The Full Day of the Lord

Ron Weinland

Last Great Day Sermon - 2012 – PM

Before I begin this final sermon of this Feast here I do want to make the comment that I've really been excited to be able to hear from all the different sites, to hear, throughout what is being said, the unity, the oneness, the excitement that everyone has for the Feast, the inspiration they're receiving through all the sermons thus far, and at this very specific moment in time I have just completed here, we have just completed the fifth day as far as listening to the sermons and we have three more days left, of course this being given for the last day, the eighth day, the Last Great Day of the Feast.

So again here, I just wanted to make some comments about how good it's been that we've been able to come together and have another Feast of Tabernacles, how blessed we've been to have it, and to observe it.  It does go by quickly, but very thankfully we know where we're headed and how close the fulfillment of this period of time is.  And that's exciting, that's inspiring, and certainly it's been an inspiring thing hearing from different ones and seeing the response from different ones because every Feast is an inspiring time for us as we're able to be fed for eight straight days.  And now we're getting ready to go back into the world, but again, not to be down about it, not to be discouraged by it...because a lot of times on the last day of the Feast it can be a discouraging thing because we know what we have to go back to face and we're not going to be able to carry this with us right now, these days that we've been experiencing, this special time of fellowship for those who were able to come together in fellowship, and yet there were others who weren't able to do that, that are by themselves.

And so we're all unique in the situations we have but God has blessed us mightily, does bless us mightily, and is giving us a focus of where we are and what is ahead of us and it's exciting, it's inspiring.

So, I thought I would mention here though about one particular area, one specific Feast site that I think started out with a big bang in the sense of being probably hotter than all the rest of the Church areas, and that's literal because it had to do with La Quinta, California.  Their first day was 120°F.  So I know many brethren, though it might have been cooler, are very thankful they experienced the cooler weather.  We did talk to Ralph today, Laura did just a little bit ago and I guess it's down to right around 90°, so I know that was a welcome relief, 30° less Fahrenheit.  But anyway, just wanted to make those comments before we begin here today.

"In most part over the past many years the last sermon for the Feast on the Last Great Day has been one that God reveals through the Feast, through the Feast period, begins revealing that to me, what is to be given.  And some small portion may begin to be given just before the Feast but the primary content and direction is not fully given until the Feast. That's the way it's been for some time now, and as I am beginning to write out my notes it is the first day of the Feast."

So I just mentioned here a moment ago before I began that we just completed the fifth day, but in writing in my notes here I began writing this on the first day, and that's what I'm quoting here now, what I wrote on that first day.  And I went on to say....

"And Laura and I have just completed listening to the first sermon given by Terry Wrozek.  It was inspiring when I heard that pre-recorded sermon right after he completed it and it was even more inspiring to hear it again today in this Feast at a time when God pours out more of His spirit upon us."

Isn't that an awesome thing?  We have now, as you're considering this day, as you're listening to this on the Last Great Day, this is the final sermon, this is the eighth day, and you have been so blessed to experience day by day by day... What an awesome thing!  Had an opportunity to speak to one here today that said this was her first Feast of Tabernacles.  And it's so inspiring, especially when you've never experienced anything like this, and it's exciting to experience it year by year by year, that food that we're given every day, that spiritual food that God gives to us in such a powerful way!  Again, so reflective of the time that we're heading into, of the Millennial period and the Last Great Day when food will be so abundant in ways we can't even begin to comprehend yet as we think about the 144,000 and Jesus Christ Himself being here on this earth!  The teaching, the instruction, the guidance, the direction - it's going to be so awesome, it truly is, and it's so close now!  So close!  Right at the doorstep!

So going on with the sermon here; as I was writing down some of these initial notes I mentioned that...

"Three people were passing through from Michigan and stopped by our home as they were driving down to Lexington and I was asked by a senior elder, Greg, at that time about the Last Great Day sermon, and something regarding whether I knew what it was going to cover...and I didn't catch my reaction but Greg replied that by the reaction of my smile he knew his question was being answered."

"It's always inspiring to me when God begins to reveal sermons, but especially as I have witnessed the uniqueness of the Last Great Day sermons coming together.  I believe this first began to be experienced by me in its strongest way in the Feast of 2005 when we were covering a series of sermons where God was revealing more about Himself being the only One Eternally Self-Existing Almighty God and the awesomeness of His Son being the first to be born from among mankind into Elohim - into the Kingdom of God - and the majestic miracle of Christ's life beginning once he was born of Mary - never having had life before that moment, then becoming the Word of God made flesh."

What an incredible door that was opened up to us in 2005 as we were beginning to move forward with greater and greater speed and power and might that God was pouring out upon us, preparing us, preparing us for the Kingdom of God, preparing us at this end-time.

"And so, at that time it was given to me in the strongest form of confidence that during the Feast the final sermon for the Last Great Day would be fully revealed and that the subject matter would be about Melchizedek."

Now, that's an awesome thing, when you experience something to that level, to that degree - so that's why I tell these stories and tell about how some of these things work, so that you can share in that as well, to understand how God reveals so many things and how He gives us those things in His timing, but also the faith and the confidence and the boldness that God gives us through time.  And by this time we've been given so many truths that gave me greater boldness and confidence.  I knew how God was working in me!  I understood and knew when God was giving me certain things to be given to the Church, specifically Jesus Christ giving those things directly to me as He is the head of the Church.  And so He gave me that confidence to know, and it's an inspiring thing when God just gives us that ability to know, to know the truth or to know something that He has given to us, that it's just there.

It's like the first time He began to call you and someone maybe had said something about the Sabbath and the Holy Days, or you've read something, just a little blurb, and all of a sudden you know it... You Know It!  You may not even have to go to a scripture, you just know it!  And that's such an awesome thing!  And so it was here during that Feast.  And so many have been revealed in this way concerning the Last Great Day.

"And so again this year, on Atonement, the subject began to be given..."

...just a little bit as it was last year except I will say at the very beginning here this is not going to be like last year's sermon, that shocked people, that some people as soon as I got started went into shock, literally!  I can still see it!  I can still see it and I know some that aren't even with us now that experienced that at that time. But some just turned off and were never able to be turned back on again in one respect, and that reflects something else, but others responded, learned, examined themselves, looked at themselves, asked the questions that needed to be asked at that time, that we were told to do, to grasp a hold of something, because God was preparing us for something we had no knowledge of, that we've experienced - May 26th going to the 27th!

And I think back at the marvel of what God gave us last year on the Last Great Day of the Feast!   How in awe of that are you?  ...to think about that?  ...to think about the things that were said in that sermon.  ...to think about the things that God was giving.  And yet there was a portion in there that hadn't been revealed yet - but God was getting us ready for a moment in time that was going to be trying in some respects and disappointing in other respects, but He gave us what we needed so that as a whole, as a Body, we could sail through it and keep moving forward following God wherever He leads us.  And that's what we did as a whole, indeed, that's what the Body did, in that respect, through a period of time there after that moment.

And so again....

