Barley is the first grain to ripen and was employed during the Levitical feast of Firstfruits.

Gideon is associated with barley.

And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along (Judges 7:13).

Ruth is associated with barley.

So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. (Ruth 2:17)

The firstfruits company is revealed in the Book of Revelation, standing on Mount Zion, in the place where David kept the Ark of the Covenant when it was separated from the remainder of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.

And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads (Revelation 14:1).

We see, then, that the concept of the first resurrection being a special, advance resurrection and ascension, an honor guard to greet the Lord Jesus when He comes to assume the government of Israel and of the other nations of the earth, has strong support in the types of the Old Testament as well as in some of the statements of the New Testament.

If the first resurrection is a special, advance resurrection of the Lord's "mighty men," then Paul's zeal in pursuing the out-resurrection to the end of his discipleship makes perfect sense.

Otherwise, Paul's desire to attain the out-resurrection is difficult to understand.

The statement that finally caused us to take the position that only a holy remnant will be raised at the next coming of the Lord, is as follows:

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years (Revelation 20:6).

There are numerous people who believe in Jesus, who have, we believe, a genuine experience of sins forgiven. They truly love the Lord and His Spirit is in them. But we cannot see all of them serving as members of the royal priesthood. Many are babies in Christ. Their pastors feed them with diluted milk; for if they presented a stronger word their congregations would choke and die.

Such believers simply are not kings and priests in the Kingdom. They are not kings and priests today and they will not be made so magically when the Lord appears, by "grace," by forgiveness, by mercy, or by any other simple, quick means. They are not ready to be the judges who will sit upon the all-powerful thrones in the air that govern the spiritual condition of the nations of the earth. To think that immature, worldly Christians suddenly will be assigned such supreme authority and power is to indulge in fantasy.

Then too, the Lord warned us concerning the ten virgins who had lamps—the lamps representing the Word of God. Five of them had oil, that is, the Life of Christ dwelling in them. They were living by His Life. The other five had lamps but their oil had been used up. They were not accepted by the Lord when He came.

To be continued.