Continuing on from part (b) of this Part V, where we established that the prophecy of Joel for the pouring forth of the Holy Spirit in the “last days” was affirmed by Peter on the day of Pentecost to be what the people were seeing and hearing in about 30-31 AD, then we must know that the prophecy has already happened, and is already fulfilled.
This prophecy has to be viewed in our rear view mirrors. Problems have come about, however, because the futurist perspective removes the prophecies of the last days from their proper time and place in the 1st century AD during the last days of the old Mosaic covenant and project them out into our generation or our future. This false teaching causes the NT scriptures to be misapplied, and misappropriated.
“…that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. (Joel 2:28-29, KJV)
The prophecy is somewhat hyperbolic when stating “all flesh”, as some of the people did not receive the gifts of prophecy or visions. However, the mass broadcast of the words of the Holy Spirit in that generation is so different from the rest of prophetic history that we have to note the distinctions. God was not limiting the selection of His messengers to preach the gospel of Christ to just one man, or one group of men. This was not a case of sending Isaiah to prophesy against the king of Babylon, or sending Jonah to prophesy against the people of Nineveh.
The change that was coming upon them in that generation to bring in the everlasting kingdom of Christ, and to move beyond the fleshly temple laws of the old Mosaic covenant needed speedy messengers to go throughout all of the known world of the old Roman empire before that temple would fall. The timing was modeled after the OT wandering in the wilderness for 40 years before entering the promised land of Canaan.
The generation of the 1st century AD saw another 40 year period from the crucifixion of Christ to the fall of that temple in 70 AD, and the new promised land was the perfect, spiritual promised kingdom of God. The good news had to be published abroad, probated, before the new testament of Christ could be fully established, and the old covenant that was ready to vanish away could be completely annulled (Heb. 8:13).
Today, many people are attempting to appropriate the spiritual gifts that were promised to those 1st century believers unto themselves because they have been falsely taught to believe that we are living in the last days. I have had a brother in Christ tell me that as we are living in the last days, and as he was immersed into Christ, he therefore is a prophet of God. I have had a friend tell me that she had a dream in the night that God told her to move to a new city. I could list many such examples that are all caused by the false teaching that we are living in the last days.
The people standing before Peter on the day of Pentecost who repented and accepted the word of the Holy Spirit that Peter spoke were immersed in water for the forgiveness of their sins, and then the Apostles laid their hands upon them to impart the gifts of the Holy Spirit that would be needed to prove the message of the gospel was from Christ. How do we know this?
“1And it came to pass, in Apollos’ being in Corinth, Paul having gone through the upper parts, came to Ephesus, and having found certain disciples, 2he said unto them, `The Holy Spirit did ye receive — having believed?’ and they said unto him, `But we did not even hear whether there is any Holy Spirit;’
3and he said unto them, `To what, then, were ye baptized?’ and they said, `To John’s baptism.’
4And Paul said, `John, indeed, did baptize with a baptism of reformation, saying to the people that in him who is coming after him they should believe — that is, in the Christ – Jesus;’ 5and they, having heard, were baptized — to the name of the Lord Jesus, 6and Paul having laid on them [his] hands, the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were speaking also with tongues, and prophesying,” (Acts 19:1 – 6, YLT)
Paul laid his hands upon them after they had been baptized. They did not receive the Holy Spirit until after they were baptized, which means that the gift of the Holy Spirit came through the hands of the chosen Apostles or their chosen disciples (Timothy). It was not an automatic result of being baptized.
See Acts 8:14-17 where Peter was sent to Samaria to lay hands upon those who had already been baptized into Christ, but had not yet been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. See also the following verses in Acts 8:18-23 where Peter refused the gift to Simon the magician because of the evil of his heart.
And, as God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) then He does not treat anyone any differently from another. Therefore, if one of them had to be immersed anew into Christ, then so did they all. He applies the same requirement to everyone. Therefore, on the day of Pentecost, those that repented were immersed into water, including the Apostles. The only difference was the order.
The Holy Spirit fell upon the Apostles first, just as it had upon the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:21ff).
“44While Peter is yet speaking these sayings, the Holy spirit fell upon all those hearing the word, 45and those of the circumcision believing were astonished — as many as came with Peter — because also upon the nations the gift of the Holy Spirit hath been poured out, 46for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and magnifying God.
