Pentecost II
The
good news: Abiding In The Vine
The bad news: The End Of Immunity
Pentecost was the beginning of the church age as we know it today. In that upper room in Jerusalem, on the morning of the Jewish feast of 'weeks', God began the next progressive step in his plan of redemption. The third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, would now take a direct role in nurturing the elect to maturity. This work of the Holy Spirit had never been seen before. The body of believers was 'incorporated' as a single organisms, empowered and commissioned as the Church or Body of Christ. This was confirmed by the sound of a violent wind and by fire which separated and came to rest on each person in the room. Young and old, male and female, at various stages in their relationship to God, perhaps even some visitors, everyone received this wonderful new manifestation of the presence and power of God, the Holy Spirit. That morning the 'wind' of the Holy Spirit began to blow freely over the face of the earth - available to all who would receive him as a deposit on some future 'full' payment. Available to all, but only a deposit? Why? Simultaneously the Spirit began a work of retarding the work of the anti-christ spirit, the source of rebellion and evil. Paul writes that at some point this worldwide immunity from the full force of evil will end. Why? These and many other questions will hopefully be answered as we proceed.
The book of Acts records that all the people in that upper room 'received' the Holy Spirit. Later, as the phenomenon spread beyond the walls of the house where it began into the crowd that had gathered from around the world for the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, 3000 more people 'received' this new gift of the Holy Spirit. This was a new phenomenon, unknown in the history of mankind. God was up to something new. He had initiated some new and wonderful tactic in his strategy of redemption.
But has the church really understood this new work of the Holy Spirit? Based upon knowledge gleaned from the NT and observable experience, there remains to this day great theological differences among church bodies. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is perhaps the greatest single divisive factor in the disunity in the Body. That strongly suggests that the real truth behind the work of the Holy Spirit has been hidden from final and full interpretation. When something so important and central to Christianity as the person and work of the Holy Spirit is honestly interpreted in several different theologies, by honest, God fearing men, there is something fundamentally wrong. For the sake of unity alone this would be an important issue to resolve, if possible. It would seem reasonable to conclude that, in fact, these several camps of interpretation are seeing only parts of the whole ministry of the Holy Spirit but that each thinks they are seeing the whole. This is a true principle of most honest differences of opinion. Paul in Ephesians states that "unity of the faith" is one of the goals the body will attain before the end. The truths expressed in this article may go a long way to resolving this fracture of the Body, and point to ominous new developments in the Holy Spirit's work.
In the Christian life, our first responsibility is to search out God, to know him and his work. The subtlety of the truths of God require effort and resolve on our part to fully comprehend. It is a revealed fact that God has purposely hidden truth so we may exercise our faith and obedience in its discovery. Jesus often expressed the truths of the Kingdom as hidden treasures and the citizens as treasure seekers. Truth is that treasure. And the truth is, that this phenomenon of Pentecost is hidden treasure waiting to be discovered. It is not beyond the realm of our understanding. It was not something God just decided to do. Just days before Pentecost Jesus had told his disciples that the Father's business was their business. The Father's work was definitely within the realm of their concern and responsibility. This article will undertake to unravel the prophetic strategy behind the day of Pentecost, what has been happening for 2000 years, and most important, how that relates to the next, imminent initiative of God.
Each generation needs to know enough to carry out what their generation is required to do. If we are the last generation before Christ's return than we will be entitled, indeed required, to know "all truth", Jesus' promised end of the Holy Spirit's work. We need to know. Perhaps the Apostles didn't understand completely - that's very probable. They were too close to these miraculous events. Their perspective was limited - as was their need to know. But Jesus had also said that, "when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth... he will tell you what is yet to come." Today we have a need to know, today that Spirit of truth is revealing the truth of Pentecost and how it will affect our world.
To understand Pentecost, and the role it plays in redemption, we need our privileged perspective (the end of the age) of prophetically revealed history. Only looking back over history can we begin to discern patterns that persons living in their respective days could not. Guided by the promised influence of the Holy Spirit, we need to look at God's complete plan of redemption with an eye trained in God's prophetic language - the language of prophetic patterns.
The Super Patterns:
There are four Biblical patterns that give us a picture of the complete 'course' of redemption - that process of reconciling fallen man and creation back into perfect, sinless harmony with God. Heaven is not a believers goal, redemption is. Heaven is a reward. One will never receive heaven without redemption, but one can attain redemption without heaven. That is precisely the point of all this - that God can redeem sinners in this earth, he does not have to take them out of it to accomplish redemption. Redemption is a course because it has a beginning and an end. The patterns show seven well defined and progressive steps in that course. The four super-patterns are:
1. The seven days of creation
2. The seven articles of the Tabernacle
3. The seven Feasts of the Lord
4. The seven step journey from Egypt to the Promised Land
For the purposes of this article we will look at only two of theses patterns, but they all add consistent views of a single process of redemption.
