Study in the Epistle of Jude # 77: Verse 14

by Chris McCann

EBible Fellowship (http://www.ebiblefellowship.com)

Welcome to the Electronic Bible Fellowship’s Bible study. We are going through the book of Jude. We have been looking at Enoch, and in so doing, we have seen that Enoch’s life span of 365 years connects with the acceptable year of the Lord. Therefore, we have been looking at the three feasts that God has designed to take place within the year—three times the males in Jerusalem were to appear before Him.

The third feast is the feast of Ingathering, which was held along with the feast of Tabernacles. As we have been looking at the feast of Tabernacles, we have been wondering, “How can this feast be fulfilled spiritually?” We know that the feast of Ingathering has to do with the final harvest when God will save a great multitude, according to Revelation 7, “which no man can number,” and He is accomplishing this in our very day, in the time of the Great Tribulation.

Yet, what about the feast of Tabernacles? We have almost let that fall by the wayside, as far as looking at it. Certainly, it is an important aspect to God’s salvation plan; it is an important part of God’s overall plan for this world. Otherwise, God would not have made mention of it or placed this feast at exactly the same time as the feast of Ingathering or the feast of Harvest. There must also be, therefore, a spiritual fulfillment to the feast of Tabernacles.

We have also seen that God typifies the church as being Egypt; the church of the Great Tribulation, that is—I do not think that God has used this typology throughout the whole New Testament era. Egypt has two spiritual meanings to it. Most of the time, Egypt represents the world. Therefore, as we read about the Israelites coming out of Egypt and crossing the Red Sea, it is a picture of sinners who are coming out of the house of bondage, out of their sin, and out from under the wrath of God in order to find salvation in Jesus Christ. As they cross the Red Sea, it is a picture of salvation; it is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ saving them.

That picture cannot be forgotten; we ought not to overlook it. However, God does paint a second picture of Egypt. We looked at this as we saw in Revelation 11 that God calls the dead church Egypt.

Can God do this? Is that not something that will confuse us, to think that Egypt has two different spiritual meanings?

To the first question, yes, God can do this; but no, it will not confuse us, any more than when we think about Babylon. God uses Babylon in much the same way that He uses Egypt. Normally, Babylon would represent the world; it would represent the kingdom of Satan as he has reigned in this world since the fall of Adam. Yet finally, at the end when Satan is loosed and overcomes the camp of the saints, which is the church, then he is reigning exclusively in the church. When Christ has left the church for judgment, then it is pictured as Babylon in Revelation 17 and 18 and some other places. It is almost an identical picture to Egypt—Egypt pictured the world, just as Babylon pictured the world; then at the end, when Satan is ruling in the church, just as he had previously ruled in the world, the church becomes Babylon or the church becomes Egypt. It is a very similar picture.

The church has become Egypt, and God has begun to plague the church. He is pouring out His plagues—the plague of turning the water to blood, the plague of darkness. We have looked at those two plagues a little bit, and these plagues are very similar in nature to the plagues that came upon Egypt in the Old Testament. Let us just look at one more plague, even though there are at least seven out of the ten that are similar. I think, though, that if we were to study them a little more closely, there are probably more than that. Yet, as we look at Revelation 16 and other parts of the book of Revelation, at least seven of the plagues are very similar in comparison with the plagues that came upon Egypt. Another example is found in Revelation 16:13-14:

And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

This is speaking of false prophets who come with other kinds of gospels—they are the spirits of devils. They are working miracles and they are going forth into the churches. When we see the churches of our day giving themselves over to tongues and signs and wonders and falling over backwards and all these charismatic teachings, then we are witnessing the plague of frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon. The dragon is Satan—he is the one who is behind it all; he is the one who is pulling the strings behind these ministers of righteousness in so many of the churches of our day (2 Corinthians 11:15).

