Christian Churches of God - CCG Sabbath Message

Sabbath Message 07/03/32/120

Dear Friends,

As we have returned to our homes from Feast sites located outside our towns and cities where we resided in temporary dwellings away from our daily work for the entire 8 days of Passover from the 14th of Abib through the 21st, and as we continue our daily Omer count in preparation for Pentecost, let us consider a very important prophecy that is least understood by the Sabbatarian Churches of God which relates to the Messiah and the Wave Sheaf Offering that occurs within the Passover week.

It is through the acceptance of the Messiah’s sacrifice by his Father that makes it possible for us, Christ’s brothers and sisters (Heb. 2:11), to receive the Holy Spirit. We understand that the Wave Sheaf Offering symbolizes the acceptance of the Messiah’s sacrifice by his Father in heaven. We conduct a 9:00 a.m. service on the Sunday morning of the Wave Sheaf Offering, the 1st day of the week during the Days of Unleavened Bread, to honour and observe, with deep respect, this most important and critical event. It also marks the time in accordance with Leviticus 23 when we begin the Omer count of the 50 days, which brings us to the Pentecost holy day.

There is a very important prophecy that is fulfilled in the Wave Sheaf Offering that we need to understand. For those of us who came through the Worldwide COG system (WCOG) under Herbert Armstrong, this important prophecy was obviously least understood of all prophecies in Scripture by the entire WCOG ministry. The Wave Sheaf Offering was never observed with a congregational service in the WCOG system. (See the paper The Wave Sheaf Offering (No. 106b).)

This Sabbath message will focus on a particular aspect of the Wave Sheaf Offering and show how this Offering triggers the fulfillment of a prophecy pertaining to Christ and the pre-eminent position he would be placed within the New Covenant Temple system after he was resurrected and ascended into the heavens, and upon having his sacrifice accepted by his Father.

There is a sign Christ gave that would be the only sign that would be proof that he was in fact the Messiah sent by his Father. We read it in Matthew 12:38-40:

38) Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from you.
39) But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas
40) For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (KJV) See also Mark 8:31.

E.W. Bullinger adds some very interesting footnotes to the sign Christ gives in Matthew 12:40 cited above. Bullinger states, “The Lord was dead, therefore Jonah must have been. Nothing is said about his being “preserved alive”. That “sign” would have no relation to what is here signified.”

Jonah 1:17 reads: And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (RSV)

Bullinger further adds in his footnotes to Jonah 1:17: “swallow up…..belly.” “Not therefore kept alive in the fish’s mouth, as some imagine. When thus swallowed up, Jonah must have died, and thus became a type of Christ. The “as” and “so” in Matt.12:40 require Jonah’s death. He would have been no type if he had been miraculously kept alive.”

We know from the Scriptures that Christ died while hanging on the stake (stauros) and was dead for three days and three nights, the same period of time Jonah was dead in the belly of the great fish. We read of Christ’s death in John 19:32-37 (RSV) :

32) So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him;
33) but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
34) But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
35) He who saw it has borne witness - his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth – that you also may believe.
36) For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, "Not a bone of him shall be broken."
37) And again another scripture says, "They shall look on him whom they have pierced."
See also Matthew 27:50.

When he was resurrected by his Father after being dead for the full three days and three nights, and when the Messiah ascended to his Father, there was a prophecy fulfilled as the Messiah’s sacrifice was accepted in heaven. This prophecy is confirmed in Hebrews 1 verse 9 and elsewhere in the New Testament:

Hebrews 1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. (NRSV)

Hebrews 1:9 refers to the fulfillment of the prophecy in Psalm 45:7. It states:

Psalm 45:7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. (KJV)

The Apostle Paul alludes to the fulfillment of Psalm 45 in Philippians 2 verse 9, which is to the glory of the Father (verse 11) as the Father glorifies one of His sons; the one who in absolute faith and obedience gave of his life first in the sense that as an immortal spirit being he willingly and trustingly surrendered his immortality to his Father, at which time his immortal state of being ceased to exist when he became a physical embryo to be born of a woman. He then gave of his life once again, a second time, as a physical being after being born of a woman and then dying on the stake. He would have remained dead in the tomb and cease to exist if God, his Father, had not resurrected him.

Philippians 2:6-11 (RSV)
6) who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7) but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8) And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
9) Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name,
10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Apostle Peter also refers to the fulfillment of this prophecy in 1Peter 3:18-22.

18) For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19) By which also he went and preached to the spirits in prison;
20) Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
21) The like figure whereunto even baptism does also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
22) Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him. (KJV)

The question that needs to be answered from Scripture regarding this prophecy is twofold:

Who are the “companions or fellows” the Messiah was anointed above?
When did the Messiah preach to the spirits in prison mentioned in 1Peter 3:19; why did he preach to them, and for what purpose did he preach to them?

