Thur.’s Devo - On Earth, as it is in Heaven

Read: Exodus 23:14-25:40; Matthew 24:29-51; Psalm 30:1-12; Proverbs 7:24-27
God continued telling his laws to Moses. Three times a year, the people of Israel were to celebrate a festival to the Lord. The first one would be in the month Abib which commemorated their exit from Egypt. In the first festival held in the spring, they would celebrate Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits. In the second festival (50 days later) they would celebrate the Feast of Harvest (Pentecost). The third festival would be in the fall where they would celebrate the Feast of Ingathering which included the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippor and the Feast of Tabernacles.
They were not to mix a blood sacrifice with yeast because yeast stood for sin. They were to bring the firstfruits to the Lord. That would be their faith offering that the rest of the harvest would be plentiful.
If they honored and obeyed the Lord, He would go before them and wipe out their enemies and bless them. He would not drive their enemies out all at once but little by little so they could keep the wild animals away for them.
That is what God does in our lives. He doesn’t take all our issues away instantly when we get saved. Little by little he works on our shortcomings so that we are slowly conformed into his image.
God warned them against making covenants with the inhabitants of the land. He told them not to let them live with them because they would turn them away from Him.
Then he called Moses and his leaders up in the clouds to meet with him. Moses, Aaron, Nabad, and Abihu and the 70 elders went far enough up the mountain to see God. He was standing on a layer of sapphire. They ate and drank a meal, but God called Moses even farther to receive the tablets of stone. Moses went into a cloud of glory which appeared as a consuming fire. He stayed on the mountain 40 days and nights. This happened on the day of the Feast of Harvest or Pentecost.
God let Moses see his tabernacle in heaven and told him to make one just like it on earth. He told him exactly what to make each piece of furniture out of and its dimensions. Every piece would be a picture of what goes on in heaven that needs to go on on earth.
In Matthew, Jesus explained what the Feast of Ingathering will be like when it is fulfilled. The trumpet will sound on the Feast of Trumpets then the angles will gather all the saints who are on the earth. He said that it will be like the days of Noah. Noah knew that something was coming, so he did what God told him to do to prepare for it. The world didn’t believe his warnings so they mocked and scorned him. They were not prepared so it came as a total surprise to them. That is how the very end will be. God’s people will be prepared, but the world will not.
Lord, help us to be awake to what you are doing and the season we are living in. You are bringing heaven down to earth.