47Then answered Peter, `The water is any one able to forbid, that these may not be baptized, who the Holy Spirit did receive — even as also we?’ 48he commanded them also to be baptized in the name of the Lord; then they besought him to remain certain days.” (Acts 10:44-48, YLT)
Just as on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured forth, and then they were immersed in water. The same order of events happened with Paul and Ananias in Acts 9 in Damascus.
“17And Ananias went away, and did enter into the house, and having put upon him [his] hands, said, `Saul, brother, the Lord hath sent me — Jesus who did appear to thee in the way in which thou wast coming — that thou mayest see again, and mayest be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ 18And immediately there fell from his eyes as it were scales, he saw again also presently, and having risen, was baptized,” (Acts 9:17-18, YLT)
Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit first, and then was baptized / immersed. Those three events – the Apostles and disciples on the day of Pentecost, the house of Cornelius, and Paul in Damascus – had the order reversed so that they received the Holy Spirit first and then were immersed into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. All other times immersion came first, and then if they were worthy, the laying on of the Apostles hands for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The current teaching of Holy Spirit baptism replacing water immersion is false. Further, they were not immersed into the Holy Spirit, but received certain gifts from the Holy Spirit. It is an entirely different process. And, I don’t see any of those chosen Apostles that Jesus sent out in the 1st century AD around today to lay their hands upon anyone.
Just as in the OT, it was God who was doing the work of the miracles, and answering the prayers of the disciples and Apostles (Acts 19:11-12; James 5:13-15). Then, what were the people doing? They were the messengers God had appointed to speak the words given by the Holy Spirit to the people. The miracles were confirming and authenticating the words, the spirit of truth.
The gift of prophecy – speaking the words of the Holy Spirit.
The gift of public prayers – speaking the words of the Holy Spirit.
The gift of tongues, which is the old way of saying foreign languages / dialects – speaking the words of the Holy Spirit.(1) (2) (3)
The gift of interpretation of tongues / foreign languages – speaking the words of the Holy Spirit (3).
The gifts of healing and dealing with serpents, or demons / devils were miracles that confirmed the spoken words. All of these miracles were very public, and quickly retold from first-hand witnesses. That is how the assemblies at Rome heard about Jesus.
As the promise was for that generation, they would die out as the Apostles and disciples died. Paul told them that they would fade away (1 Cor. 13:8-10)
“8The love doth never fail; and whether [there be] prophecies, they shall become useless; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether knowledge, it shall become useless; 9for in part we know, and in part we prophecy; 10and when that which is perfect may come, then that which [is] in part shall become useless.” (YLT)
The gifts had almost all faded away by the time the book of Acts closes. They are seldom mentioned in Paul’s later epistles.(4) And, we should wonder why. I will suggest to you that the words of the Holy Spirit were being recorded in the gospels and other letters Paul wrote to the assemblies. The perfect written record that the Holy Spirit has always been maintaining was becoming more prevalent as the letters were passed from assembly to assembly.
So, as the written words of the New Testament became available to the people, and as those words had already been confirmed by the miracles of the Holy Spirit, then the verification process of continued miracles was not required as much. The prophesy of Joel was completely fulfilled by AD 70.
“18for I will not dare to speak anything of the things that Christ did not work through me, to obedience of nations, by word and deed, 19in power of signs and wonders, in power of the Spirit of God; so that I, from Jerusalem, and in a circle as far as Illyricum, have fully preached the good news of the Christ;” (Rom. 15:18-19, YLT, circa AD 57)
“The signs, indeed, of the apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds,” (2 Cor. 12:12, YLT, circa AD 55)
“if also ye remain in the faith, being founded and settled, and not moved away from the hope of the good news, which ye heard, which was preached in all the creation that [is] under the heaven, of which I became — I Paul — a ministrant.” (Col. 1:23, YLT, circa AD 61-62)
Past tense… “fully preached,” “were wrought,” and “which ye heard, and was preached…” The work of the miracles was completed, their purpose to have confirmed and authenticated the words of God, the words of His Spirit. As the written record was circulated and read by those who had witnessed those miracles, the confirmation spread and was sealed by the Holy Spirit who moved the men that wrote the books (1 Pet. 1:21). The Holy Spirit was the source of the spoken words, and of the written words which we still have today as witness of the events of the 1st century AD.