"...this year on Atonement the subject began to be given as Melchizedek was in 2005, and even as I am writing out this introduction I know the subject matter that is the focus of this sermon."

So, I'm going back and looking at it and this being on that first day right after the first sermon of the Feast there; and so I'm making the comment....

"...I know the subject matter that is the focus of this sermon, but I do not know the overall content - only part of the content -  of this Last Great Day's sermon..."

...Some of the direction where God is going to be taking us. But how it's all going to fit together, what's  going to come out, I didn't know at this point.  But going on, making this comment, just writing down these notes to read to you so that you can understand where I was at that moment, because you're sharing in this as well, of the awesomeness of what God does and how He leads and guides and directs us.  So going on....

"But with confidence I know it's there, hence the smile.  The process of Jesus Christ revealing it has begun, for all that we are fed is given by our High Priest - from Him to me to you.

And so this sermon today is entitled The Full Day of the Lord."

"Now, let me interject here that the thrust of the sermon, this now being the fourth day of the Feast..."

I'm taking you through time here as some of these things are given in the sermon, as I am putting the sermon together, to show you where I am at a specific moment in time, and now bringing you to the fourth day.  So everything up to this point in time, and even the title of the sermon was given on that first day.  And now bringing you to the fourth day because something else is being interjected here into the sermon.  So I'm saying here now on the fourth day....

"Now, let me interject here that the thrust of the sermon, this now being just after the fourth day of the Feast, what I've prepared earlier that God gave to me, which more fully reflects the thrust of this sermon, is now going to be moved ahead in the sermon and other material covered first, and then we will launch into the awesomeness of what God is giving us in this final sermon on this final Last Great Day in man's age."

Now, that's inspiring to me, exciting to me, because starting with day one some things began to be given, more on day two, day three, and it was complete as far as the primary thrust of the sermon, of what you're going to hear once we get farther into it.  But then comes the fourth day - when the fourth day came, after the service of that day, I began to go to the sermon knowing that the finishing touches were going to be put on it, and it was given to me then that that needs to be at the beginning of the sermon and to move the other content that started with the first day farther into the sermon.  So we'll get to that in a moment.  But now we're going to go into those things that God gave to me on the fourth day, yesterday, that I'm giving now today in this pre-recorded sermon.

"God has blessed us with reflection at this Feast as He is moulding much into us by our being able to reflect upon events of the past in order to better understand the present, being more fully prepared for the future."

It's awesome, it truly is!  And actually we started doing a lot of this, going back to very shortly after Pentecost.  There is a pattern, probably more powerful today in a sense of this 'Day of the Lord', of how God has been working with us, a pattern that is easier to see, a pattern that has started, that we've already had sermons about the pattern, but that pattern continued all the way up to the Feast, and now that pattern is going through this Feast tying things together in such a powerful, powerful way, and as time goes on... I know we're being inspired now, we will be inspired in this, but you'll be inspired more later on by what is given in this day.

"The sermons that we have received since Pentecost indeed are awesome; they do all tie together in a very powerful way to lead us, to prepare us to what these days have pictured - the Millennium."

That's what we've been prepared for all along - Preparing for the Kingdom of God - the Millennium, when the Kingdom of God will finally be established on the earth, and then indeed, at that time, not just the Millennium, but the Kingdom of God as well.  So we're all being prepared for different things, some to go directly into the Kingdom of God, which means into the Government of God, a part of the 144,000 that will govern this earth as the world will be ruled over by the Kingdom of God that will reign on the earth with Jesus Christ as King of Kings...and others will be living in the world, continuing on as physical human beings, a part of that which the Kingdom of God will rule over.

So, looking at the sermons and thinking about the process, how God has led us...

"This process has continued on into the sermons given throughout the Feast..."

Starting with Pentecost, all the way up to the Feast, and now through the Feast....

" - all tying together as God's finishing touch being placed upon us."

What an awesome thing!  God's finishing touch being placed upon us by the hand of God Almighty, that power and that might to mold and to fashion us, to prepare us, to lead us, as Jesus Christ gives to us Sabbath by Sabbath by Sabbath the messages that were given, the truth that we're given, the admonition, the encouragement, the teaching that we're given, and then as we've been experiencing through this Feast of Tabernacles...

"The very first sermon concerning rejoicing before God, which was magnified even more in the sermons to follow..."

It's amazing how different sermons have tied together, and even areas of scriptures, even though certain areas of scripture are used God has used different areas here to drive home different points that He's giving to us, that finishing touch that He's giving to us.  And so I think of starting from the very beginning and how God magnified even that very first sermon...

"...and in that first sermon the added instruction, not only of rejoicing but of practicing what God has given so that we can make it to 'the show'!"

If you remember the example there in sports.  I believe it was baseball.   We're all different, we all have different likes and dislikes and that's good, we are all a lot of different variety.  But again, an excellent analogy or example of something here to drive a point home, to make it to 'the show'.  Some finishing touches being prepared here as a part of 144,000, some the finishing touch of that which you're learning and experiencing, especially those of you who are newer, who never experienced some of the things of the past that the Church has gone through, especially the apostasy, and what you have been molded and fashioned into.

And as you look back into the past year here, back to the Feast of Tabernacles last year and that great stern warning that God was giving to us at that time, of things to examine, and yet from that time forward leading up to May 27th people came to understand in a more powerful way, if you will, a powerful lesson driven home, who have never experienced that.  I experienced Laodicea, I know what Laodicea is, but some of you never experienced that.  But God has given you a taste of that so that you can understand and so that you can be able to carry those lessons with you into a new age to teach, to help others, to encourage others, and you've experienced what it's like to do some coasting, to begin to do some coasting and then what God began to give to us on the 27th of May and the admonition, the encouragement, the strength...that's a powerful, powerful pattern that I hope we can see, mightily so, of what God is telling us even in a more profound way in this particular sermon today. But going on here....

"God has been giving us much IN His 'prophetic day' so that we are blessed so mightily to be ever so prepared for what is coming soon in His 'day', the FULL 'Day of the Lord'."

We're going to go back here and look at one area of scripture.  I marvel sometimes of how some of these things have tied together and even how we've had some things here at the Feast - if I have time here I'll mention some of those that the different ministers have gone into, even today some of the things that Wayne went into - scriptures that some areas were covered in a specific kind of focus, in Matthew 18 and Luke as well - today they were covered in another focus as we look to how those things apply especially to those who are going to be awakened once again.  Awesome where we are in time and what God is preparing us for!

I thought as I was listening to that sermon - how apropos that God is giving us that, because that's a part of our focus of what is in front of us now.  At some point here, especially around the time of the 5th Trumpet, as we have known, as God has given us to know, that's when the majority of this in that area is going to begin happening.

But let's turn over to Jude here.  We've gone into Jude recently, especially the latter verses, and even this area was covered in one particular sermon, but let's notice here again, Jude 1.  It's awesome here what God tells us and this is a part of a message here on the Last Great Day of something that we are to see and we are to understand about God's finishing touch upon us, His hand that works in our life, and the blessings of what He is showing us and leading us in, and working with us in.

