^{God had afflicted Egypt with 9 plagues. Still, Pharaoh would not let Israel go. The final plague was to be the death of the first born of Egypt. This would finally break the power of Egypt. Israel would be free.}

^{Egypt, in the Bible, always stands for the world, the realm of darkness, and bondage to sin. It speaks of the old nature which keeps us in bondage. Israel, in captivity, stands for the real person who God wants to save. Presently, he is captive to Egypt. There is no way out by his own strength.}

^{Along this line, we find that in the first Passover there is a wonderful picture of God’s provision through the Blood of Jesus Christ. Christ, according to Paul, is our Passover lamb. "For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." (I Cor. 5:7) John the Baptist announced Him as, "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1;29)}

^{Just prior to that first Passover, God gave specific instructions to Moses as to what the children of Israel were to do to prepare for the first Passover. He said,}

^{So God is telling the children of Israel that each of their households must kill a lamb without blemish. They must take the Blood of the lamb and sprinkle or strike it on the two sides of the doorway, and on it’s top. Furthermore, they must EAT the lamb during that same night – the night during which the plague would come upon the land.}

^{This Blood, and it alone, provided salvation that night for that household:}

^{What a picture of Christ, our Passover Lamb! But if we continue on and examine what is going on here, it gives us a greater dimension of knowledge as to the Truth of the Redemption.}

^{First, note the reason as to why the Israelites had to kill the Lamb, and then apply the Blood. Ask: Was God confused as to who was an Israelite, or who was an Egyptian? Of course not. He knows everyone by name. Thus, we see here that it wasn’t being an Israelite that mattered at all. It was that you were under the Blood. It was, in fact, whether you put YOURSELF under the Blood by faith.}

^{We do not see God saying to the Israelites, "Because I have chosen you, just sit tight. I’m going to come through and curse the Egyptians, and save you." No. Even though God had chosen the Israelites, and had destined them to freedom, they had to "come under the Blood," or they were going to suffer exactly the same fate as the Egyptians that night. They had to come "under the Blood" by believing God – and by "applying" that Blood to their houses.}

^{This is clearly stated at least three times in God’s instructions. Being an Israelite was not what protected the Israelites! It was only if they were under the Blood that they were protected.}

^{Again – what would cause the Lord to "pass over" those households spared? The fact that they were children of Abraham? No. Only the Blood. God told them: "When I see the blood upon the lintel and the two side posits, the Lord will pass over the door, and not permit the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you." He also said earlier, "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." It was clear that if any Israelite had not applied the Blood as God instructed, that they too would have been under the curse that night. In the Blood and only the Blood was salvation.}

^{This is so important to understand. God choose the nation Israel before any of those people involved in the first Passover were born. They WERE God’s chosen people. But did the fact that they were "chosen of God" automatically save them? No. In fact, God tells them that despite the fact that they were chosen of God, that without the Blood, they would experience the same curse as the Egyptians.}

^{What we see in this story is that God draws people to salvation, but that this alone does not insure it. They must believe and come under the Blood. God does not save, and then bring us to the Blood. He brings us to the Blood, and then we must believe and embrace it by faith, and then we are saved.}

^{This progression is clearly described to the Israelites:}

^{We start with the Israelites, the chosen people of God, who God was calling out of Egypt unto salvation. We start with ALL of them. Indeed, the Blood of a Lamb was to be shed for each and everyone of them. There were no exceptions. It was always God intention to save them ALL. He tells everyone of them to slay a lamb, and to keep it’s Blood.}

^{Notice that once the lamb was slain, that it’s Blood was held in a BASIN – which can be likened to the covenant which God offers us through Christ. At that point, the death of the LAMB is finished. The Blood has been shed. But ask: Is that all there was to saving Israel that night? NO. Their salvation was fully paid for, and provided. But if they had stopped there, not a one of them would have been spared the curse!}

^{Why? Because the Blood had not been applied. Only those who took the provision of the Blood with "a bunch of hyssop" and "sprinkled" or "applied" it to the sides and top of the doorway would be saved. Otherwise, despite the fact that the Lamb was slain for them, it would do them no good. Or, to put it in New Covenant terms, the Lamb IS slain, but unless we believe, His death will not save us!}