Do miracles still happen today? I firmly believe that God still works in our lives through His providence, and His Spirit, and He answers our prayers as He wills it. I have both first and second hand witness of this in my life. But, not on the mass scale of the very public evidences of Joel’s prophecy. God works just as He always did in the OT to answer the prayers of the people, and to call them to Him, and to promote the knowledge of His word.
“The Spirit where he willeth doth blow…” (John 3:8)
“30Many indeed, therefore, other signs also did Jesus before his disciples, that are not written in this book; 31and these have been written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye may have life in his name.’” (John 20:30-31, YLT)
(Edited Dec. 1, 2025 to correct spelling prophesy to prophecy.)
Notes:
1) What is the spiritual gift of interpreting tongues? – https://www.gotquestions.org/gift-interpreting-tongues.html
2) “The gift of tongues was the supernatural ability to speak in a foreign, human language which was previously unknown or unstudied by the speaker. Notice that the gift of tongues is not the ability to speak gibberish — that requires no supernatural ability. “ Source: https://theologue.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/thegiftoftongues-fredzaspel.pdf
3) “If tongues, therefore, require interpretation, then they must be a cognitive language. They must communicate intelligible meanings if an interpretation is necessary for understanding. Thus, whether the words “interpretation” or “interpret” refer to an exposition or a translation, this word group refers to making clear what is said in a known human language. This evidence supports the view that the gift of the “interpretation of tongues” refers to the supernatural ability to translate an unknown human language into the language of those listening” Source: The Gift of Tongues – https://www.nwbcokc.org/aboutus/for-bereans/tongues/
4) When Did the Gift of Tongues Cease – https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/when-did-the-gift-of-tongues-cease/
Shredding The Veil 
Note #4 was very helpful. So, today when praying for healing, laying on of hands by Pastors or Elders and anointing with oil would have no greater power or significance than just prayer?
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God is the one who does the healing. He answers our prayers if it is His will. The laying on of hands in the 1st cent. AD was to let the apostles impart the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who had been immersed into Christ & to those whom God approved of. The apostles did not need the laying on of hands to heal. God always did the healing whether Jesus’ hands or an apostles’ hands were used. Healing was done through prayer, just as it is today.
It is interesting to note that in all of the instances of healing whether by Jesus or the Apostles they were commanded to rise and walk, to stand up. When “healers” today use their hands in many of the charismatic churches, the ppl usually fall down.
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i have another question about spiritual gifts. The gifts given in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 were given to the early church to further the Gospel until God’s written word was spread. The gifts mentioned in Romans12:3-8 are different and though Paul is writing to the first century church, would this not pertain to the church today? Would you say that every believer today has been given at least one spiritual gift by God’s grace and that we should all be exercising them in the church today?
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The “gifts” listed in Rom. 12:6 are prophesy, teaching, serving others, exhortation, contributing money and goods, giving aid to others, and acts of mercy. Are these all only attributed to the Holy Spirit promise of Acts 2:39? The miraculous gifts that God poured out on the day of Pentecost in the first century AD were promised to those standing there (the circumcised), to their children, and to those that were far off (the gentiles who had not yet been grafted in). The promise was for the last days (Acts 2:17).
The posts at this blog brings into focus the time period of the last days as God defined them, which were the last days of the old Mosaic covenant, and the last days of that old temple in Jerusalem. The purpose of God’s pouring out His Spirit during those last days was to very quickly spread the gospel of Christ to all of those living in that 4th beast kingdom, that ancient Roman empire before the judgment destruction that was carried out against Jerusalem in AD 70. The gift of God’s Spirit was not a result of being immersed (baptized), but of either God’s direct actions upon the Apostles, upon Paul on the road to Damascus, and then upon the house of Cornelius in Acts 10. All other instances were a result of the laying on of the hands of the Apostles after immersion.
Are we still waiting for the destruction of that old temple in Jerusalem? No. So, the gifts of the Holy Spirit which enabled the Apostles and disciples of Christ to spread the gospel throughout that generation faded away after the temple was destroyed. And, that is what Paul stated would happen.
“as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; 10 but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.” (1 Cor. 13:8-10, RSV)
That which is perfect is the new covenant, everlasting kingdom of God. His everlasting kingdom was fully established and set in place when the old covenant was abolished in AD 70. As Paul stated that the imperfect, or partially revealed knowledge would pass away, then the gifts of the Holy Spirit would also pass away when that generation died away.