These frogs are everywhere today. If we were to understand that these frogs are representing false doctrines and false teachings and false gospels, then just take a look around at whatever denomination you please. Look at all the denominations and look at the independent churches. Look at the churches in your own neighborhood. What do you see? You see false doctrine after false doctrine, false teaching after false teaching, false gospel after false gospel. You see women in the pulpits; you see homosexual ministers or bishops; and you see so-called “reformed” churches that have totally ignored and sidestepped the Law and commands of God regarding the qualifications of deacons and elders. You see churches that, without fail, almost in unison with one voice would add some works to the message of salvation and say that a man has to do some work in order to become saved. In other words, you see frogs everywhere. They are covering the land; they are covering the landscape of the churches and congregations of the world in our day. That is because this is a plague that has come upon the church, just as much as, historically, the plague of frogs came upon Egypt.

Let us go back to the book of Exodus and see the vivid picture that God paints. He gives us a little glimpse of what took place long ago, about 3400 years ago, in the land of Egypt, in a day when Pharaoh would not let the people go. In Exodus 8:1-7, we read:

And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

This is the picture—there are frogs everywhere. These frogs would be leaping around, even in the ovens and in the kneadingtroughs. Is it not interesting that God points that out? They would be in your oven that you would bake your bread with and in the kneadingtrough where you would knead your bread before placing it into the oven. Bread has to do with the Gospel—Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35).

There were frogs in the ovens and frogs in the kneadingtroughs. Everywhere you looked, there were frogs. Today, this is the case; we see the spiritual fulfillment of the plague of frogs as so many false teachers have multiplied across the face of the earth. There is no other way to describe it, no other way to say it, except to say that the many individuals who pick up the Bible—they are pastors, they are ministers, they are priests, they are reverends, they are elders, they are deacons, and they are Sunday school teachers—as they are teaching falsehoods and lies regarding the Gospel, they are as frogs. These people are all across the face of the earth in the land of Egypt, which the church has become, and they are as frogs that are plaguing Egypt. They are plaguing their own people; they are plaguing their congregations.

Even though the congregations might be satisfied or content with that kind of teaching; nevertheless, it is a plague; it is a judgment of God. If God were blessing the church, He would bring in true and faithful teaching. Many of those individuals in the congregation might head for the exit and get out of that church; but nonetheless, that would be a blessing for those who would remain and for those who would come in thereafter.

Today, maybe, churches are being filled and are increasing in numbers, but that does not mean that there is no plague. There is a terrible plague, an awful plague that has come upon the church of our day, and it is the plague of frogs. Therefore, God is commanding today, just as He commanded Pharaoh, “Let My people go.” He is commanding His people today, “Come out of her, My people,” while simultaneously issuing forth the command to Pharaoh, to Satan, “Let My people go.”

Before we go on to look at the feast of Tabernacles and tie it in to the coming out of Egypt, there is one other thing that we also want to keep in mind. The command of God to Moses and Aaron was for them to go before Pharaoh and command, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness” (Exodus 7:16); several times we read that. Yet, it is very significant that back in Exodus 3, God added a little more information. We read in verses 11-12:

And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.

Now we get another tie in; we get another connection between the commandments of God. We already have the tie in of Revelation 18:4—”Come out of her, My people”—with the command, “Let My people go,” but now we have a second tie in. We read in Matthew 24:15-16:

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

Again, this is another spiritual picture in which the church is spoken of as Judaea. The abomination of desolation is Satan, and the holy place is the church. When you see, when you understand that the man of sin, the antichrist, has been revealed and you see that it is Satan in the church, then it is time to flee. Furthermore, God is telling us where to flee—into the mountains. That is language indicating that we are to flee to God and to the Bible. He will be our protection—”As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people” (Psalm 125:2). The command is for us to flee to the mountains. So it was when God spoke to Moses and told him to say to Pharaoh when he went before him, “Let My people go.” He also tells Moses in Exodus 3:12:

…I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.