And so it says here, Jude 1 - Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them who are sanctified by God the Father, set apart for holy use and purpose.  You know, once we've been in the Church for a while sometimes that can escape us, because this is our life, indeed, but we need to always hold onto this - sanctified, set apart - God has called us to holy use and purpose as a part of His plan that's being worked out.  And to have the place we do is so great, is so incredible, it truly is.  We are so blessed!

...to them who are sanctified by God the Father, and I love this - and ‘preserved’ – it's a Greek word that means ‘watched over’, ‘guarded over’.  Watched over, guarded over - God's care and concern for us!  His love for us!  But it says here, and preserved, or watched over/guarded over in Jesus Christ, in ...and we've been admonished, powerful so, about that life we're to have in Him and He in us, and the blessing of being able to continually be able to repent of our sins and become stronger...and learning that those things are very much about our relationships with others starting in the Church - really starting in family, and in the Church and that Family, and in the world, of how we think toward others.  And by being in Jesus Christ and He in us, we in God the Father and God the Father in us, how that by that closeness, by that strong bond, that we are watched over!  We have a strong and a powerful relationship with God Almighty and He watches over us, He guards over us, though sometimes we may go through some very difficult things, as we talked about just before the Feast here, a powerful force at work in this world!  But we're to be awakened to that as well, aren't we?  We're to be alert to that!  ...to be on guard, aren't we?  To understand the power of that being out there, that lying being, that deceitful being, that one who has attacked God's people from the beginning of time, has attacked God's way from the time he changed.

And so we address some of these things in our life - and that power that's just like as thick as a knife in the air sometimes, you can cut it with a knife it's so thick, that pressure that's around you.  And sometimes we don't know what it is, but you know what?  God is always there!  If we're living this way of life, if we're yielding to this and yielding to the instruction that God gives to us, as sermons are given Sabbath by Sabbath, indeed we are watched over, we are guarded over, and that being has no power in our life except to throw things at us.  And he can throw all he wants but we are in God's hands.  What an awesome thing to understand!  ...the comfort that should give!  The comfort that should give!  A lot of scriptures speak about that, that comfort, '...if there be any comfort...'  those things that God gives to us of His way of life that He shares with us, of the knowledge, of the knowing.  Just like this 'knowing' that this sermon would be here through the Feast because I've experienced it so many times and I share it with you, this knowing, this confidence of this way of life, this is the Church of God, this knowing that we have of the truths that God has given to us, that boldness, that confidence.  And God watches over us and guards us.  He's put a lot of work into us, He truly has...molded and fashioned us and is now, at this Feast, been putting some of His finishing touches, a finishing touch upon us.

...and preserved in Jesus Christ; and called, we have to be called first.  We've heard a lot about that at this Feast, of being called, of being drawn and what that means to God, how that process works in us.  We've learned a lot at this Feast which helps us in a very big way to understand how God works in our life, how He works in human life, the present truth, how God judges us, how we're to learn how to judge.  Because God works with us according to what He's given to us; we're judged by, according to, what we have at any moment in time.  It's awesome!

Verse 2 - Mercy unto you, and peace; mercy, we receive so much mercy from God.  I marvel in the last few years, it's just accelerated in my life more and more and more, to see, to know, to grasp, to embrace this matter of mercy.  We can think we know what mercy is.  We can hear the expression about 'the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith', and we can think we have a pretty good handle on that.  No, we grow in that.  We'll ever grow in that because it depends upon, to the degree, we're conquering and overcoming self; to be able to come to grasp the depths of mercy is something you grow in.  To come to grasp the depths of God's love is something you grow in.  You don't have it all at once.  We don't have anything all at once, nor at any moment in time.  We are able to ever continue to grow, and that's such a beautiful thing.

Mercy unto you, and the more we learn about how God has dealt with us then we can respond and begin to live that toward others.  That's what grace is all about, that which we receive from God, that we're able to finally begin to live more and more toward others.  ...and peace, the peace that is the product of living God's way of life, of administering God's way, which we call government, in large part, and we use those terms a lot, but it's about administering God's way in life and how unity and oneness and order in those things is so important.

Mercy unto you, and peace, and agape, love, God's love, be 'multiplied'. A word that means 'increased'.  So you think about the harvest, what you've reaped, what you've been blessed to take in that God wants you to take in...these are the things.  These are some of those things we talked about a little bit - not on that first day for me, but on the second day - about the harvest and those things to rejoice in and so forth, and it wasn't just a matter of what we brought to the Feast, it's what we've received and been able to take into our lives, of the increase that God has blessed us to have, and here is an example; mercy, peace, agape be multiplied/be increased.  ...and the ability to grow in those things.  It's beautiful.  Fruit in our life.

"This says so much about God's spirit and that of His Son toward each of us indeed.  We are much loved by God!"

And I've seen the evidence of that  love more and more and more in God's Church - genuine love, a more powerful love, not just a philia love that I experienced in Philadelphia, of a close knit Body in so many respects, but this, when it comes from God, when it's a matter that it's motivated by God's spirit because it's a matter of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, and God's spirit that dwells in us that gives us the ability to live this, of sometimes not even knowing fully what it is, that which is expressed towards others that we otherwise would not be able to do on our own save that God has taught us and led us and blessed us to experience it toward others.

So we are, if we understand, and to indeed hold onto it, we are much loved by God.

"A great work is being finished in some of us and a very great work has been done in the greater number of you to take with you on into the Millennium."

For you to take on into the Millennium, a work that God has been doing, a finishing work for some who are going to be part of 144,000 because God has it all mapped out, incredibly so, every part, until it's finally ready to be fit into place.  And for those going into the Millennium, there is that which you are experiencing.  I marvel at what so many have been experiencing that they don't understand yet, those who are new, who will one day grasp and comprehend in a greater way what they've been given during this time even, this specific time since this 'day', this long 'day', this 'prophetic day' has begun.

"At this Feast it struck me today...."

...and I’m speaking here concerning on the 4th day when I was going through this in this part.

"At this Feast it struck me today that we are half way through the Feast and we are now at a point that could be defined in a very clear way as now going over the 'hump', in one respect, being at the pinnacle."

Now that's the way it is at the Feast, because we're at the height of it and now we're going down in time and now here, literally, we're at the Last Great Day, but in a spiritual sense that's where we are, that's where we're so close to right now in the Last Great Day.  We're at a point that's somewhat like a pinnacle, we're at the peak.

"And I like the word 'pinnacle' because by its very definition it's 'a high pointed piece of rock' - pinnacle."

And I think of the massive rock, I think of the scripture we looked at where we spoke of Peter, his name being 'a small stone', and then we spoke of 'the Rock', the Church upon which Jesus Christ was going to build the Church, this massive 'Rock', upon Petra, upon God Almighty.  Spiritually, that's what it pictures.  It's not a physical location over in Jordan, Petra, speaking of that area of the world.  But again here, for us, even spiritually in what we're going through and what we're learning, what God is giving to us at this Feast of Tabernacles.  One day we're going to look back and marvel indeed.