The knowledge that those gifts provided through the words the Holy Spirit put into their mouths are now recorded for us in His Holy Scriptures, and we have those words from the mouth of God by studying His scriptures. So, we have the Holy Spirit through His written word. The more we study it, the more we know it, the more His word is written on our hearts.
Individually we have certain skill sets among all of us. Some ppl are good teachers, others are able to organize charitable functions, others have prospered and can give more money and aid, etc. But, these skills or talents which many call “gifts” are not miraculous in the sense of those gifts God poured out during those last days of the1st century AD.
All eschatology was old covenant Israel’s eschatology – prophecies of the end of the old covenant. Therefore, all promises from the OT prophecies were for those last days during the 1st century AD. Those promises of the last days of the old covenant are not our promises today. Our promises are all found in the everlasting kingdom of God which we already have within us. All miracles come from God in answer to our prayers. Any miracles we have today are a result of our prayers. All prophecy has ceased b/c the plan of salvation through the gospel has been fulfilled through Christ Jesus.
He still works His will through His providence for us today. Please read the posts here from July 2022 – Testing The Spirits – Part V (a), (b), and (c).
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I understand what you are saying. The reason I asked is because our woman’s group is doing a study on “spiritual gifts”. I can see from glancing through the study, he believes the last days have not come yet so all “gifts” are relevant to us today. I guess I can bring that up when we get there The author is saying every believer is given at least one “spiritual gift” that should be used to serve others, build up the church, and glorify God. God gives everyone our gifts/talents, even non believers, but shouldn’t all believers use whatever talents God has given us to glorify God?
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Strange. If the author does not believe that the last days have come yet, then why is he talking about spiritual gifts, or any gifts of the Holy Spirit. Seems illogical to me. But, in general we should be living our lives every day as a testament to Christ so that others can see Him in us. Then any skills or talents we have would be used to glorify Him.
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Yes, I am pretty sure he is the typical evangelical believer in the future end of the world and probably the rapture. Aside from that, he is basically saying a “spiritual gift” is any thing used to edify the church and encourage believers, which is why the original gifts were given in the first century. He says it is still relevant today in the body of Christ. He gave an interesting example of what he called the supernatural giving of the gift of tongues for a time. He and his wife were serving in Austria and while they were there, they had such complete command of the German language that the people thought they must have been born in Austria. After they left, they were no longer fluent in German. He believes the Spirit gave them this gift for a time, which seems reasonable to me. He believes God gives many gifts to people, more than just those listed in Scripture and they are spiritual for the reasons listed above and given to us by the Holy Spirit. Wouldn’t gifts given by God and the Holy Spirit, be one and the same? I don’t see that it matters what we call them since God gives us everything we have and as you said, we should do all to the glory of Christ.
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The problem that continually is expressed by most ppl is that they believe they have a “gift” from the Holy Spirit when they were baptized. Acts 8 :14ff & 19:1-6 are very clear that the gifts poured out in the 1st century AD on the day of Pentecost were not the result of baptism, but the laying on of hands by those apostles and disciples that Jesus and YHVH chose. Anyone who claims that same belief today is not carefully studying the scriptures. However, when we examine the OT scriptures we find that YHVH put His word in the mouths of His prophets from time to time.
” And Jehovah saith unto him, `Who appointed a mouth for man? or who appointeth the dumb, or deaf, or open, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah?”
12 and now, go, and I — I am with thy mouth, and have directed thee that which thou speakest;’ (Ex. 4:11-12, YLT)
“hath the word of Jehovah certainly been unto Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar, and there is on him there a hand of Jehovah.” (Ezek. 1:3, YLT)
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, For Jehovah hath spoken: Sons I have nourished and brought up, And they — they transgressed against Me.” (Isa. 1:2, YLT)
“Therefore, hear a word of Jehovah, ye men of scorning, Ruling this people that [is] in Jerusalem.” (Isa. 28:14, YLT)
So many more scriptures can be found, but the point is that God chose whom He would use to speak for Him. He chose the prophets we would send, and He gave them the words to speak when needed. Gave, or gifted. It was not a gift that belonged to any of them. It was God’s Holy Spirit, God’s breath that He put into their mouths. It is in this same manner that God will choose ppl from time to time and put His words in their mouths whenever He can use them to speak the gospel of Christ. But, even the OT prophets did not have His words on a full time basis; only when ever the Spirit fell upon them. It was the same way in the NT. Whenever He deemed appropriate to spread the message He would put His words in their mouths. So, the idea that people today have these “gifts” of the Spirit as a permanent part of themselves is not only wrong, but very arrogant. I will not argue that the author of the book did not have God’s help while he was in Austria, b/c I firmly believe that God will use people as He needs to in order to teach the gospel message. I just think ppl take it too far as a being physical part or permanent condition of their Christian walk. The “gift” of the Holy Spirit is not ours. It belongs to God as it is His Spirit, not ours, and He will let it blow wherever He wills it whenever He wills it (John 3:8).