^{Do you see that the slain Lamb was enough to save everyone that night – but that not a single person would have been saved without the Blood being applied by faith? The death of the Lamb was the only death necessary, and was fully sufficient to save all. But the death alone saved no one! Why? Because until the Blood was applied through the faith of the one being saved, it was a neutral thing – still in the basin.}

^{Jesus Christ died for ALL the sin of ALL people. No one is excepted. And if not a single person ever believed it, or put their faith in His Blood, his death is nevertheless finished, and sufficient for the salvation of every person. But only those who actually believe and embrace what Christ has done can be saved! You must believe.}

^{The fact that an Israelite who refused the Blood would have come under the curse of Egypt tells us that the Blood was no respecter of persons. Indeed, we might infer that any Egyptian household which had put faith in the Blood would have escaped the curse. It was the Blood which saved, and the faith which embraced that salvation. The nationality of the person was not at issue.}

^{This begins to point us in the right direction with regard to our Christian calling. No man can come to Jesus, except the Father draw Him. (Jn. 6:44) The parallel here is that God called Israel solely by grace, and had shown them the Truth that night about how to be saved from the plague of death. God did that – and only God could do it.}

^{But God did not save Israel that night by simply making sure the angel passed them over. Neither did He save them merely on the basis of the slain lamb. No. Israel themselves had to come under the Blood by faith. THAT was necessary, or else they would have come under the curse.}

^{We do not see here a salvation given resulting in Israel coming under the Blood. No, for the possibility continued to exist of not coming under the Blood, and of not being spared. Rather, and as the NT teaches, we see a coming under the Blood, and the salvation being received upon that basis.}

^{Clearly, the Father draws a person and does what no man can do: Bring him to see Jesus. Bring him to see the Lamb slain. But that person must come – by faith to the Blood. Just as the Israelites had the choice to put their faith in the Blood, or not to put their faith in the Blood, and had to act that faith out by applying the Blood, so must we make the choice to put our faith in the Blood.}

^{There comes a point in the calling by grace where we SEE enough light to "come to Jesus." WE must do that by choice; by surrender. And if we don’t, our calling – as it could have been for any child of Israel that night – will mean nothing. We will have judgment instead.}

^{Death was coming that Passover night to those who dwelt in Egypt – death to ALL – as is symbolized by the death of the first-born. This death would NOT be a respecter of persons, for "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23) But God offered His people a substitute – the Lamb. The Lamb would be slain. Those who would take the Blood and apply it in faith to their doorway would be spared – for they were coming under the Blood of the Lamb, and accepted His death for their own. God would honor their faith and "pass over" them.}

^{Notice how – in a manner of speaking -- no one escaped death. It was just a matter of whether you were going to die for your own sins, or come under the death of the slain Lamb. Regardless, however, death was coming in one form or another that night. There would be no escape.}

^{Those who came under the Blood of the Lamb were able to emerge the next day, free of what had enslaved them. The power of Egypt had been broken for Israel. The power of sin is broken for us.}

^{Do you see how the only means by which God can solve the sin question is DEATH? God cannot fix Egypt, or rehabilitate it. No. Egypt must DIE. Then Israel is free.}

^{Here we see that "our Egypt" – our old man of sin – must die. There is no reprieve and no pardon. He must die. But the "real us" – which is under the Blood – is saved. It is that which emerges the next morning, ready to come out of Egypt.}

^{If we again picture ALL of this going on inside of US, we will see that our "outer man" – Egypt which is "outside" of the houses covered by Blood – must die; must have it’s power broken. But our inner man – the fundament of our being, long ago brought into captivity through sin – is safe inside, covered by the Blood. It is THAT part of us which is IN CHRIST – and which is saved.}

^{Paul the apostle says all of this. He tells us that we – and by "we" I mean our old man in Adam – do not escape death because of the Lamb. No. Our "old man" isn’t inside, under the Blood. It is "outside" – of Egypt. Our old man, the "old we" -- MEETS death – is crucified in Christ. But because of that, our new man is set free from sin.}

^{So if you understand that YOU have an Egypt and an Israel, you realize that there is a part of you that must die: Your Egypt. There is NO reprieve for your Egypt, for it is only through the death of your Egypt, that your Israel can be set free.}

^{What we see here is that the Blood of the Lamb is your salvation. But so is the destroyer. The destroyer puts to death all that must die for you to be free. The destroyer puts to death all that stands between you and God. But the Blood preserves the real you -- unto a resurrection this next morning.}