And so again here, being at the pinnacle, like at the pinnacle of our calling in this final age of mankind.

"Spiritually, there is a verse that describes how I feel in all this in a very powerful spiritual manner.  It was mentioned at the beginning of the Feast as we focused on our journey through the wilderness; Joshua."

Let's turn to Joshua 1, says so much, and I feel this powerfully so.  I can't tell you how strongly, how important, how meaningful this is on a spiritual plane, because we've talked about the spiritual journeys, the things that are a 'type' that God has given to us that we're living, that we're blessed to live in reality and spirit.

Joshua 1:9 – Haven’t I commanded you to be strong and of good courage? That which God wants to give to us as He gives everything that He does to us.  We cry out for it then, "God in Heaven, help me to indeed be strong and of good courage in moving forward - bold in what You have for us, the confidence that goes with that because of what this is all about, why this is stated..."

...be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, neither be dismayed:  Not by anything! We are much, much loved!  We belong to God and Jesus Christ – they are there, indeed, watching over, guarding over you!  Your life is in His hands!  Nothing...if you understand that - NOTHING is going to happen to you!  It's like Jesus Christ said, told Pilate, "You have no power over me unless it's given to you.  There is nothing you can do unless it's been given to you, unless God has a purpose in allowing it and it'll be for a great purpose, to the glory of God, to the glory and purpose of God, to the service of God," ...the joy and the fullness that will be there in the time that follows.  And so again, for all of us to understand, the confidence, the boldness - my life, your life is in God's hands and you are loved by Him so very, very much indeed and He watches over and He guards over us, truly.  Sometimes we get in trials and troubles and we become dismayed and afraid and fearful - God says don't let that happen, especially now in where we are and what He's doing.

...for the Eternal your God is with you wherever you go! Wherever you are God's there.  He's not only there, He's in you and you're in Him!  Sometime we don’t grasp what we have... that should give us a boldness and a confidence - not in a haughty way, in a humble way, but in a confident way and in a bold way.

Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare your food, prepare everything that you've been given, prepare yourself for what's ahead now.  You've been given certain things, now be fully prepared; for within three days you will pass over this Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Eternal your God is giving you to possess. We’re almost there!  Now, we thought we were there almost, and truly now we're living it in a very powerful way.  We're almost there!

So, going on.  I think of even the marvel - I just want to mention something else here before we continue on.  In this Feast God has prepared you with greater soundness of mind concerning Himself and His Kingdom, His Government.  There are things you've been given in this Feast that one day you'll come to understand.  I think of the book Mr. Armstrong wrote, 'Mystery of the Ages'.  He wrote it toward the very end of His life.  It was given to the Church toward the very end of his life.  All that he had gone through in the 30's and the 40's and the 50's and the 60's and the 70's and into the early 80's there, and when he got up in front of us... When those books were up at the front of the classroom there in Pasadena, at Ambassador College as the ministers were being taken through there... he wasn't able to make it to all meetings, sometimes they would videotape them and show it to other groups of ministers.  But they would bring groups of ministers in; it would take about a year sometimes, a year and a half to bring all the ministry into headquarters for a refreshing program that would last about two weeks, to go through various kinds of guidance and counseling, not counseling but in the sense about things about the Church, about administration in the Church and instruction that we needed to have in the ministry - and opportunities as well for us to get to know each other better and fellowship together and learn more by experiences and sharing those things.

But I remember Mr. Armstrong up there and talking about the book and his face was just lit up.  He was so excited to be able to hold that book, and in essence, said so - after all those years, because he saw it took a lifetime of work, of toil, of work in this way of life, in this physical carnal world, but with God molding and fashioning him to bring a story together of things about the plan of God that people had never had before.  It wasn't given in the time of Christ, that ability to put that story together like that. It didn't exist then, it didn't exist in the first Church era, or the second, or the third, or the fourth, or the fifth...but in the sixth, in Philadelphia God blessed a story to be written about what He was doing in a very powerful way on the earth.  Was it perfect?  No.  Is everything perfect now?  No.  But it was the present truth and it was powerful, more truth than the world had ever been given to that point in time and it took 50-some years to bring it all together, to write that book.

And so, I think about some of those things and what we are experiencing now, what we are going through now, and lessons that we continue to learn, of those things that we're being given even now and through this Feast of Tabernacles.  Because there are things about Government, there are things about how God works in our life, there are things about all that you've heard in the sermons, so much of what you've been given we have not known, it has not been given.  The ministry in times past did not have so much of these things, indeed, they weren't there, the experiences weren't there, the lessons weren't there, they hadn't been given.

And so I think about this period of time, that we've been brought up to this period of time, indeed, as I look back about how God has worked through me; I can relate to Mr. Armstrong when he held up that book and he was so excited.  And I think about the sermons leading up to the Feast and those given to you now, that we have been given.  They're very much akin to, on a spiritual plane, Mr. Armstrong holding up that book and saying, "This is what it's brought us to; to this fruit, to this product, to this power, to this might, to this clarity, to this beauty that God has given to us.

"And today..."

Again, speaking on the fourth day....

"...I'm writing this - I marveled at how God gave you a powerful opportunity to have a lesson driven home in how He works with us in the present truth!"

I hope you caught it!

"Did you catch it?"

I marvel as I sit there and listen to my own sermon.  I've had a unique experience this year; I've had the opportunity to listen to my own sermons through the Feast of Tabernacles; not to give them, but to be inspired by God to pre-record them and to listen to them each day.  I have not spoken during the Feast.  When people have come together here we've just listened to the pre-recorded sermons.  And I have been in awe; I have been moved, because it's a matter of God's spirit because of the words of God that come from Jesus Christ to us, and they inspire, and the things I have learned and been inspired in...it's exciting, it's one of the most inspiring Feast of Tabernacles I have ever experienced, it truly is.  It's been...I don't know how to describe it and the uniqueness of it on a spiritual plane.

And so I think of even a lesson that God drove home during the Feast, to drive home the point even contained in the series there about the present truth.

"I hope you received the impact, the inspiration of a powerful firsthand experience."

Let's turn over there and look at it - Matthew 18:15....  Matthew 18, this matter of going to a brother, and candidly, this part of it being covered in sermons just prior to the Feast here, just a couple sermons back from the Feast here. It wasn't even two weeks before the Feast started, the one about 'Gaining a Brother'.  We changed the name of the title there about 'Going to a Brother' to the final sermon there of 'Gaining a Brother' and Matthew 18:15 - notice:

Matthew 18:15 - Moreover if your brother shall trespass against you/unto you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone: and if he shall hear you, you have gained your brother. And so, beautiful what we learned.  But now, notice verse 16 - But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. Now, that sermon was pre-recorded before this sermon was given about 'Gaining a Brother', and something changed, something changed from the time - the present truth changed - from the time that I gave that sermon, the pre-recorded sermon about 'The Present Truth', because I gave it before the series was complete about 'Going to a Brother', and I gave it before that final sermon was given about 'Gaining a Brother', and I hope you caught it.