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What boggles my mind is how so many Christians, myself included, who pray before reading Scripture, asking for discernment, wisdom, and truth, come up with so many varying doctrines and interpretations of Scripture. They all seem so sure of their belief and defend it with more Scripture. God certainly can prevent false doctrine from getting out but why doesn’t he? I know we don’t know the mind of God but this is so perplexing to me.
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I sympathize greatly. IMO a major problem is a lack of critical analytical thinking skills. In my formative school years during the 60’s the schools still had core classes – mathematics, diagraming, phonetics, problem solving classes that focused on analysis learning. Math wasn’t memorizing formulas but learning how to derive them. English wasn’t this fake whole language the kids have today but training in pronunciation and language arts. The indoctrination that took over the entire education system from the 70’s on focused on memorization and regurgitation, which means the student only had to remember the info until they took the test to pass it. Then, they dumped that information. I think this lack of critical thinking skills has adversely impacted many ppl’s ability to correctly study God’s word.
Studying God’s word requires discipline, focus on context, focus on original usage from the OT scriptures, connecting dots, and allowing God’s word to rule. Many questions that I see on other sites are so outlandish, so embellished with influences from pagan sources that it is hard to answer them b/c there is no basis in scripture for that question to begin with. And, when I try to bring the scriptures into focus the OP is so lost in their own belief system that they reject my answer as they cannot understand what God has truly said. What always comes to my mind is Matt. 7:14, “how strait [is] the gate, and compressed the way that is leading to the life, and few are those finding it!” (YLT)
Remember the false prophets that Jesus warned of. Ppl have free will to choose. All we can do is keep pointing out the truth of God’s word. The good hearts will listen. Maybe they will in their turn teach others also.
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The members of my Bible study group are all about the same age so we went to school in the 60’s and 70’s. I am guessing the main reason they don’t do more in depth study is they have been indoctrinated for years in the church and don’t feel it is necessary and they give the excuse of too busy. We are all retired so…. they just don’t want to make time for in depth study. I’m not sure what we will be studying when we start in the fall but my women’s Bible study is doing Philippians
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Sounds very familiar. Sitting in the pews year after year, hearing the standard preaching year after year, and they are comfortable with what they know. It is laziness, and we all get in a rut now and then. Philippians is a very good study. Paul knew that he was going to be with Christ when he died (Phil 1:23). If they would just take that truth to heart it would break open their futuristic beliefs in one future final judgment day. God bless you.
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Interesting you would mention that. A question about this came up once and no good answer was given. Let me explain. From what I can tell, they believe when a Christian dies, they will be in the presence of Jesus immediately but only in spirit. They believe when the rapture happens or Christ comes again, I am not sure which, they will be reunited with their glorified bodies in “a twinkling of an eye”, then go before the throne of God. Someone asked how that could be because if they were already in heaven, how could they go through judgment at a later time.
From my early study, I was led to believe we all sleep until Christ’s return then we are raised and go before the throne. After reading your piece on the resurrection, it all made sense. Before Christ came at the destruction of Jerusalem, the dead were ” asleep” in Hades but after we are changed in “a twinkling of an eye” and rise to be with the Lord as soon as we die since death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. Do I have that right?
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Yes, you are correct. After Jesus’ resurrection things changed. Some of His disciples were resurrected after He was as witnesses to their families in Jerusalem (Matt. 27:52). From that point on all who are in Christ at the time of their bodily death are resurrected, changed in the twinkling of an eye and taken home to heaven b/c of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:11-24 that they would be where He was – that is with Him in heaven – so they could witness His glory at His return. After His return to destroy the earthly Jerusalem and the earthly temple, then all of those who were still sleeping in the grave / Hades / Sheol were taken out, separated right and left (Matt. 25:31-48). Those worthy of righteousness were changed, put on immortality, and taken home to heaven. Those unworthy were cast out. And, then Jesus threw Hades into the lake of fire – meaning He destroyed it.