^{The Blood of the Lamb was to be applied to the sides and the top of the doorway. This "barred" the destroyer from coming into the house. But notice: The blood was not to be applied to the floor part of the doorway. Why? For in one sense, it would seem appropriate to apply the Blood to the floor, since it would be an even greater barrier through which no one dared to pass.}

^{But this is really the whole point. The floor part of the doorway being left open was symbolic of the fact that those inside were there by choice. They were not prisoners – held in by the Blood. They had put their faith in the Blood, and had come under it’s protection. But they could walk out into the open air anytime they wanted – although doing so would have subjected them to the curse of that Passover night.}

^{Here we see the freedom, and free-will aspect of the Redemption. God shows us we must come under the Blood. But we must, by faith, come under it. Once we do, we are not prisoners. We are those who learn that coming under the Blood is everything we ever wanted.}

^{God tells us that the only thing necessary for salvation is to come to Jesus – included in which is our repentance of not coming to Jesus. Coming to Jesus is the one thing WE must do, and the only thing we CAN do. God does the rest. He draws us to Christ, shows us Christ, presents us to Christ. He makes us to understand the Truth, and gives us the grace to grasp what we need to know. But we must make that choice of faith. God will not do that for us.}

^{Yet once we do make that choice and come to Jesus – come under His Blood – God does not lock us in. He knows that once we come to Jesus, we will begin to experience Jesus, and will fall in love with Him. Thus, He is free to leave the door open.}

^{There is yet another symbolism in leaving the floor of the doorway free of the Blood: So that none may TROD THE BLOOD UNDERFOOT. We see this in Hebrews:}

^{When the writer of Hebrews speaks of those who "sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the Truth," he is not talking about losing one’s salvation. Neither is he saying that if we ever sin, knowing we shouldn’t, that we are doomed. All of us would be doomed in that case.}

^{When the writer speaks of sin, he is speaking of THE SIN which he is about to describe – the sin of trampling underfoot the Son of God. This is clear from reading the above passage as a whole. THE SIN which will doom us, if we willfully commit it after seeing the Truth, it to trample underfoot the Son of God, and the blood of the Covenant.}

^{The writer of Hebrews isn’t talking about a saved person who loses salvation. He is talking about someone who receives the knowledge of the Truth, but nevertheless goes ahead and tramples it underfoot. In other words, they don’t lose salvation – they refuse to be saved. And it is willful. They know what they are doing.}

^{So if we want to discover as to why the floor area of the doorway was not sprinkled with Blood, we now know that it can’t be because God was making it impossible to trample under foot His Son. No, because Hebrews is telling us that it IS possible to see the Truth, and refuse it. So how could one trample underfoot the grace of God, if the Blood was not applied to the floor area? Simple. You could trample the Blood under foot BY applying it to the floor, against the commands of God.}

^{Herein we see THE SIN. THE SIN is to know the Lamb is slain. To have access to the Blood – in the basin. But then, out of sheer irreverence for the Blood, to put it on the floor so that it might be walked upon.}

^{Do we see the terrible picture of possible if the floor was stained with Blood? The Israelites would spend the night in the house, under the Blood, eating the Lamb. Then, in the morning of deliverance out of Egypt, they would leave the house, but trample upon the Blood. This would show that despite seeming to be under the Blood, they gave it no reverence. They not only disobeyed God’s command with regard to the Blood, but they then trampled upon it.}

^{There are those who, seeing the Truth, choose to refuse it, in favor of something else. There is nothing left to offer them. How could there be? Christ paid everything and offered it free of charge. That is why there is, for them, no longer any sacrifice for sin. They have rejected the only One there is.}

^{You will remember that the Passover included more than just applying the Blood to the doorposts, and waiting out the night.}

^{The people were told to EAT the lamb. In other words, take the Lamb "into yourselves." You will be taking into yourself the Lamb Himself which provided the sacrifice which saved you.}

^{To "eat the Lamb" is explained by Jesus Himself. He said:}

^{To eat of Jesus means to live BY Him. It means, having died in Him, to now be raised through Him – as symbolized by the energizing food. And again: The Israelites had to do this. They had to eat the Lamb. What it provided was not given to them unless they ate of it.}