Because you see, in verse 16 in that pre-recorded sermon I made the comment, because it wasn't fully clear but I knew something wasn't right; I knew it wasn't fully clear yet about going and getting one or two others, as it says here, Take with you two or three witnesses that every word may be established. It doesn't say it exactly that way...it says one or two more.  If they will not hear you, take with you one or two more, and we went through that word, what it means to 'take' and so forth.  I'm not going to rehash all that.  But the point being is something changed...something changed in a short period of time.  God gave an understanding of this verse, that it was about the ministry.  It wasn't about individuals who are noted for, as it was stated in the sermon during the Feast here about 'The Present Truth', as verse 16 was being covered, and the comment being made, in essence, that you're not to just pick out a close friend of yourself or a friend of the other person, but to go to individuals who are noted, in essence, for and with respect and the like, because that's where we were, that's what we'd always been given in the Church in the sense of not knowing fully what does this mean...and yet not being comfortable with it, not knowing that that was really the way it worked because we all... because for my self and instruction I would give to the ministry as a whole, through times past, is really not to do this part but to go to the ministry, and come to find out that's what this verse is about...as was brought out later after the pre-recorded sermon was done; and in the sermon about 'Gaining a Brother' you were told this verse is about going to the ministry, and the ministry may or may not take you, in going to this brother, to gain them, and the ministry will take care of and go to and then judge and evaluate and work with the other individual.  And see, that was the change.  The present truth changed in a short couple of weeks period of time there.  Awesome!   Awesome-awesome-awesome!

And then verse 17 - And if he shall neglect to hear them, the ministry, the ministers, tell it to the Church: and we gave what that meant then in the most present truth being the sermon about 'Gaining a Brother'.  That was growth to that period of time and we judge things now by that sermon that was given, we administer those things now in the Church in a more powerful way by what was given in that sermon, and the point being in all this - look at what God gives to us!  Look at what He's been given to us!  He's giving us things that we haven't had in the Church in times past to better understand how God is working in our life and how He wants us to work within the Body and so forth.  And that's just one small example.  But you were blessed to witness something that happened in a very powerful way to drive the point home about the present truth, that that's how we judge and that's how we are judged, by how we administer that present truth.

Now, coming back to where I was on the 1st Day of the Feast, being given the direction of where the rest of the sermon is going let's pick it up where I wrote...

"As I begin looking into this sermon with this title," as I mentioned, "The Full Day of the Lord, that has just been given - as I have been writing - the clarity is so strong, the focus is so sharp, because God has brought us to this time and He is revealing to us by His great power what He is doing in this final 'prophetic day' from Pentecost to Pentecost. All the sermons since this 'day' began have led up to this time."

And just again, writing in the notes here:

"As Laura and I will be listening to the second sermon for this 1st Day in about another hour from now I cannot help but think of what God has given us since this 'prophetic day' began and what He is giving us at the Feast, starting from the first day and the two sermons being given today.  As Terry began the first sermon he began by speaking of this 'prophetic day', of this 'Day of the Lord' that God has clarified for us though we have always had some knowledge of this 'day'."

We've had some knowledge about the 'Day of the Lord' in times past and yet it didn't fit into place.  We had knowledge about the very last of this 'day' being the 'Day of the Lord'.  There is a specific day within the overall 'prophetic day' when the 7th Trumpet sounds and the 7 Last Plagues are poured out.  But going on here in the notes and what was written on that day, 1st Day.

"It was then that Christ gave to me the beginning of this sermon, which we will go to that scripture in a moment, but first I want to read to you part of the introduction of the second sermon being given on the 1st Day of the Feast."

This is what was said in that second sermon on the 1st Day of the Feast:

"This first sermon I am giving is entitled 'Moving Through the Wilderness', for we are traveling in a similar manner to those Israelites who were physically moving through the wilderness toward the promised land, and we are fulfilling that journey on a spiritual plane."

God has given that to us to understand this is what we are to know and to understand that that which happened physically is happening to us, being fulfilled on a spiritual plane.

Let's turn back now to Exodus 12, because this, to me, is awesome what God is giving to us today, it truly is.  Exodus 12 - coming out of Egypt!  I think of the sermons last week, they were all, in essence, geared toward where God is leading this world and what He is doing with this world that happened to the Israelites physically, that it's happening to this world massively - taking them out of bondage!  What a beautiful time!  Taking them away from Pharaoh, from the power of Satan.  Freeing the world!  Awesome!  Exodus 12 then for us now, today, verse 40.

Exodus 12:40 - Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.  And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the self-same day it...

I marvel at the meticulous timing of God.  I marvel at even listening to one of the sermons there again and going back through and talking about this time-line of things that started when the 1st Seal was opened, when the apostasy began, and when we learned and everything was moved forward when we learned and God showed us a truth, the 50th Truth, and finally we're thrust forward to Trumpets of 2008 and of 1335 days that began a count.  And all the counting and all the numbers that all of a sudden begin to fit into place.  Awesome what God gave to us!  Because God is meticulous in His timing and so He is in this final, in this great 'prophetic day', this 'Day of the Lord'.  And so it says here:

Exodus 12:40 -  ...came to pass... even the self-same day ... after four hundred and thirty years it came to pass that all the hosts of the Eternal went up, out from the land of Egypt.  We're almost there ...almost there!  It is a 'night to be much observed' unto the Eternal for bringing them out from the land of Egypt.  This IS that night of the Eternal to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations."

Wow!  I have chills going up and down my spine!  Awesome!  Because I know where this is going.  Incredible what God gives to us, the meaning, the revelation, the beauty, the awesomeness of when they began their journey out of Egypt, and we are beginning our journey, finishing, leaving Egypt in the 'Day of the Lord'.

"In the past we have covered the deep meaning of this as it pertains to coming out of Egypt... for each of us  ...on a spiritual plane ...as we have covered this meaning on different years, as it pertained to the Passover season, it needs to be repeated here that the word 'observed' is used here twice in this verse and used in any other place."

Awesome!  ...and beautiful!  Applied to them physically, applies to us spiritually more so now than ever before!

"As we've covered in times past, this word in Hebrew means 'night watch, watching, vigil'."

This is the state they were to be in.  This contains the spiritual meaning as well for us, that's why we've gone through this at different times around Passover period and so forth.

"And so as we have covered in those sermons this parallels the instruction of Jesus Christ who admonishes us over and over again to be on guard, to be watchful, to be vigil, if you will, to be alert, and not to sleep spiritually, not to fall asleep spiritually."

And so what a powerful admonition given.  I think of what God gave to us to understand as we led up to the 26th, especially for individuals to understand who are new more than anything else, that God is giving you an opportunity to learn, an experience that you can carry with you into the Millennium, to learn something very powerful, because all who lived through the apostasy know these things powerfully so because they lived in Laodicea, to experience a touch of Laodicea, of coasting, of lukewarmness, of what that means and to repent of that.  Because God's admonition, Jesus Christ's admonition for us over and over again is to be alert, to be on guard, to be watchful!  And what an awesome thing, what this verse, what these verses mean now of what we as a Church, as God's Church, are experiencing on a spiritual plane, fulfilling this journey on a spiritual plane as they fulfilled it on a physical plane.

