From a New Testament Perspective
The Dry Season
Literally in the Annual Feasts
The spring rains fell during the Feast of Passover to ripen the grain. The barley harvest was reaped at Passover and the wheat harvest at Pentecost. Then followed the dry season before the fall of the Autumn rains at the Feast of Tabernacles, which ripened the fruit harvest (Deut. 11:10-17; Jer.5:24; Job 6:15-17).
Historically in Israel
The children of Israel experienced Passover in Egypt, Pentecost at Sinai, and God desired them to experience Tabernacles in Canaan, the Promised land. But at Kadesh-Barnea, when the 10 spies brought an evil report of the land, they fell into sin and unbelief and desired to return to Egypt. It had taken them two years to get there and God caused them to wander in the wilderness for another 38 years, making 40 in all. "Kadesh" means "holiness" or "dedication" and "Barnea" means "inconstant". Holiness should have been a gateway to the Promised land but instead was a barrier. Its name was then changed to "En-Mishpat", which means "Fountain of Judgment" (Numbers 13:21-14:34).
Prophetically in the Church
"Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth" Hosea 6:3 (Joel 2:23; Ps 72:6).
The "spring rains" of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit fell at the time of the Early Church (Acts 2:13-21; Joel 2:28-32). The "dry season" and the "wilderness" followed as the Church gradually lost its glory and entered into the Dark Ages.
Since the time of the Reformation, the "Spring Rains" have been falling restoring the truths, pictured in the Feasts of Passover and Pentecost, that had been lost to the Church. As we enter into the time of the prophetic fulfilment of the Feast of Tabernacles in these last days, the Church will experience the outpouring of the "Autumn Rains" (Joel 2:23; James 5:7; John 4:35).
God's Glorious Plan
From before the creation, God has had a wonderful plan for His Church to be:
God's plan is still being outworked in the Church. Satan, in opposing the plan of God, seeks to undermine each of these aspects, crippling the Church and stripping her of her call and inheritance.
Overview of History
The history of the Church, in overview, can be divided into four stages:
A glorious birth
Read Acts 4:31-35 (see also 2:1-4, 41-47).
The Church of God was birthed in the power of the Holy Spirit and had a dynamic impact on the community of that day.
A period of decline
Satan began an immediate program of attack against God's Church, outworked on two levels - persecution and deception (2 Thessalonians 2:3). God pictures apostasy as like the work of a locust swam (Joel 1:4).
Even in the time of the first Century Church, errors began infiltrating the Body of Christ. Most of the epistles of the New Testament are letters of correction, readjusting doctrine and purging heretical concepts (read Revelation 2 and 3).
A period of restoration
The decline of the Church as a whole reached rock bottom during the Dark Ages, where the Church was hardly recognisable as the same holy, dynamic company birthed by God on the Day of Pentecost. Even then, however, there were always true believers, lights shining in the darkness of apostasy. But then, God began to raise up people of God - the "Lights of the Reformation" - who rebuilt, layer by layer, the foundations of the Church. We are now at the finishing stages of this work of restoration. (Joel 2:25).
A glorious finalé
Read Romans 8:18-23.
At the time of Christ's return, "the mystery of God will be
accomplished" (Revelation 10:7), and God will bring His plan
for the Church to its climax.
Restoration of Truth
"Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement" Hebrews 6:1-2.
These six elements are the foundation of Christian doctrine - but they are more than just things that we learn about. Everything the Bible teaches is not just facts but also experience. The early Christians experienced each of these truths in their daily lives - repentance (Acts 2:38); faith (Acts 3:16; 26:18); baptisms (Acts 2:41; 1:5); laying on of hands (Acts 8:18-19; 13:2-3); resurrection of the dead (Acts 9:36-40; 14:19-20); and eternal judgement (Acts 5:1-16; 10:42; 17:31).
God began to restore the essential truths of the Gospel, and their accompanying outworking in the daily life of the Church, in the order they were lost:
AD 1517 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH...Martin Luther
AD 1524 WATER BAPTISM....Mennonites
AD 1738 SANCTIFICATION... John
Wesley
AD 1860 MISSIONARY VISION... CT
Studd & others.
AD 1902 BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT...Azuza
Street
AD 1948 THE LAYING ON OF HANDS.
AD 1960-THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL.
AD 1980-PURGING AND PURIFICATION of the Church
AD 1990-NEW WINESKINS for new wine (Matt 9:17)
AD ? ---- RESURRECTION AND ETERNAL JUDGEMENT
"Therefore, tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty" Zechariah 1:3.
There are two parts to the restoration process: repentance on our part and the actual act of restoration on the part of the Holy Spirit.
Double Portion
"Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs." Isaiah 61:7.
God does not simply restore what was lost - He always restores with a double portion! The early church is not our standard; Christ is! (Ephesians 4:13). God never finishes on a lesser note than on what He began (Haggai 2:9). He always leaves the best until last (John 2:9-10). Like Elisha, the last day Church will have a double anointing of the Holy Spirit (2 Kings 2:9), so that God's glory will fill this earth (Numbers 14:21). See Proverbs 4:18.
[UP] [PREVIOUS] [NEXT] [HOME] [WORLDSCOPE] [FEEDBACK] [POST OFFICE] [RANDOM] [SEARCH]
Copyright ©1981,1996 Paul, Bunty
and David Collins. All rights reserved. This study may be freely
used and reproduced, wholly or in part, by the Christian Church
for the non-profit purposes of study and training only, provided
copyright and contact information is included.
Unless otherwise stated, all scriptures quoted in these studies
are from the New International Version of the Bible,© New York
International Bible Society, used by permission. Other versions
referred to are: KJV (King James Version), NKJB (New King James
Bible), TLB (The Living Bible), Amp (The Amplified Bible) and The
Message. All versions used by permission.
These studies are "graceware" -
distributed freely and without obligation. If you would like to
help financially in the continuation of t his ministry, you can
send your gift to:
Churchlink
P.O. Box 1033
Newcastle 2300
Australia.
For more information on Bible studies available, visit the
Churchlink site on the World Wide Web at
http://www.churchlink.com.au/churchlink. Enquiries to:
[email protected]