the Last Great Day.  And then it also shows for all of the sinners, the lake of fire because they will be judged, and cast into the lake of fire.  And then the whole earth will be burned up.

Now for the millennium, which will actually be the day after the millennium, if we could put it that way.  This brethren, will be the greatest harvest of all which we will see.  And it will undo all sins.  God is going to make right, or justify all sins.  And at the end of it, end of the meaning of the Last Great Day there will be a new heaven and a new earth, a new Jerusalem, and then God will reveal His plan for all mankind, now born into the Kingdom of God, now all spirit beings.  And what are we going to do for all eternity?  And please understand this, and just think on this.  If God made this world so marvelous, and wonderful, and beautiful, and fantastic, and how much it’s going to be improved all during the millennium, don’t you think and know that God is busy working and building and planning for the fulfillment of the Last Great Day when New Jerusalem comes down, when the whole universe then will be opened up to us?  Yes, He will.  So this is going to be really a tremendous thing.

So just think how this comes down step-by-step all the way through.  And in bringing out these things in even just a summary, we are talking about things that the world does not know and the world does not understand, and cannot understand because they won’t yield and submit to God.

Now let’s come to John 7, and we will see that Jesus kept the Last Great Day.  Now one thing that’s interesting concerning the gospel of John is that it’s centered all around the holy days.  Now many people don’t even catch that or even know that.  And John is trying to tell us something very important.  Now we are to follow Christ’s example, aren’t we?  We are to do as He did, aren’t we?  We are to keep the days that Jesus kept.  Yes.

Now here in John 7:37.  Now it’s important that we understand the timing of this because this was a special ceremony.  This was called the ceremony of water.  And it was done right as the sun was setting ending the last day of the feast, and beginning the Last Great Day of the feast, which is today.  So it carried over into the eighth day.

Now let’s pick it up here in verse 37, “In the last day, that great day of the feast [this is today], Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.”  And yet this verse has never been fulfilled.  This is a prophecy of what’s going to happen during the Last Great Day, and it is also for those who God calls that comes to Him will receive the Holy Spirit, come and drink.  “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38).  And brethren that’s also a prophecy for us too.  That when we are in the Kingdom of God and we are teaching the people who are resurrected in the second resurrection for the Last Great Day.  Yes, that God’s Holy Spirit is going to be flowing out to all of them, and it’s going to be a great and a marvelous harvest.

Now verse 39, “(But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy [Spirit] Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”  Again, another point that is true.  God did not give the Holy Spirit to them back then under the Old Covenant because it was not yet given.  We find in 1 Peter 1 that it was given to the prophets and to the kings, but not to the people in general.  And now during the Last Great Day, in order to undo everything that has been done in this world by the way of Satan the devil and human beings.  Then there has to be the Holy Spirit of God to do it.  And it’s going to be the greatest time of the Holy Spirit of God, even greater than the millennium.  That’s why this is called the Last Great Day.  And we are going to have a profound part in it.  And God has called you to do this.  And God has called you so that you are going to take the place of all of these people that are running the world today.  Now I want you to think about that.  And I want you to remember that.  And I want you to understand that God has called us to teach us, to educate us, to prepare us for these things.  And brethren, the knowledge of the Last Great Day is such a marvelous and fantastic thing, because it answers the question about how is God going to save all people.

Now let’s go to 2 Peter 3, and let’s read that here.  I remember one man that I talked to the very first time.  He said, “Now I want you to answer me one thing.  You say no one is saved now except those that God calls.  Well then, what about here in 2 Peter 3?  Now what does this mean?”  Now let’s read it, verse 9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  And he said, “Now when I look out and I see this world I see that it’s Satan’s world.  Now how is God going to do this?”

Obviously then, if God hasn’t done this then Satan is more powerful than God.  And many people believe that. Because of all the things going on in the world, that’s certainly not of God, is it?  Well, you see, God does not think as a man.  God does not do things as a man does.  God has His plan and His purpose, and He is going to do it in His way, and His time, and that’s what this Last Great Day pictures.

Now let’s go to Matthew 13, and I want you to understand how precious this knowledge is.  I want you to realize what a great thing that it has been, as we started out with the Feast of Trumpets, that God has a purpose that He’s working out on this earth.  And brethren, God’s purpose is being worked out on this earth and He has called you first to know, to understand, to realize.  And that began with the apostles and carries right on down to this day.  And we have the whole word of God, and we have the knowledge of God, and we have the holy days of God.  And that’s why, because it’s so profound in understanding that God’s purpose and how He lays it out step by step, that one of the first things that Satan wants to do is to move you away from the holy days.  To move you away from the right and proper Passover.  To move you away from the Sabbath.  To move you away to his way and to bring you back into darkness.

Now let’s understand how profound this is here in Matthew 13.  And let’s pick it up here in verse 9.  He says, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”  Now here is what the people didn’t understand because He spoke to them in parables.  “And the disciples came, and said unto Him, why speakest  Thou unto them in parables?  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” (Matt. 13:9-11).  So brethren do you understand that the knowledge you have is what God has given you?  And the understanding that you have comes from His word through His Holy Spirit so that you can know the things of God.  Now that’s a tremendous thing.  That is an absolute marvelous blessing.  And it’s one that we have to continually grow in.  One that we have to continually exercise.