^{There were other characteristics of this Passover meal. First, there was to be NOTHING left over until morning. In other words, we are to take ALL of Christ, not just some of Him. And the Lamb was to be eaten overnight, leaving none till morning. This shows a complete and finished work – through the death of the night, into the resurrection of the morning.}

^{Jesus has given all of Himself for us, that we might have life. But just as the Israelites who came under the Blood, once under the Blood, had to eat all of the Lamb during the time the destroyer was passing them over, so must we. Again – we can do nothing to save ourselves. But we are told to receive it by faith.}

^{The Israelites were told to eat the Lamb with bitter herbs – which is symbolic of the fact that we must repentance of everything for which the Lamb has died. We swallow that bitter pill even as we are eating of the Lamb. The two go together.}

^{In addition to eating the Lamb with bitter herbs, the Israelites were to eat the Passover meal dressed to depart from Egypt. This "departing posture" is to show our desire to forsake sin and no longer belong to Egypt. Imagine eating the Passover, comfortable and at ease! No. We eat it as the means of our deliverance – and because we want freedom from sin.}

^{Israel was God’s chosen, but God wanted to foreshadow the fact that salvation would be open to ALL people, not only to a select few. God would later made it clear to Israel that, "There shall be no stranger to eat thereof," of the Passover. (Ex. 12:43) Strangers were always Gentiles, or those not of Israel. But then God would go on to qualify His remarks. Strangers COULD eat of the Passover – but only if circumcised. He said:}

^{Here we see that, in the final analysis, the qualification for keeping the Passover was NOT that you were a child of Abraham. No. It was that you became circumcised. Thus, even those who were strangers could eat of it once circumcised. For God said, "ONE law shall be to him that is home born, and unto the stranger that sojourns among you."}

^{There is a direct parallel to this in the New Testament. Up to that time, it was unthinkable that salvation could be offered to the Gentiles. The Jews thought it only offered to God’s chosen -- Israel. But Jewish Christians came to see that God’s chosen were not only the Jews, but anyone who would come to Jesus – in other words, those circumcised spiritually.}

^{Paul writes:}

^{The message here is clear. You become a spiritual child of Abraham through the new birth – through the "cutting off" of the flesh – and then through the resurrection in Christ. You are NOT a child of Abraham before that, nor can you become one any other way.}

^{Strangers could come under the Old Covenant, and thus take of the Passover, by being circumcised. But before this, there were never considered chosen of God. We know this is what God meant, because in the New Testament, those in the early church who did not understand the Truth, were demanding that Gentiles converts to Christianity be circumcised. They did not believe they were saved solely by faith in Christ, and therefore made spiritual Jews – to the complete disregard of circumcision.}

^{In this we see that God has offered salvation to all. But in order to receive it, you must believe. You must take the Blood and come under it. You must allow your flesh to be "cut off." This is not restricted to a certain few. You do not become circumcised because you are OF the chosen. You become circumcised to be among the chosen. Not only is salvation NOW open to all – both Jew and Gentile – but we see that God had already deposited this great Truth right from the beginnings of His dealings with Israel. ANYONE could come and enter into the Covenant with God. They needed only to be circumcised to eat of the Passover.}

^{God illustrated this right from the beginning. We see it in the fact that Israel had to come under the Blood, or the destroyer would have visited them – even if they were God’s chosen people. And we see it in the fact that someone who was NOT of Israel could become circumcised and take of the Passover. God is showing us that salvation is not only open to all, but that it can be refused by those to whom Jesus is revealed.}

^{We see this Truth, that salvation is now open to all, without restriction, even more clearly taught in the New Testament. Paul is able to tell the Corinthians, who were Gentiles, that salvation is now open to them as well. Indeed, he is able to say to them:}

^{The Passover Lamb has been slain for all. God now beckons all to become a child of Abraham, by faith in Jesus Christ. Through the spiritual circumcision of the Cross, we have "cut off" the power of sin; the power of the old man. We come under the Blood of the true Passover Lamb.}

^{All of that speaks of the death of the OLD. We come under the Blood by faith in the Blood, and are "circumcised with the circumcision made without hands." But because of that DEATH, we are able to be born again unto newness of life through the resurrection. We are then born into the New Covenant a brand new circumcised baby, a child of Abraham, a spiritual Jew, through Jesus Christ.}