It should be obvious from the prophecy in Psalm 45 that there are “companions” associated in some manner with the Messiah who became subject to him after he was resurrected. It was understood by the Apostles that the Messiah was elevated above these “fellows”, or “companions”.

It should also be obvious that these companions of the Messiah are spirit-beings who are the innumerable spirit-sons of God. These sons, who form the Elohim, are mentioned in Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7, Psalm 8:4-5, and elsewhere in the Psalms and Proverbs, and numerous other Scriptures. This understanding has been completely lost or ignored within the Sabbatarian Churches of God in the 20th century as they misunderstand the composition and nature of the Elohim. They misunderstand because they have succumbed to belief in Trinitarianism, Binitarianism, or Ditheism. Read the study paper How God Became a Family (No. 187).

Job 38:4, 7 (RSV)
4) Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
7) when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

The word “fellows” in Psalm 45, is translated from the Hebrew, SHD 2270. It is used 12 times in the OT and is translated “fellows”, “companions”, and translated one time as “knit together.”

The Greek equivalent is métochos, SGD # 3353. From The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament © 1992 by AMG International, Inc. Revised Edition, 1993, it means: as a noun, a partaker (Heb 3:1,14; 6:4; 12:8), partner, companion, fellow worker (Luke 5:7; Heb 1:9 quoted from Sept.: Ps. 45:7 ). Deriv.: ‎summétochos ‎(4830), a coparticipant. Syn.: ‎koinœnós ‎(2844), one having communion, being a partner; ‎sunékd¢mos ‎(4898), a fellow traveler; ‎sunergós ‎(4904), a fellow worker. 3353 is used 7 times in the NT and translated: (4x) partakers, (1x) partners, (1x) fellows, and (1x) fellowship.

The companions of the Messiah are the heavenly beings such as Michael, Gabriel and all of the other messengers that currently constitute the family of God within which man has the opportunity to be included through the Messiah by an adoption as sons of God in the resurrection. These “companions” form the sons of God who are subordinate god-beings to their Father who created them by His will through the power of His Holy Spirit.

In Psalm 8 the question is asked, “What is man?”

4) what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him?
5) Yet thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor. (RSV)

The Rotherham translation of Psalm 8 reads:

4) What was weak man, that thou shouldst make mention of him? or the son of the earthborn, that thou shouldst set him in charge?
5) That thou shouldst make him little less than messengers of God, with glory and honour, shouldst crown him?

The Hebrew word “Elohim” is used in verse 5 of Psalm 8. Elohim is translated in the various Bible translations as “God”, “messengers of God”, “divine beings”, “heavenly beings”, and “angels.”

Now back to 1Peter 3:18-19 where the Apostle Peter states:

18) For the Messiah himself died for sins, once and for all, a righteous person on behalf of unrighteous people, so that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but brought to life by the Spirit;
19) and in this form he went and made a proclamation to the imprisoned spirits” (Complete Jewish Bible – CJB).

It was taught by the ministry in Worldwide COG that Christ, while in the tomb for the three days, went to the pit and preached to the fallen spirits who are confined waiting their final eternal punishment. This is not a correct understanding of Scripture.

First of all, and most important to understand, is that when the Messiah was in the tomb for the full three-day/night period, he was DEAD. He did not remain miraculously alive in spirit form or any other form of consciousness. He was dead as Jonah was dead. It was not until he was resurrected back to life, after being dead and had his immortal spirit life returned to him by his Father, that he had any consciousness. The dead know not anything (Eccl. 9:5). It was not until his sacrifice was accepted in heaven by his Father, symbolized in the Wave Sheaf Offering, and being elevated to sit at the Father’s right side with his “companions” now being made subject to him that he went and preached to the fallen spirits in prison. It was after he was glorified by his Father that he had the authority to go and make the proclamation to them.

The fact that the Messiah made a proclamation to the spirits in prison is interesting in itself. It was victory over death that he proclaimed, and he proclaimed that they are now subject to him as their High Priest in the Temple of God. The Apostle Paul states that God, through the Messiah’s sacrifice, reconciled all on earth and in heaven. Peace was made within God’s entire family through the Messiah’s shed blood (verse 20 below).

Colossians 1:18-22 (NRSV):
19) For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
20) and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
21) And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
22) he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him—

There is now the reconciliation on earth and in heaven through the Messiah. Does not the Apostle Paul tell us that in the name of the Messiah: “every kneemight bow––of beings in heaven, and on earth, and underground”? (Phil. 2:10 - Rotherham).

What is it in heaven, or from heaven, that would require reconciliation if it is not the fallen Host? Is God a respecter of persons by not extending repentance and reconciliation to His spirit-sons who sinned, but will extend it to only sinful man? Does He love sinning mankind more than His sinning spirit-sons? God is not a respecter of persons and His love is so great that He extends it to all of His created sons, both spirit and physical.