Pentecost was one of the Feasts of the Lord so lets first take a quick look at these seven holy convocations that defined a ceremonial year. The seven convocations were further divided into three seasons. Pentecost was the second of these major seasons of the year. According to the Law, all the men of Israel were to appear before the Lord at Jerusalem three times a year. The first was during the Passover season (Passover (1), Unleavened Bread (2), First Fruits (3)) in the early spring, the second was Pentecost (4) in late spring, and the third was Tabernacles in the fall which consisted of the Feast of Trumpets (5), The Day of Atonement (6), and the Feast of Tabernacles (7) (see chart above). These seven Feasts, along with the seven days of creation, the seven articles of the Tabernacle, the seven steps of the journey from Egypt to the 'promised land', relate clear and consistent patterns of the SEVEN STEPS OF COMPLETE REDEMPTION. (See the book "The Feasts of the Lord" by Robert Thompson for a detailed explanation). Each pattern supports the next and contributes to a complete picture of God's redemptive process.
The truths hidden in these patterns will take an eternity to comprehend, but for our purposes here we must see one very important truth clearly. Pentecost was only the second of three major steps of the process. We must expect to see a third and final redemptive experience, with all the associated events surrounding it. Christianity knows the first or 'Passover' experience as 'salvation' or being 'born again'. The second or Pentecost experience is often called the 'baptism in the Holy Spirit'. Virtually all of Christianity only sees a two step redemptive process, not a three step process. This third step is what the church is about to enter into. The third, and as yet unknown experience, will shock and transform Christianity into the mature and holy body it is not today. Also, by understanding this third step, we reap an unexpected treasure - new and fuller understanding of the second step. It is in this third step that we can finally put the other steps, and particularly the second, Pentecost step, into perspective and reap the treasure of truth God has promised.
To do this, we shift to another of God's super-patterns, the journey, to take us further into the treasure-rooms of kingdom truth. The journey records the story of Israel's (1) exodus out of Egypt, (2) the experiences in the wilderness, and finally (3) the entry into the promised land. One might wonder how this Old Testament account, recorded in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua, could shed light on the Christian Pentecost? But they do, in a remarkable and glorious way.
As the children of Israel left Egypt they were engulfed in a new and miraculous environment of sustenance. It was neither expected or requested. The Bible actually says very little about this wonderful provision. If we weren't careful we would focus on the details and miss the grand implication of this miracle environment. This is a case of attention being focused on the trees but not comprehending the forest. This is very common with prophetic truth. Manna from heaven, and water from the rock, are each given its own scene and given it's time in the limelight. In other summations2 of the wilderness journey, Scripture mentions that the peoples sandals and clothes didn't wear out. In Psalms it adds more details - that there was no feeble among them, indicating perfect health for everyone. In other scenes a cloud for cooling by day and fire for heat and light by night, is referenced. Each of these miracles individually yield wonderful lessons for the Bible teacher and student. But what is so often missed in cases like this is the single unifying truth into which these details fit. They are each so powerful individually that we are unconsciously deterred from seeking further treasures beyond. God is absolutely a master at hiding truth of this kind. Its right there for all to see once its exposed.
So, by putting all of these views together, a fuller picture emerges that depicts Israel bathed in a complete environment of supernatural sustenance during their entire wilderness journey. Here was a generation that supped on the divine nourishment of mothers milk. Supernatural sons, on a supernatural journey, breathing supernatural air. This was something out of the ordinary. It was a very un-natural world. What was God really saying with this journey of supernatural grace?
The Prophetic Language - The Sovereignty of God:
But before going on we have to quickly look at some concepts behind prophetic language. Particularly one aspect that has hidden a great deal of truth - an incorrect concept of the sovereignty of God. As we read these wonderful stories, we could easily assume that this was all done to get Israel through the harsh and foreboding wilderness. They needed all this help and support to exist. But upon further study it is clear that Israel's needs were not God's highest concern. Did they need help? Of course. But this wasn't just help, this was the divine playwright at work.