^{To slay all the first born, in those days, meant to cut off all inheritance. Symbolically, it meant to cut off the natural lineage. By this we see God picturing the death of the old heredity in Adam. It is cut off, and can no longer keep those under the Blood in bondage.}

^{We see through this that when everything was said and done, nothing could set Israel free short of death. Simply plaguing Egypt and Pharaoh would not do. There must come a death in order for those under the Blood to be set free.}

^{The reaction of Egypt was swift. The Egyptians "were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste." (Ex. 12:33) Indeed, it was at this time that the Israelites asked of the Egyptians jewels and silver and gold. They gave them gladly, as one might suppose they were willing to do anything to speed them on their way.}

^{Remarkably, when it came time to build the tabernacle, God would command that the Israelites give offerings of this same wealth to built it. The only wealth slaves could have had was this same wealth they had asked of the Egyptians the night of Passover. It would be this gold, silver, etc., that would eventually be used to build the tabernacle.}

^{What are we being shown by this? Well, for one thing, it shows that when you forsake all to follow the Lord, God will see to it that you have what you need. Furthermore, it also shows that there are many aspects of the old life – as symbolized by the wealth of Egypt – that God can take and sanctify to His glory. God does not despise good things. He does not despise wealth or beauty. It is when it is used apart from Him that it becomes a bad thing. God is well able to take everything about us, even the talents and wealth of the old life, and use them if we will surrender them to Him.}

^{There is much irony here. The Egyptians who had enslaved Israel, were now begging them to go. The Egyptians who had become rich by making Israel work for nothing, were now paying them, not to work, but to LEAVE. Israel was not leaving Egypt as fugitives, even though Pharaoh would later pursue. They weren’t even leaving as those who had gotten that concession from Egypt. They were practically being thrown out of Egypt, and given great wealth for their trouble.}

^{Israel was never called to reform Egypt. They were called out of Egypt into a new life. And God had such a victory, that even Egypt wanted Israel to leave. Indeed, we are told that they were "thrust out of Egypt." (Ex. 12:39) What seemed so impossible not many months earlier was now happening.}

^{We have already read how Jesus is our Passover Lamb. There are many other places in scripture where Jesus is pictured as THE Passover Lamb. For instance, John the Baptist referred to Christ in this role when he "announced" Him as the Savior of the world:}

^{Note how Jesus did not take away the "punishment" of the world. No. He took away the sin of the world because He took those sins upon Himself. This is fundamental to our understanding. Unless we see that Jesus actually took SIN away, and broke it’s power in our lives, we will never see that we have freedom NOT to sin.}

^{Jesus was, of course, crucified at exactly the time the Passover Lamb was to be slain. Furthermore, Jesus was raised from the dead on the feast of First Fruits, three days later. And of course, He died and was raised to set us free from sin and make us alive to God, as is pictured by the Days of Unleavened Bread (UB).}

^{That historical "Holy Week" is displayed below as it likely fell the week Jesus died as our Passover Lamb. Keep in mind that the days began and ended at sunset:}

^{In order to make the commands of God as to when to get the Passover Lamb (10th day of month), and when to kill it (the evening or at the end of the 14th day), fit the events as recorded in the gospels, we must put aside some of the traditional assumptions. Here we see the likelihood that "Palm Sunday" was a Saturday, for John says that it was 5 days before Passover. (see John 12:1 and 12:12) Jesus was also likely crucified on that Wednesday, or Thursday at the latest. This preserves the three days and three nights between His crucifixion and the Sunday He was raised.}

^{Note that "the Sabbath" which, in the gospels, is said to be the next day AFTER the crucifixion, was likely not a Saturday, but the first day of Unleavened Bread, which was always a special Sabbath. John verifies that the day after the crucifixion is a holy day, and not the weekly Sabbath, by calling it "an High Day," (Jn. 19:31) which was a term never used for the weekly Sabbath, but only for a holy day Sabbath. It is remarkable that this fact is lost on most who assume that Friday had to be the day of the crucifixion because the next day is said to be "the Sabbath!"}

^{Note also that "The Last Supper" must have been a Passover meal eaten the night before the "official" Passover meal was eaten. Jesus died AS the Passover Lamb at the exact time the "official" Passover Lamb was to be slain. He therefore could not have been eating the "official" Passover Lamb the night before He was slain. In short, Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples, but did it a night early. According to tradition, this was acceptable to do in some cases.}