"And I think of the scriptures that talk about, 'If the good man of the house had known in what hour the thief would break in, he would have watched...'"

Remember those examples?  In other words, he would have been on guard and not go to sleep, not let down.  He would have stayed awake, stayed alert.

I think of the messages we've been receiving since this final 'day' began.  I think of the messages to move forward, to hold fast, to stand firm in God's way of life, to put on the whole armour of God, to understand we are at war, the need to be alert, the need to be on guard.  I think of all the messages God's been giving to us leading us up to this Feast of Tabernacles!  Awesome what He's given to us!

"So why mention all this at this point of the sermon?  Because this has to do with what we need to consider at this time in this 'Day of the Lord'."

"I received a letter a couple of weeks ago from an individual who was a member of the Worldwide Church of God and who had been with us from very early on in PKG, and who was also ordained an associate elder.  He was informing me that he would no longer be a part of our fellowship, and he made a comment in his letter that, in essence, he had stayed around for these first few months after Pentecost, but as nothing had happened in the world to this point he no longer believed what we do and he did not believe we were in the 'Day of the Lord'."

"Why, in this sermon on this Last Great Day, with what we have just read in Exodus concerning the spiritual meaning of the 'Night....'"

Why have we mentioned this 'Night to Be Much Observed?'  How does this have meaning then with where we are now?

"What we are living through right now is our spiritual 'type' of what the Israelites did when they were beginning their journey out of Egypt in the NIGHT.  We're beginning our final journey out of Egypt IN THE NIGHT in this 'Day of the Lord'."

"When does a day begin?  Our final 'day' began at sundown on the Sabbath ending of May 26th as we were entering into Pentecost - from Pentecost to Pentecost. "

Now, I don't know how all this is going to work out, God hasn't revealed that.  We still have not been shown specifically, but God is showing us the 'type' that we're to learn right now is that we have been in the 'night' of the 'Day of the Lord', because a day begins at sundown and we enter into a period of time.  And God is telling us how He's been working with us indeed...to be alert, to be on guard, to be watchful in this 'night' as we're coming finally out of Egypt, as God is finally delivering His people, because it's always been first and foremost about God's Church.

"So, once we are through this night-time portion of the 'Day of the Lord', one phase of tribulation will be coming to an end and a new physical phase of tribulation will begin upon this world."

I marvel at how these all tie-in together in meaning and what we've just had in the sermon just before the Feast.

So, in the introduction of this first sermon I gave at this Feast, it was stated, "I believe - we believe - that we are in the final 'Day of the Lord' - prophetically 'between the two evenings' of Pentecost.  We are moving forward toward the fulfillment of that prophetic period of time to a far more meaningful promised land than that of old."

So again, where are we in this 'Day of the Lord'?  Again, we don't fully know - not fully - but what we are being given is a clearer picture of what is now behind us and what is closing in fast.  And to understand it's been the 'night-time'.  That's how God wants us to understand it.  That's why certain things did not begin immediately on that first part of the 'Day of the Lord'.  God will do things in His time and He wants us to learn from this and to understand.

There are two Old Testament stories I think of that God has given to us over the past few years that are a physical pattern, or 'type', of what we have been experiencing on a physical plane in this end-time, because they are given for this specific purpose; a physical 'type' of something that was to be fulfilled in a spiritual likeness later on...not always exact, even as parables, but to have the 'type', the 'pattern' that is there.

So, I think of the first story of Gideon that God gave to us, of running down the hill together into battle!  And I think of being toward the end of 2008 when we did that in a powerful way on a spiritual plane.  I think of leading up to that through 2007 and on into 2008 - we committed ourselves to running down a hill.  We spoke in these terms!  We put everything on the line!  Total commitment to the battle before us - just like they did!  They put everything on the line!  You can't do these things half-way!  You're either fully committed to it, to the battle, or not.  And at that point in time, to go into, to discuss, to talk about, to address, to teach things about the 1335 days that would come, the 1260 days of a witness to be done by two witnesses - candidly, by the Church - of what we were to picture in our lives that's been done in the past 6,000 years...and more work to follow as well behind that.  But primarily that being the witness of those things, indeed, bringing us to a final 'day', a 'prophetic day' of something that God was going to give and to teach.  But we put everything on the line way back then!  Everybody that lived through that, that's what you did!  Everything!

I mean, you're going to stand out when you do that in a very powerful way!  ...you start teaching those kinds of things because you're committed to it, because you believe it, because you believe what God has given to you.

I think of the story of Gideon - they were committed to it.  Gideon had to have certain things of encouragement and God has given me, has given us, certain encouragement leading up to that point in time - and then we did it, and we started running down the hill together.

Then, toward the end of this battle, because, again, we put everything on the line, total commitment to the battle before us and we started fighting it.  We didn't understand it fully but we started fighting it, we started doing it, we started applying it, we started living it into that 3½ years.  Then toward the end of that battle, this particular battle we were in...because it's been a battle, to be a witness of something that's happened over 6,000 years but condensed into 3½ years - wow!  You know, sometimes we don't realize what we go through!  Sometimes we don't realize the intensity of it!  This has been intense!

I've lived through a lot of intense things since all this began, since the 1st Seal was opened...some pretty intense things!  This, that period of time of 3½ years, has been quite intense...indeed it has.

So, toward the end of this battle God gave us another physical 'type' in the story of Joshua going into the promised land, with a battle that would first ensue upon Jericho.  And today it's good that we consider that 'type' which the Israelites lived, that they experienced, that we are living and experiencing on a spiritual plane.  Because we are!  I hope we understand that.  That which was given concerning Gideon, that we lived that on a spiritual plane.  That which is about Joshua, we have been living on a spiritual plane and we're still living it, it's not over with yet, the walls haven't come down yet.  But we're going to understand it better now, we're going to understand that 'type' a little more clearly now, that 'type' that is working in our lives.

And what we just read back in Exodus, 'The Night to Be Much Observed'?  This is for us, in a very powerful way, in a literal way, spiritually on a spiritual plane and that which God is physically doing in this world as well, but with the Church, a 'Night To Be Much Observed', a 'night' to be on guard, indeed!  That's what we have been admonished over and over again, to comprehend we are in a war, we are in a battle, we are to have on the spiritual armour and to understand that so much of that means as well how we live our lives and how we live toward each other, how we judge and don't judge, and so forth, and the things that God wants us to understand so that we can be closer to Him.

So, let's turn over to Joshua 6 - going to that story that we have embraced in a stronger way in the previous year, but there is more from the story, from this 'type' that God has given us to learn.