The Israelites did go to Mt. Sinai; they went there and they heard the words of God from that mountain when they came out of Egypt. Likewise, believers today are to come out of the church, which spiritually has become Egypt. We are to flee to God and to the Word of God to hear God’s Word as He is opening the Scriptures and opening our understanding and giving us guidance and wisdom and insight into the Word of God. It is a very parallel command that is going on today; as God had commanded the Israelites to serve Him upon that mountain, likewise today, when we come out of the church, we are not to come out and have a vacation to rest and relax and lounge around. The idea is not that we do not have to go to church anymore, so we are sitting idle. Rather, we come out of the church to minister the Gospel to the world. We are to serve God by bringing the Gospel to those who need it. The world needs the Gospel, so we are very busy occupying until Christ comes to usher in the new heavens and the new earth.

Now the feast of Tabernacles is that feast that commemorates and brings to remembrance the time when Israel came out of Egypt. God connects that feast with the final feast of Ingathering in Leviticus 23. Is it not interesting that we read this information in Zechariah 14:16:

And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

That is what we are interested in—what the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles is. In other words, what is the proper observance of this feast? What is the true keeping of the feast of Tabernacles? The proper keeping of Pentecost took place on the day of Pentecost in 33 AD, and it was the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit and the official beginning of the New Testament age. The proper observance of the Passover was when the Lord Jesus Christ was hanging on the Cross. What then is the deep, spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles? We will read what it is in Zechariah 14:17, which says:

And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

The church has become Egypt. Here, we are now in the Great Tribulation. We are in the time of the latter rain; it is the final season of harvest, the final time when God is going to save a great multitude (Revelation 7:9). Yet the rain will not fall within the church, within that which has become Egypt. We must come out of the church, out of Egypt, and keep the feast of Tabernacles. If we do not come out, if we do not observe the feast of Tabernacles, as it says here in verse 17, there will be no rain, just as there is no latter rain in the church.

Then verse 18 says:

And if the family of Egypt go not up…

Egypt once again is in view. The church has become Egypt, and those within the church are of the family of Egypt—if they go not up to keep the feast of Tabernacles… How did the Israelites keep the feast of Tabernacles when they were in Egypt? They had to come out of Egypt to keep the feast of Tabernacles. They could not remain in Egypt and observe that feast; they had to get out of that place that was experiencing the plagues of God. The verse continues:

And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague…

“There shall be the plague”—now do you see how God is tying this together with the plagues on the church, which has become Egypt, in Revelation? If you do not go up and keep the feast of Tabernacles, if you do not come out of the corporate church, you will have no rain, but you will have the plague. You will have the water turned to blood; you will have the darkness instead of the sun. You will have the frogs and the locusts, which Revelation speaks of. You will have hail and all the plagues of Egypt—that is what God says.

Let us look at a verse in Amos, which is another book that has a lot to say about the Great Tribulation. Please read Amos chapter 4, where God lists many judgments upon the church. He says in verse 10:

I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

In other words, you have hardened your heart just as Pharaoh and the Egyptians hardened their heart. God is plaguing the church, and the church turns a deaf ear to the Word of God and to the command of God to come out. God is plaguing the church again and again with more and more awful, terrible plagues, yet the church turns a blind eye to the plagues and the judgments of God, just as Pharaoh did. We stand amazed at the stubbornness of that Pharaoh and of his Egyptian court. Yet that Pharaoh was nothing like the church of our day, as far as stubbornness and rebelliousness and pure wickedness, when it comes to withstanding the judgment of God and rebelling against God in the face of His righteous judgment as He is plaguing the church.

God is commanding, “Come up and keep the feast. Come out of Egypt.” He says in Zechariah 14:18:

And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

I hope that we are beginning to see how this feast is spiritually fulfilled by the people of God. As we are leaving the church and coming out of the congregation, we are keeping the feast. Let us also read verse 19, which says:

This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

We are in the final season; Tabernacles is held in conjunction with Ingathering. As we see that the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles is the leaving of Egypt, the church, this is a testimony and a witness to us that we are in the last stage, the last feast, in the acceptable year of the Lord. This feast comes in the end of the year—God is very clear to state that. We are in the final harvest, because if we are aware that we are keeping the feast of Tabernacles, which is held in conjunction with the feast of Harvest, then, likewise, the feast of Harvest is currently going on. This is a strong proof and a witness to us that we have very little time left for the continuing existence of this world.