Now notice verse 12, “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given…” and God wants to give us more.  God wants to give us greater understanding.  God wants to give us greater faith, greater hope, greater love to fill us, as we will see, with the fullness of God.  That’s a tremendous calling.  “…And he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.”  And in the end it will be nothing because they will be turned to ashes and dust.  “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of [Isaiah] Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive…” (vs. 12-14).

And people can have their Bibles, they can study their Bibles…  Now I talked to a woman here this summer, who one of the most important things for her was her Wednesday night Bible study.  And I said, “Well, oh, what church do you go to?”  “Well,” she said, “we’re fundamentalists.”

“Oh,” and I said, “that means you keep the seventh-day Sabbath?”

“Oh, no.”

I said, “Well, you’re really not a fundamentalist or a scripturalist unless you do.”

“Oh, well I don’t think God will hold me to that.  We keep Sunday.”

And I looked her right in the eye and I said, “Do you think that God is going to hold people responsible for murder, and adultery, and lying, and thievery, and idolatry, and taking God’s name in vain, and having other gods, and you don’t think that God is going to hold you responsible for the fourth commandment to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy?”

And you talk about…it was something.  She just bristled up just like that.  Brethren, I want you to understand how great it is that you have the knowledge of God through the holy days.

Let’s continue on here.  “For this people’s heart is waxed gross…” Oh yes, they love to use the name of God.  Oh yes, they love to tell God what to do and think they are righteous, as we’ve seen with what we covered with the mystery of lawlessness.  Oh yes, yes.  “…And their ears are dull of hearing…” Just like this woman.  She didn’t hear.  She had no ears for hearing.  She already had her eyes closed and here ears shut but just so she could look on the things that she wanted.  “…And their eyes they have closed…” Now it’s kind of a joint operation.  If you close your eyes and close your heart and mind, God will also close them just like Pharaoh hardened his heart and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  So it’s a dual operation here, same thing.  “…Lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (vs. 15).  Why if God wanted all of them healed, now why didn’t He do it here?  Because in God’s plan, now is not the day of salvation for everyone.  Now is the day of salvation for His Church and those that God calls.  Not for the world.  The world will have its day in this Last Great Day, as we will see. So that’s why God did it, because God is able to undo it.  And He will undo it.

Now notice verse 16, “But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.”  And it’s very important that we always keep our eyes open and our ears clean so we can hear, so we can see.  And that is a spiritual operation through prayer, through study, through fasting, through yielding to God and loving God and maintaining that relationship continuously day by day, and week by week, and month by month, and year by year.

Now notice how profound this knowledge is that you have.  “For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them” (vs. 17).  That’s how wonderful and fantastic the holy days of God are brethren, because they reveal these things to us.

Now let’s continue on here.  Let’s come to Romans 11.  Now remember brethren, as we’re turning to the book of Romans, we are told by Christ in John 6 that none come to Christ except the Father draw him.  And none come to the Father except through Christ.  So it is a joint operation, and it is a joint thing that God is doing.  Ok, let’s come to Romans 11 because this gives us further understanding about what happened to Israel and about what is happened to the whole world here.

Now let’s pick it up here in verse 7, “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for?”  No, Israel did not attain under the righteousness of God and salvation.  “…But the election hath obtained it…” And we are the election.  That is we have been called, we have been chosen, and few are chosen because many are called, so it actually ends up that even though many are called few are really called because few respond.  “…But the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded…” Now if God blinds them and yet He says He wants all to come to repentance, how is God going to solve this problem?  And the answer is in the Last Great Day.

“(According as it is written, God hath given then the spirit of slumber…”  So we see how God has done it and they have done it, both.  “…Eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.”  And so that is a prophecy continuing down unto now.  “And David said, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back always.  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall:  God forbid...” (vs. 8-11).   In other words, has this happened to Israel, so that they are cast off forever and have no salvation? Paul says, “God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? (vs. 11-12) And their fullness will take place during the millennium, and during the Last Great Day. Both. How much their fullness?

So he says, “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office…” (vs. 13) Now then he says here, “If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are of my flesh, and might save some of them...” (vs. 14) So, he was still interested in that, brethren. That’s really tremendous. “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” (vs. 15) Now that’s something.

Now, let’s continue on here to verse 21. “For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.” (vs 21) So you see, God’s judgment falls on all alike. “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness…” (vs. 22) Did you catch that? If you continue. That’s why it’s constantly emphasized all through the New Testament. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (Jn. 14:15) If you do the things that I say. If you believe me, Christ said. “…otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery…” (vs. 22-25) Which it is, which this Last Great Day pictures. And brethren, let me just say this. The details of what Paul gives here as an outline, we understand today and Paul did not understand it back in his day. And isn’t that a marvelous thing? That’s something.

Here’s what he knew about it. “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved…” (vs. 25-26)  And this Last Great Day answers when shall they be saved; how shall they be saved. And that’s a tremendous thing. “…as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” (vs. 26-27) And that’s when God is going to remove it. Now we saw all that beginning with the millennium. All the way down through the millennium that’s going to happen to Israel and Judah. And all during the Last Great Day that’s going to happen to Israel and Judah that were cut off for their parts; that were turned over to the hardness of their hearts; that were cut off because they refused to see and refused to hear. So this is a great and marvelous thing that God is doing.