The New Moon of Trumpets 01/07/29/120
Dear Friends,
Today is the day we traditionally associate with the Return of the Messiah.
It is the New Moon of the Seventh month. In fifteen days we will be at the Feast;
in ten days we will be fasting for the Day of Atonement. It is a year since
we were at the Reading of the Law. Much has happened and much more will happen
as we progress down the long and twisted road of world politics and war.
There are a number of nations at peace but there are a great many nations at war, and the situation is getting worse. Day by day now the mindset of intolerance and bigotry is hardening. There are things being done now that we would never have thought possible in our free and open societies outside of all-out war, and only then in dictatorial regimes that had abandoned the rule of law and the conventions that civilised nations had laid down for the proper conduct of hostilities.
Christ told us that Satan’s rule had to be shortened because, unless those days were shortened, there would be no flesh saved alive.
Matthew 24:22
And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved; but
for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
Mark 13:20
And if the Lord had not shortened the days, no human being would be saved; but
for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days
The only reason that these days are shortened is because of the elect whom God has chosen (see the paper Predestination (No. 296)).
The Plan of God will continue, and the human race will be kept alive only because of its place in the Plan of God, as the elect has a place in that Plan.
It is important that we look at the paper Trumpets (No. 136) on this day to get our bearings as to what is to occur.
It is not a matter that reflects on the Church, or on the justice and mercy of God. What is to happen does so because men are disobedient. God has given us a rulebook and a set of instructions that will ensure the protection, health and wellbeing of the entire planet, and ensure that we live life properly and have it more abundantly.
Over a number of decades we have seen people come into the Churches of God and be baptised, and then over the years they somehow lose sight of what it was they had. They sometimes lose heart and some turn and attack those who taught them. These are the ones that had pearls cast before them and then turned to rend their teachers. Some even blaspheme and curse God because they have lost sight of the Plan.
Some come in because they are sent in to damage the Churches of God. These are the most vicious and deceitful. They are truly the accusers of the brethren, and are known by their fruits.
Every one of us should remember that God never changes. He is immutable. Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He has written the Book of instructions and He gave it to us through His servants the prophets.
He didn’t change anything. He didn’t forget what He wrote. He did not lose it either. He appointed the Church and He gave that Church the authority to bind and loose. He established a Plan that pointed to Jesus Christ whom He sent, to die to redeem the creation from sin. The Temple system pointed to Christ who entered into the Sanctuary with his own blood once and for all to redeem mankind. God did not change anything. He fulfilled the sacrificial laws. He was not a Trinity when He began to create. He was the One True God. He did not establish different calendars. He expects obedience more than sacrifice.
He gave us simple laws to obey. The pointer to the capacity for obedience is the Sabbath. He commanded us to gather three times a year to worship Him and we are not to come empty-handed. This year we have issued a generic offering message that deals with those issues (see the paper Offering (No. 275)). There is no offering on Trumpets or Atonement, and only one at the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles; thus three offerings a year.
The Temple, while it stood, kept the correct calendar. It did not postpone its New Moons and Holy Days. It kept the calendar according to the conjunction and it did not commence the year as the Samaritans established, even as early as Jeroboam.
Josephus is a clear indicator of what was to happen, as he listed the days of the month in accordance with the Macedonian or Greco-Roman calendar in the East and the Hebrew Calendar, which were the same except for the names of the months. The sacrifices were kept until it was time to destroy the Temple (see the paper War with Rome and the Fall of the Temple (No. 298)).
There is nothing difficult about it all. All you have to do is read the Book and do what it says. It does not say to keep Sundays, and it does not say to keep Christmas and the festivals of Ishtar or Easter (see the paper The Origins of Christmas and Easter (No. 235)).
It is written: “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God “(Mat. 4:4). Christ did that and he rebuked Satan with those words.
The Churches of God are given a task over the years, and that is to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God and to make disciples of men. The practice of attacking and destroying the word of God does not achieve that task and does no honour to those who behave in that way.
We have a task to do and God expects us to do it. He chose us and gave us to Jesus Christ. Christ is told not to lose us and we are told to be obedient.
There is nothing contradictory about it all. The Bible means what it says and
the text is to be obeyed. The fruits of disobedience are everywhere evident
now and the planet is groaning. We are now in the last days (see the paper The
Day of the Lord and the Last Days (No. 192)). In this build up to the Feast
of Tabernacles, pray that we are consolidated as a Church and a people. Pray
that we are blessed and protected in our travels and in our meetings and in
our activities.
Work now towards Atonement, and that the Adversary is restrained and the bonds
of wickedness are broken and the oppressed go free. Pray to bring an end to
our tribulation this month and make new starts and pleasant ways. Pray for your
brethren and their troubles and pray they are set straight and restored to their
loved ones in good health.
Pray that Christ is soon here and that the time is cut short and peace can reign.
Pray that the world is corrected and the wars of false religion set up under
the Seals are ended (see the paper The
Seven Seals (No 140)).
Pray that the people wounded and hurt by religious misuse are healed and they
are at peace.
Wade Cox
Coordinator General
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