One might easily think the needs are natural, and the supply is supernatural. That God sends us off on a task but he is careful to notice when we get in trouble and when we do, either by our own failure or by some other threatening force, he is quick to step in to help. One might think that the bad things people do frustrate the plans of God, but God is big enough to counteract our negative influences. This is a very small and crippling view of God. That may be the way one sees God until he learns to know God. God is never put off stride. The bad is just as much part of the plan as the good. The prophetic mind knows that everything is the sovereign work of God, therefore the message we must learn is this: all things communicate God's truth with equal weight, the need or supply, the good or the bad. An evil king is just as much an oracle of God as a Prophet. The prophet declares the revealed will of God, the evil king usually the hidden will of God, but both equally the sovereign will of God. The king will be judged for his evil, the prophet rewarded, but each were used to communicate the infallible purposes and glory of God.
The issue is the degree to which this story of the journey is history or the degree to which it is prophetic play-writing. The story sounds like the history of an ancient people in search of a homeland, perhaps the way the American west was occupied, or some other historical people. But Israel, by right of their covenant with God, willingly became God's prophetic actors, rehearsing and recording upon the stage of history the future prophetic course of the bulk of mankind. Only God can write with the ink of mankind, only God can direct on the stage of 4000 years of history like this. He alone. The first 4000 years of history, are primarily prophetic rehearsal for the last 2000 or 3000 years. Messiah is at the center of history. Before him the drama is written and rehearsed, he invades time and history to empower and accredit the plan, than he returns to his place, hidden from mankind, seated with his Father, watching, along with a cloud of witnesses and actors who had gone before, as the foretold drama unfolds. Mankind has not discerned a God like this. He has largely seen the scriptures as a collection of principles and doctrine of righteous living, which it is. But the massive prophetic content has generally gone unnoticed. The massive portraits of truth have been veiled from our eyes. Mankind has had a small concept of God, therefore we have a very small view of his purposes. There is a tendency to look at the isolated miracles and draw spiritual lessons from them (which certainly can should be done), but overlook the total control that God exerted and the almost unbelievable grand scenario he is playing out. It is all God. Geography, atmosphere, initiative, need, supply, friend and foe, it is all God.
That is the background against which we must view all event of the OT - and for our purposes here, the journey. The manna wasn't just to fill stomachs. God is much, much bigger than that. The need for the manna was just as miraculous as the supply. We may not catch that at first. Notice that God wants us to know that he 'caused them to hunger' and then supplied that hunger with manna:
Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. Deu 8:2-5
God was in control of the entire stage, the entire environment. If he wanted to teach us something with the manna, he long before arranged the environment to create a need for it. This is true for the water, the clouds, the fire, the clothes, the shoes, and the perfect health. And who knows what else that wasn't recorded.
The point should be made now. God wants us to see the entire journey as a prophetic message to this age. It was not meant to be the history of two million refugees seeking a new home. It was specifically a message to six billion people at the end of the age, the last days. That is why it is packed with symbolic and typolgical language and events, which cannot be explained any other way.
The 40 year journey, and the 14 year conquest of the 'promised land' can be superimposed on post Messiah history. Without this journey pattern Christianity has no prophetic model of theses last days. With the journey however, we begin to see the precise length, purpose, and future prophetic road-map in detail of Christianity's role on earth. We can now see what God had in mind with Pentecost, etc. Lets begin to analyze the Typological truths hidden in the journey/destination pattern.
With the tenth plague decreed for all Egypt, including themselves, God began to instruct Israel concerning his provision of escape, the Passover. Each household would select a male lamb, without defect, in preparation for the fourteenth day of the month. At twilight on the fourteenth day, the lamb would be slain, and its blood applied to the sides and tops of the doorframes of their houses. Only with this 'blood covering' would they be spared the judgment of the death-angel just six hours later. At midnight the destroyer came and killed every first-born male in Egypt. In the hours that followed, Pharaoh and the people of Egypt requested that the Israelites quickly leave Egypt as they had requested. Thus begins the most amazing exodus of one nation known to history. The Israelites would soon pass through the sea, seeing their captors swallowed up. Than would come supernatural, cloud, fire, manna, quail, and water - a supernatural environment that would last a full forty years until Israel celebrated Passover the second time - in the promised land. In Joshua 5 this event is recorded and linked to the end of the manna which represents all the supernatural provision.
On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan. Josh 5:10-12
God wanted us to know that the manna stopped, 'that very day' he says. It was the end of an era. A transition into another economy. So here we must begin our investigation. We must identify a total environment that began on or shortly after Passover, continues 40 years, than quits abruptly just as the nation enters the promised land on Passover? There are two important clues that lead us directly to the answer - both are found in Neh 9.
"Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen. Neh 9:19-21
When it mentions that 'cloths did not wear out', and the 'good Spirit', we can hardly fail to see a picture of the work of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost - and beyond. This is an unmistakable picture of the supernatural 'grace' that was poured out upon all flesh at Pentecost. We have been given robes of righteousness - that do not wear out. We eat of the bread of heaven, we drink from the well of salvation. We are healed by his stripes. All clear types of the work of the Holy Spirit. In this journey experience we can finally understand the true work of the Holy Spirit beginning at Pentecost.
But we are quickly faced with a traumatic thought. BUT THE MANNA STOPPED! How can this be! We have been taught that grace would be with us forever - or at least until we are transformed in our resurrected bodies. No one ever said anything about this work of the Holy Spirit ending while we are on this earth. Where does that leave us? What takes its place?
Now here we have to look at one more side issue before we continue. What does the 'promised land' represent? Some might say its heaven, and that certainly would fit into traditional Christianity. Traditional Christianity sees itself on a journey, a non-descript, and ill defined journey, with no particular destination in mind. They see themselves as sojourners, a people without a country, whose highest calling is to relate the good news they have found to a lost world, and waking up some day translated into eternity and the arms of Jesus. This is a child's view of reality, and it is not real. Without going into a long discussion, we maintain that the 'promised land' does not typify heaven. How could seven enemy nations have residence in heaven? How could it take fourteen years to battle our way into heaven? There were only 'sons' in the wilderness, men come of age in the promised land. No, this is another veil that has hindered our comprehension of 'all truth'. In fact, one of the most exciting challenges of this truth, will be to reexamine the scriptures, especially the NT, categorizing portions into their respective and proper divisions. There are 'journey' scriptures and there are 'destination' scriptures. When we properly separate them we will reap a great reward of treasure.
So back to our picture of the work of the Holy Spirit. The journey typology shows the HS began a new and special work at the first Passover, which ceased at the second. Before looking at the end lets see if we can piece together a more complete definition of the HS's work during this age of grace. It should be understood that this is a preliminary evaluation of all evidence connected with this new truth. The picture as generally described herein was formulated Jan 27, 1995. The message concerning the journey and this special environment can hardly be denied as highly relevant, however, there is more wiggle room when we are required to interpret exactly the 'all truth' to which this evidence points. This article will paint a scenario that is believed to faithfully conform to all the evidence known. Over time, corrections may be found, and certainly, with more study, an even more complete and accurate model will be built.
Jesus, in his Passover discourse, (John Ch. 14-17), discloses the mother lode of prophetic scripture. Unfortunately this has not been fully understood and appreciated. Here Jesus reveals that there is a connection between his leaving and the HS's coming. At the very least this indicates a much more complex job description for the HS than we have generally assumed. There are precise requirements of when and how the HS would begin it's work. Jesus was indicating the HS would begin something new, something not currently available in the earth. Something that could not happen while he was here. The HS would now begin new duties, he:
is our counselor
is the Spirit of truth
will teach us all things
will remind us of all things
will testify about Jesus
will the convict the world of guilt in regard to:
sin - because men do not believe Jesus
righteousness - because Jesus goes to the Father, hidden from the world
judgment - because the prince of this world now stands condemned,
will tell you what is yet to come
will bring glory to Jesus
will take from Jesus what is his, and give it to us
We know that the HS was already at work in the earth.. From creation we can trace his work and influence. He had empowered men to do great works and miracles, many recorded in the Scriptures. But as we see on Pentecost the HS was now to be offered to the world at large. The picture of a mighty rushing wind implies an atmospheric presence, as opposed to a point by point manifestation of power. Something that used to rest in one place now covered the face of the earth. However, just as in the natural realm, when something is spread more broadly, it is also spread more thinly. Like going from liquid to vapor. This seems to fit the model of the HS's work in this case. Paul implies this Spirit 'lite' condition in his writings:
He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Cor 1:22
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory. Eph 1:13,14
So the Spirit is given, as a deposit, to all who believe in the atoning work of Messiah. But there appears to be some affect the Spirit has beyond just the believer. John tells us that the spirit of antichrist has now come into the world and is actively at work. It would seem to be likely that the spirit of antichrist and the HS appeared on the scene coincidentally both with antipathetic assignments. The assignment of the antichrist spirit is to instigate total and complete rebellion of mankind. Of course, rebellion also opens the door to degrees of evil unseen on earth since the flood. So the HS's work from Pentecost has been the free gift of grace. Grace for salvation to the world's masses that will receive the son of God. And grace to the unbelieving world in the form of immunity from the fatally evil force of the antichrist spirit. God's grace extends to the just and the unjust, the whole world is sheltered by the warm rays of the spiritual 'sun', the HS.