Those who believe that they must wait for their resurrected bodies to catch up to their souls are still operating under the futuristic belief system, and have invented that idea to try make sense of God’s word. They are straining at the gnat.
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What about Romans 8:26 and Paul’s statement that he speaks in tongues more than you all, HOWEVER, in the church Gathering, he would rather speak 5 words in a known language to edify the Body. I thought that there is given unto us a prayer language that is for our prayer closet, not for the Gathering of saints. Can you please help clarify your thoughts on that? Thank you for what you do.
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Rom. 8:26, discussing prayer, the Spirit interceding for us… ” but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” It is the Spirit that is making sounds which cannot be uttered, not us. 1 Cor. 14:18 is still abut foreign languages, and the word translated as “tongue” is Strong’s Gr. 1100, “glossa” meaning a language. See p. 3 of the link #2 in the notes which goes over Paul’s statement in Cor. 14. Pls read all of the notes, as they all discuss this issue. Paul traveled to many countries and different areas so that he required the spiritual gift of speaking many different languages and dialects. It is not some gibberish sound caused by movement of the tongue in the mouth.
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In Matthew chapter 5 Jesus says He has not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. He goes on to say until heaven and earth pass away not one jot or tittle of the Law shall pass away. I understand this as Jesus saying the Law is still in effect until heaven and earth (the old covenant) pass away, which happened in 70 A.D. Do we look at the Law as being abolished in 70 A.D. ? Jesus said he didn’t come to abolish it. So what does it mean for the Law to be fulfilled while at the same time the Law is not abolished. My understanding is that the Law was abolished in 70 A.D. but the verse in which Jesus said he didn’t come to abolish, confuses me.
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Fulfilling the law means completing the law. Filling it up in himself. All of the feast days are completed in Jesus Christ; the Passover at His crucifixion, the first fruits at His resurrection, the Feast of Trumpets / day of judgment at the fall of the temple in AD 70 and Day of Atonement / Yom Kippur in heaven 10 days after the temple fell, and established His kingdom on the 15th of Tishri for the Feast of Tabernacles in heaven and earth (Rev. 21: 1-3). It is not an accident that the word tabernacle is in Revelation after the fall of that temple. We are now in the last feast which symbolizes His everlasting kingdom with Christ, tabernacling with our Savior and our God. Christians are now in His sabbath rest (Heb. 4:9-11; 10:1, 12ff) because men no longer have to work at those Mosaic sacrificial laws as Jesus did it all for us. All of the commandments are summed up in His answer at Matt. 22:37-40 that we are to love our God above all others, with all our heart, and all our soul, and all our mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
When Christ became the last blood sacrifice that God would ever again accept for forgiveness of sins, He fulfilled all of the fence laws of that temple sacrificial system. He filled them up, and completed them. We no longer have to do any blood sacrifices. Our sacrifices now are the fruit of our lips, and helping others around us (Heb. 13:2,15).
It is not that Jesus stopped doing everything, just that He finished that specific work which our Father sent Him to do in becoming our salvation and our path back to our Father. He has rested from that work, and is now engaged in the on-going judgment of the nations and those who pass from this earthly realm every day. HE is the fulfillment of it all.
As the number of the tribes were encamped around the wilderness tabernacle they formed the image of the cross that Christ would be crucified on by their arrangement. The eastern tribes outnumbered the rest, being larger than the others. See example here: https://graceandtruth.me/2014/11/18/the-tabernacle-of-moses-and-the-cross/
God always had His plan of salvation in Christ.
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You may plan to cover this in a later post, but in 1 Corinthians, Paul discusses that our speaking in tongues edifies ourselves, and that he ‘speaks in tongues more than you all, however, in the church, he desires to speak five words with his mind’ so that those who are gathered with him would be edified. I understood that God has given us the gift of tongues as a means of personal prayer (Romans 8:26). I would agree with the assessment for the church that without interpretation, tongues are a distraction and confusion. Can you please help me understand your thoughts on this? Thank you for all you do.
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Please read the notes to this post that cover those who argue from this verse. The arguments are not valid. Look at especially at the link in Note 4. Ecstatic utterances are not a tongue / language, and are not intended in the discussion at 1 Cor.
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