Joshua 6:1 - Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. They were preparing for a great conflict there.  Here are all these, the children of Israel - a few million?  We don't know how many were there.  But a few million?  Awesome!  And the LORD said to Joshua, See, I have given Jericho into your hand,  'See, I've given Jericho into your hand'; what an incredible thing!  ...a confidence and a boldness that God has given to us, of where we are, that it's ours to take, it's ours to have - we are almost there!  He says, See, I have given Jericho into your hand; a confidence and a boldness we're to have, to be strong and of good courage comes from this, understanding and belief of this on a spiritual plane in our own lives.  ...and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. In other words, to Joshua and therefore to all Israel.  And you shall compass/surround the city, all men of war, and go round around/circle, march around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. March around the city once.  So it's very specific here in the story.

And so we covered some of this 'type' in Joshua back in January of this year, with that being a time that reflected the specific, or the reason a specific statement was made during that sermon.  So we covered in that sermon back in January of this year some of this story about Joshua, and a specific statement was made in that sermon in which it was stated something to this affect, in other words, "We have now gone through six times of marching around Jericho."  If you remember rightly, we spoke of terms of marching around Jericho and we're getting ready to go into that seventh day, and so the division was right there in that period of January, and so that's why it was spoken of in those terms. If you remember, it was stated in this way because we have focused on the period that we were living through on a spiritual plane of 'Time, Times, and a Half-a-Time', and so that period was divided into seven equal parts of 'Half-a-Time'; we understood that that's what was pictured there.

And so a specific period of time there then talking about a 'Half-a-Time', and we'd just passed the sixth and we were getting ready to go into the seventh.  So that's what was being discussed there in January.

So, let's continue on:  verse 4 - And before/in front of the ark, seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day you shall compass/march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.  Now, up to this time, the seventh day, there was one thing in common with all seven days.  On all seven days the Israelites marched around the city once on each day - that is what is in common to what we did as a 'type' during the seven periods of 'Half-a-Time' during the 'Time, Times, and Half-a-Time'.  The thing that was in common - though there was more added on the seventh day, the only thing that was in common with all seven days was the fact that they marched around the city once.  What was added was that they were to march around six more times on that final day, on the seventh day.

So again, thinking about what remained constant - that they marched once around the city on seven different days - or for us, through the period of 'Time, Times, and Half-a-Time'.

So it was the fact, what God is showing us - what is the fact is is that the 1st Trumpet of Revelation had sounded and that same sound carried through all seven days.

God gave to us in the very beginning, when the 1st Trumpet sound was, and we know when the last Trumpet sound is, but the rest in between we haven't known because God reveals that in His time...and He's revealing more of that today.  But He's showing us here that that 1st Trumpet sound, which we have come to understand, which has been spoken of, that sound has continued on since it began, something that God is giving as a 'type' here to learn from.

And so again, that's what's reflected in the action of circling the city once on each of those seven days.  It was a matter of understanding the economic condition that was set to destruction once the 1st Trumpet blast sounded, but that sound continued on all seven days throughout that period of time and prophetically carried through those seven days, if you will then, along with the actual physical part of this continuing to be fulfilled both in the U.S. economy and something that's been out there and just continuing on that hasn't been corrected, can't be corrected, it's still there.  It's getting worse and worse in the sense of the underpinnings coming lose, but it's just there, it's just hanging on because that sound is still there; it can't recover, it can't do anything except become worse to when it finally collapses.  And in a physical part as well of a fulfillment of a drying up of this nation, of things that have been happening over the past few years!

I marvel when I went back and looked...I think in the sermon there we talked about some of the things that happened in 2010 and 2011 and all the fires and all, the massive amounts of land that had been destroyed and burned up; and I think of this year here even as we went into the 'Day of the Lord, how God gave to us that even in a more powerful way to help us to see that this was even magnified more in this country - even as they were speaking of a 500 year period of time in comparing the kind of drought in some areas of the United States and the massiveness of that and what it did.

And it isn't that there haven't been droughts before, there have been, but this is a unique period of time we're in as God is bringing these things together; and it isn't that these things have not happened in times past, that there haven’t been bad times, but they're magnified now for a specific reason.  And these because the 1st Trumpet blast has sounded - something that's going to carry on into and get worse and worse in the 2nd Trumpet, the 3rd Trumpet...all the way up to the 7th, because it just grows and becomes worse and worse until finally Babylon is gone.

So, let's go back and read these verses again, Joshua 6:3 - And you shall compass/surround the city, all men of war, the need to be prepared in battle, what God has been giving us especially as we've entered into this final 'day' here, of how we're to be prepared for battle, how we're to be in war, to recognize we're in war, to put on the whole armour of God.  How much has that been admonished?  How much have we been admonished in that?   ...all men of war, and go around/circle around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. And before the ark seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns: and on the seventh day you shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with their trumpets. So we have this story here of the trumpets being blown and that which continued on that was in common, the same thing, for all seven days - once around the city.  But six times were added for that last 'day'.

So, what is different now since we have entered the 'Day of the Lord' is that the marching was to continue.  When we came up to May 26th we thought our marching around Jericho would come to an end, but there were six more times to march around the city.  We entered into a prophetic period of time then at the very end of that 1260 days, at the end of (breaking it down even finer) into 'Time, Times, and a Half-a-Time'.

So what God is revealing is that these additional times of marching are a 'type'.  They are a 'type', not necessarily exactly in the timing, but they are a 'type', a 'pattern' and a 'type' on a spiritual plane, but they're a type of the 6 Trumpets that are yet to sound...and they are to sound in the DAYLIGHT portion of the 'Day of the Lord' and not now during the 'night'.  We are still in the night!  And for us, a 'Night To Be Much Observed' indeed, spiritually.  And so we still do not know the exact time that the 2nd Trumpet will sound, but we may well be seeing the first dawning of rays of light in the night sky.

I'll tell you, things are just sitting there ready.  Look around the world...  It only takes one and at some point it's going to be one that starts the dominoes just toppling one over the other.  Anywhere you look...Europe is still pushing, pushing very hard in this past couple of weeks, pushing very hard to have a United States of Europe, to come together in a stronger way. They are there but they don't have all that they need yet to push them over the edge, so to speak, to push them into it when they're going to do what they finally will come together in.  That's coming.

But all these things on the world scene...China enraged over Japan and those who are calling out for war!  Can you imagine Japan's thoughts?  Do you think that they believe that they're under a protective umbrella now?  What an amazing part of the world!  You know, how they were treated in two wars, WWI and WWII and now that sentiment, things aren't forgotten in some parts of the world, when certain things happen.  And so they're riled up, they're burning Japanese made cars and businesses and marching - it's been in the news but we don't see a whole lot it...but it's been in the news in certain areas of the world.  You have to kind of do a little bit of hunting sometimes but it's out there.

North Korea rattling sabres more powerfully than ever before!  ...and about thermal nuclear war, what they're calling it, even here recently as a result of the timing of the United Nations, and now they're doing worse than what they've done before!