^{Incidentally, to argue over these days is unnecessary. It is better to focus on Christ. Getting the days right helps in that it shows us how Christ not only fulfilled the meaning of the days, but did so on the days themselves.}

^{The following shows a typical year and how the spring feast days fell:}

^{The Passover was celebrated at sunset and during the rest of the evening -- as the 14th of Nisan ended. (The days ended and began at sunset.) The 15th, which began at that same sunset, was the first day of Unleavened Bread. The feast of Unleavened Bread lasted seven days. The first day of Unleavened Bread, and the last day, were High Holy Day Sabbaths. An High Day Sabbath is to be distinguished from the weekly Sabbath, which always fell on Saturday. An High Holy Day Sabbath could fall on any day of the week, depending on when the annual Holy Days fell in a given year.}

^{The relationship between the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread – as far as the days go – is significant. The Passover stands for the death of Christ. The feast of Unleavened Bread stands for what His death did: Set us free from sin. Unleavened bread begins with the Passover meal itself.}

^{Most places in the Bible, leaven stands for SIN. (There are a couple of places where it doesn’t stand for sin.) During the days of unleavened bread, God said Israel must eat no leaven, or have it in any of their dwelling places.}

^{The feast of first fruits was always the Sunday during the days of Unleavened Bread. It marked the beginning of the harvest season – the first season being the barley harvest. On that day the priest was to "wave" the first fruits of that harvest unto God. This resulted in a blessing upon the entire harvest.}

^{Jesus was raised from the dead on the very day of First Fruits. He was THE first fruits of those risen from the dead.}

^{As the first of those risen from the dead, Jesus was also THE "wave sheaf" which inaugurated the great harvest of the Lord.}

^{Jesus was the corn, or seed, which fell into the ground and died. Because He did, much fruit is brought forth – namely US. In effect, first fruits leads us directly into the next harvest season – Pentecost.}

^{Pentecost is the only annual feast that is not grouped with any others. It occurred fifty days after the day of first fruits, and about a hundred and twenty days before the feast of trumpets. It is sometimes called a "feast of first fruits" – in addition to the actual day, fifty days before, which goes by that name. In Israel’s harvest season, this feast day coincided with the beginning of the wheat or grain harvest. Pentecost was unique in a number of other ways as well:}

^{Central to the offerings on Pentecost were the TWO LOAVES. These loaves were not a type of Christ, since they were to be baked with yeast, or leaven. Rather, they stood for the fact that within the fulfillment of Pentecost, there would be TWO groups: Jews and Gentiles. The leaven shows that both are imperfect, but nevertheless accepted by the Lord, on the basis of the accompanying blood sacrifices, which do stand for Christ.}

^{We see in this that God always intended to offer salvation to all. In the Bible, we here only about TWO groups – Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were God’s original chosen people – His original "elect." The Gentiles were excluded. But after Christ, we never hear about anyone being excluded from the "elect." We hear only about "the elect" -- that BOTH Jew and Gentile are elected.}

^{If God had a "new elect" group, into which only a few were invited, we must imagine that it could be comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. But if that were the case, we might expect to see ONE loaf – or a piece of each of two loaves being offered. But instead, we see two whole loaves. This is a clear indication that ALL Jews and ALL Gentiles are invited unto salvation.}

^{Pentecost is often referred to as a harvest of first fruits. This often causes some confusion with the actual feast day of First Fruits. Part of the reason for the confusion is that in the Jewish mind, Pentecost "begins" after that day of First Fruits, on which Christ was raised. So the day of Pentecost, fifty days later, is actually the culmination of the whole season.}

^{What this means is that Christ is THE first fruits, and completely fulfills the feast of First Fruits. Believers are first fruits as the term applies to the Pentecostal wheat harvest.}

^{Just as Christ both historically and spiritually fulfilled the Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, and the day of First Fruits, so does Pentecost find fulfillment in the New Testament. We read in Acts:}

^{The OT day of Pentecost marked the BEGINNING of the wheat harvest. So many times in scripture Jesus uses the picture of not only a harvest, but a WHEAT harvest, to talk about saved souls. Pentecost pictures God’s harvesting of souls during this church age. Pentecost is the INGATHERING of those God has called, in this age, to be part of His Body.}

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