God has designated the Messiah’s sacrifice to be all-encompassing to include the fallen Host upon their acceptance of the Messiah’s ministry and upon their repentance from sinning. They will either repent and acknowledge the Messiah and bend their knee before him as physical beings in the 2nd resurrection when they are reduced to being in the physical form of a man, as the Messiah was in the form of a man while incarnate on earth, or they will perish as any physical non-repentant man will perish in death. If they do not repent, they will simply be allowed to die after the Great White Throne judgment period when there will be no resurrection. For a detailed biblical explanation, see the study paper The Judgment of the Demons (No. 80).

The high priest in the Old Covenant Temple system had to offer a sacrifice of reconciliation for the people. The high priest of the New Covenant Temple system is also required to offer a sacrifice for the people, and this he did. He offered himself and died for us that we may have life eternal in the family of God, along with all the other sons of God. The Messiah sacrificed himself so that there is the reconciliation in order that God, the Father, may become all in all with His entire family.

“Underground”, in verse 10, is in reference not only to those physical beings in the grave awaiting the resurrection, but it is also in reference to the fallen sons of God now subject to the ministry of the Messiah and who are confined to the abyss awaiting their judgment (cf. Luke 8:31, Rev. 9:11, 20:1). See also Bullinger’s notes to verse 10.

Finally, in Revelation, we see that the Messiah will return to this earth with his companions, the sons of God who are the armies in heaven he has been anointed above to lead. Revelation19:13-14 (KJV):

13) And he was clothed with a clothing dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14) And the armies which were in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

And, Rev. 22:16 (NRSV):

16) It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.

As the one who now sits at the right hand of God, the Messiah sends his messenger, SGD #32, ággelos; ‎masc. noun. Messenger, one sent to announce or proclaim, who also is a son of God.

In this verse the Messiah also identifies himself as son of man, descendant of David, and as son of God, the bright morning star, which is a reference to the prophecy in Numbers 24:17 (NRSV):

Numbers 24:17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near—a star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptershall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the borderlands of Moab, and the territory of all the Shethites.

Bullinger’s note to this Scripture is: That the Hebrew text translates as " Messiah.” The Apostle Peter also adds to this prophecy:

2Peter 1:19 (NRSV):
19) So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

And finally, the Messiah adds with the message to the Churches:

Revelation 2:26-29 (NRSV):
26) To everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations;
27) to rule them with an iron rod, as when clay pots are shattered—
28) even as I also received authority from my Father. To the one who conquers I will also give the morning star.
29) Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

The Messiah is the morning star appointed to sit at his Father’s right hand and was anointed above his companions, the other sons of God, when his sacrifice was accepted in Heaven, which is symbolized in the Wave Sheaf Offering during Passover.

Those in the 1st resurrection will rule under him with his authority as morning star, which is the meaning of verse 28.

When the Father calls an individual to the Messiah (Jn. 6:44), He also reveals to the individual the nature of the Messiah. It takes a miracle to come to understand the Messiah’s relationship to his Father as the Messiah himself states:

Matthew 16:13-17 (RSV):
13) Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?"
14) And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15) He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16) Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17) And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (RSV)

Had this miracle of understanding occurred within the ministry of the WCOG system, the ministry could have avoided teaching the false doctrine of Ditheism. It was taught in WCOG that Christ did not become the son of God until his human birth, which is absolutely false.

The WCOG ministry could have also avoided teaching falsely that “before anything else existed, there were two separate co-eternal God-Beings who had a discussion at some point in time as to which one would become the son of the other to be born human to die for the sins of man.” This nonsensical teaching was actually published in the Good News magazine and preached on evangelistic tours in the U.S. and Australia by evangelist Gerald Waterhouse. This Ditheist concept is an absolute error as much as Trinitarianism and Binitarianism. It is not biblical. It is obviously not the plain truth. (See the study papers The Purpose of the Creation and the Sacrifice of Christ (No. 160) and The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243)).

The New Covenant Temple System begins with the Messiah, who is unique and the only son who was begotten (monogen¢¡s) of the Father through the Holy Spirit and born human at the will of his Father, and was appointed its chief cornerstone, and high priest in the order of Melchisedek. He qualified through faith and obedience unto death to become the Messiah and is now elevated from his former position in God’s reigning Kingdom to being seated at his Father’s right hand with all of the other sons of God made subject to him.

Those who have ears to hear and eyes to see let them rejoice that this element of prophecy in the Wave Sheaf Offering has been fulfilled in the acceptance of the Messiah’s sacrifice. He has become our Lord and Saviour by the authority and designation from God, our Father, who states in Isaiah 46:9-10 (RSV):

9) remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
10) declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

We have now completed the Omer Count from the Wave Sheaf, which we have kept in accordance with the Law as we do each year in CCG, and we are at the Seventh perfect Sabbath. We await the renewal of the Spirit at Pentecost.

Tom Schardt
Assistant Coordinator of California