All these areas of the world!  Russia!  ...and Georgia!  They want certain things back; they have intentions and then just this past week now warning NATO, "Do not go into Syria!"  These things are out there!  And now just the last couple of days here, Turkey and Syria, Erdogan there in Turkey, he has a vision of becoming a greater player in the Middle East, indeed, and he has an opportunity, he sees this.  This is how people are motivated and do certain things!  And then all the things that are happening there around the Persian Gulf and Iran - that never stops.

And so the world, it's ready, it's just God's timing, and when we come out of the 'night' and into the 'day' and certain things begin to happen...

Joshua 6:5 - And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, speaking of this seventh time of circling Jericho - again, this is symbolic of the final Trumpet blast, the 7th and the final blast that brings down Babylon, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. In other words, 'to move' or 'to charge forward'.

So again here, this is a point of time that symbolically pictures something, that we understand the 'Day of the Lord' literally leads into a final 'Day of the Lord' when God does what He does, when the 7th Trumpet blast takes place and the 7 Last Plagues are poured out.

So going on in verse 6 it says, And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, Take up the ark of the covenant, hold up the way of God before you, in other words, that's what we're always to do, to have that boldness and that confidence, 'to be strong and of good courage' as God says: and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before/in front of the ark of the Eternal. And he said to the people, Pass on, encircle the city, in other words, move forward and march around the city, and let those who are armed move forward/before/in front of the ark of the Eternal.  Great symbolism here all throughout this.

Verse 8 - And it came to pass, when Joshua spoke to the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns advanced forward in the presence of the Eternal and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the Eternal followed them.  God being with them.  God is with us. God is letting us know in a very powerful way at the Feast that He loves us, that we are being guarded over, that we are being watched over, though we have gone through some very difficult things and we go through some very difficult things in this world, God is on our side, God is there.  He is with us very powerfully so as we are in this 'day' that is His.  We are not abandoned in any fashion or form, we are strengthened because we're a part of His 'day', this 'Day of the Lord', in a very powerful way.  We are at the forefront of this just as these individuals were as they did this marching and they walked before God.  We are walking before God, we are marching before God forward into this 'day', into the time that's yet remaining.

Verse 9 - And the armed men advanced in front of the priests who blew with the trumpets, and the assembly followed after the ark, and the priests going before and blowing with the trumpets.  The rest going into a new age, the rest of mankind that is able to come into a new age...but we lead the way, God's Church leads the way.  We truly do!  We are at the forefront!  God's focus, God's concern is with us, with the Church.

Verse 10 - And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, You shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout; then you shall shout.  And we're going to fulfill some of this in a prophetic way, in a very powerful way, literally, not just prophetically, but it's prophetic here - but something that's going to be fulfilled in our lives, of things that we do once the 'daylight' portion is here and we continue moving forward here in front of all the rest - made to stand before God - leading on into the Millennial period.

Verse 11 - So the ark of the Eternal circled the city going around once: and they returned to the camp, and lodged in the camp. And Joshua rose up in the morning, speaking of the second day, and the priests took up the ark of the Eternal. And the seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Eternal moved forward and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went ahead of them; but the assembly came after the ark of the Eternal, the priests moving forward, and blowing with the trumpets.  And so again, to me, what an awesome thing, to think that that which was similar, that which was in common on all seven days was the blowing of the trumpets, as they went  once around Jericho and they blew the trumpets...as they circled Jericho.  And this is that...  I marvel!  How could you have a more beautiful picture of something that's pictured in all periods of time, 'Time, Times, and a Half-a-Time', seven times, seven periods of doing something the same, marching around once, blowing the trumpets, that's all reflective of something that continued through the seven periods of time - the 1st Trumpet!  Awesome!

And we've known that, we knew it blew!  We didn't know what it all meant in the beginning - God let us understand some of that as we've gone along through the past 3½ plus years.

Verse 14 - So on the second day they compassed the city once and returned into the camp: and they did so for six days. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose up early about the dawning of the day, and circled the city after the same manner now seven times: But that first time, still symbolic, still a 'type', of a pattern of something that continued on through all seven times, all the way to the end... only on that day only they circled the city seven times.  Six more times for us and it will happen during the 'daylight' portion of the 'Day of the Lord'.

Verse 16 - And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, Shout; for the Eternal has given you the city. In other words, the final day of the 'prophetic year', if you will, of the 'Day of the Lord'.

So, this is awesomely inspiring!  God has always been with us, always shown us where we are through time, given us these 'types' to encourage us, to strengthen us, to help us, to bless us in being focused, to help us to understand certain things, to understand why certain things didn't start out on this 'day' the way that perhaps some thought it should or needed to, or whatever.  In other words, using that almost as it were as a proof that this can't be God's final 'day'.  What a sad thing!

But what a beautiful thing when you wait for God to reveal it and to show it, that He's revealing here that this is the 'night' of the 'Day of the Lord'.  This is the night-time portion, this is the 'Night To Be Much Observed' because it's still about God's Church during the night-time portion.  God will do what He's going to do plenty soon with the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th, finally, Trumpets, and the sound and the blast that will be a 'type' of something that will fulfill, indeed, on a spiritual plane for us, that which is in Joshua.

So God has been making us ready for the return of His Son.  As part of that process He is sharing with us what He has been doing in this 'prophetic day', working with US, putting on the finishing touches, bringing us to the pinnacle ,to the peak, if you will, of the Rock.  He has been putting the finishing touches upon us, those things that we need as we begin to approach the dawning of the 'daylight' portion of the 'Day of the Lord'.

God has been strengthening us in this night-time portion, blessing us with a focus of being much more awake, if you will, alert, awake, spiritually alert and on guard, much more than we were as we approached May 27th!

What an awesome thing!  Just to understand Exodus 12 and what God has given to us about this greater meaning for us of what we are fulfilling as a 'type' on a spiritual plane of what they did on a physical plane, 'The Night To Be Much Observed'.  ...and this is OUR 'NIGHT'!  How awesome is that, brethren?  That just sends chills up and down my spine and I hope it does yours too.  It's inspiring!

So, God's message through His Son to us during this Feast of Tabernacles, and now this Last Great Day, is that they are well pleased in us, IN us...they're IN us and we in them!  How blessed!  And not only that but adding to that what we read in the book of Jude there about the meaning, about that which is preserved, in that respect, 'to watch over', 'to guard over'.

And so God is well pleased in us and they are preparing us to the end in the spiritual tribulation that we have been suffering through, and they've been strengthening us.  We've been going through various things, a spiritual tribulation, and just like the sermon before the Feast, that which is coming to an end now and we're getting ready to launch into a new period of time, into a transition, into a physical one that is a 'type' as well of scriptures we talked about in that particular sermon just before the Feast.

And so what an awesome thing here to recognize too the difference between the 'night-time' portion and the 'daylight' portion.  It's all there, it truly is.

And so God's desire to strengthen us indeed, empowering us for our final marching around Jericho in the 'daylight' portion of physical tribulation coming on this earth.

So brethren, be strong and of good courage – God is with us more than ever before!!

~~~end