This is strikingly similar to the environment at the time of the flood. Jesus declared the flood was the official type of the end days. Creationist scientists say that before the flood the earth was enveloped in a canopy of water vapor. This water vapor protected mankind from the harmful rays of the harsh sun, and provided a luxurious greenhouse effect for unparalleled fruitfulness. In effect the HS, since Pentecost, has established a spiritual canopy of protection and salvation. We are nurtured and strengthened by this canopy of grace.
Now one must ask, to what extent does this canopy affect my life today? Do we appreciate and realize the blessings and benefits it extends. Have we taken grace for granted. Have we been lax in permitting sin to remain in our life. Is repentance sought at our convenience? Do we realize the danger the lost are in?
To answer or respond to some of these questions, we must take the next logical step in our prophetic journey - the destination. The destination phase begins and the journey abruptly end on Passover, some Passover in the near future. But can we get any indication as to when? There seem to be several indications that 1960 years could have great significance. The first is that it is 40 Jubilees. A jubilee is seven, seven year Sabbatical cycles. Sort of a super Sabbatical year cycle. The seven year cycle was significant for Israel in that God sent them into exile in Babylon for not keeping it - for 490 years. The punishment was one year for every seventh Sabbatical year they did not let the land rest - which totaled 70 years. Understanding this we can unlock the second exile which Israel is currently in. In Lev. 26 we see a very unusual pattern of judgments - one defining unit and four successive periods of seven times the unit. This could very likely represent the same figure that we arrived at with our Jubilee calculation - 1960 years. The beauty of this is that God appears to be using the 7 year Sabbatical cycle for reckoning time for Israel, and the 49 year Jubilee cycle for reckoning time for the church. These are his two special treasures of mankind. The stars of heaven and the sands of the sea, the rulers and citizens of the Kingdom.
So the '40 year' journey is over, the 'promised land' lies just over the Jordan, God calls for preparation for Passover. The startling truth is that the patterns show the end of the canopy of grace. But why should it end? It almost appears backward. This canopy of blessing ends as we enter the PL. On first look, one might expect the canopy to begin as we enter the PL. But God's ways are always beautiful. If they don't appear to be a first it just an indication of the lack of knowledge.
As always with God, if he takes something away it is to make place for something superior. For 2000 years the HS has been nurturing sons in the wilderness, they have been feeding on the bread of life. In communion the church has partaken of the body and blood of Messiah. His body is now ready to be glorified, and manifested to the world - that the world might believe that the Father sent the son. This is the most awesome moment in the history of mankind. This is the beginning of the final fourteen year period of this age. We will not cover the majority of these events, but only focus on the work of the HS.
Noah and the flood is a perfect type of this momentous event. The Bible relates how rain fell from the heavens. In effect the water vapor canopy condensed in a downpour. Rain couldn't be a more perfect description of this process. Rain droplets are formed when water vapor condenses around particles of dust, which than falls to earth. If we see the HS's work at Pentecost as a functional change from water to a spiritual cloud, than the end of the work would be a change from a spiritual cloud back to rain. In essence, 'condensed Spirit'. The change would have a corresponding increase in the intensity of power.
but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 1 John 4:3
Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 2 Th 2:3-8
Peter explained to the large bewildered crowd that had gathered that this was simply the fulfillment of prophetic Scripture.
This is a short account of the churches first Pentecost. The churches first Pentecost, the worlds first taste of this new wind of the Holy Spirit, but certainly not the first event of God's well planned and well documented plan of redemption. This wasn't a plan or event known only in the mind of God. No, it had been received and recorded over 4000 years earlier. Accessible to mankind -Mankind
John 3:34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
John 6:37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Isa 66:11,12 Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people-- where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them, who sent his glorious arm of power to be at Moses' right hand, who divided the waters before them, to gain for himself everlasting renown,
(2 Cor 5:5 NIV) Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
b. The strategy
c. The truth of who we are
d. The truth of God's purposes
e. Knowledge of Jesus Christ
CONCLUSIONS:
Therefore, it is our admonition that all men everywhere, including Gentiles, begin (if they have not already done so) a prayerful, studious, orderly adoption of the PUL as declared by Torah. This is not a journey into legalism, but into freedom and obedient preparation for 'marriage' to Messiah.
1. 2 Cor 1:22 He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
2. Neh 9:19-21 "Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory. Eph 1:13,14