Tuesday, November 30, 2021

YEHOVAH'S FAITHFULNESS IS OUR STRENGTH

One of the most important verses in all of scripture is found in Peter’s first epistle where the apostle speaks of the necessity of having our faith tested:

“That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to be praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus the Messiah” (1 Peter 1:7, NKJV).

The Greek word used for trials here means “examining or testing with difficulties and adversities.” This passage suggests that Yehovah our God is saying, “Your faith is precious to me, more precious than all the wealth of this world that will one day perish.

In these last days, when the enemy sends all manner of evil against you, I want you to be able to stand strong with unshakable faith.”

Peter says: “Yehovah our God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9). The Greek word here that is used for temptation means “putting to proof adversities.” Clearly, Yehovah our God does not want to keep us in our trials. Why would he be interested in keeping us in the midst of temptation and affliction? He doesn’t get any glory from testing his children but He does get glory from the results of our testings!

There is only one way to escape our trials, and that is by passing the test. Think about it. When you were in school, how did you finally escape? You passed the final exam. If you didn’t pass, you were sent back to class.

That was the case with ancient Israel. When God brought them to the Red Sea, he was testing his people, trying them, proving them. He brought them to the very brink of destruction, surrounding them by mountains on two sides, a sea on another and an approaching enemy on the other.

Yes, Yehovah put Israel in that circumstance expecting a certain reaction. He wanted his people to acknowledge their helplessness. He wanted to hear them say, “We remember how God delivered us from the plagues. We remember how he brought us out of the furnace of affliction where we made bricks without straw and had no rest. God delivered us then, and he will do it again! Let us rejoice in his faithfulness. He is God, and he has given us promises he will keep. He will protect us from every enemy who comes against us.”

Such faith is a sweet-smelling incense/fragrance to God

Brothers and sisters, we are indeed living in the last days. The end of this age is very near. We are all going to be tested and tried more and more as the end approaches, especially as we go through the coming tribulation that will have an effect around the world. We are already seeing the results of climate change that is affecting people around the world and this is only the beginning of Woe! We all need to ask for our God and Father Yehovah to enable us by His Spirit to have the strength and power to be able to hold fast to the end of our lives or this age! Without His help and amazing grace we are completely helpless to be able to withstand what is coming.

May our God and Father Yehovah be our strong tower and our sure defense, our rearguard and guiding light as we walk on the narrow path through this sin-sick world toward entrance into His soon-coming Kingdom.

May we inculcate the words He spoke to Zerubbabel: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says Yehovah of hosts." Also the words He spoke to the Apostle Paul: My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

And Paul's reflection: Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of the Messiah may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for the Messiah’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9,10)

Psalm 18:2: Yehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Psalm 62:7: In Yehovah is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in Yehovah.

Isaiah 12:2:  Behold, Yehovah is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD YEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.

Written By David Wilkerson (1931-2011) and edited by Bruce Lyon

Saturday, November 27, 2021

HOW LONG WAS JESUS IN THE TOMB?

Try as you might, it is impossible to fit three days and three nights between a late Friday burial and a Sunday morning resurrection. The Good Friday -Easter Sunday tradition simply isn’t true or biblical.

About one billion Protestants and another billion Catholics believe that Jesus the Messiah was crucified and entombed on a Friday afternoon; “Good Friday” and raised to life again at daybreak on “Easter Sunday” morning, a day and a half later.

Note: When we compare this to what Jesus himself said about how long he would be entombed, we find a major contradiction

How long did Jesus say he would be in the grave?

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).

The context in which Jesus the Messiah said these words is important. The scribes and Pharisees were demanding a miraculous sign from him to prove that he was indeed the long-awaited Messiah. “But he answered and said to them:

‘An evil and adulterous generation seek after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah’” (verse 39).

This was the only sign Jesus gave that he was the promised Messiah:

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (emphasis added throughout).

Traditional timing doesn’t add up

The Gospels are clear that Jesus died and his body was hurriedly placed in the tomb late in the afternoon, just before sundown when a Sabbath began (John 19:30-42).

The traditional “Good Friday-Easter Sunday” timing is from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown is one night and one day. Saturday night to Sunday daybreak is another night, giving us two nights and one day.

So where do we get another night and two days to equal the three days and three nights Jesus said He would be in the tomb?

This is definitely a problem

Most theologians and religious scholars try to work around it by arguing that any part of a day or night counts as a day or night. Thus, they say, the final few minutes of that Friday afternoon were the first day, all day Saturday was the second day, and the first few minutes of Sunday morning were the third day.

The trouble is, it doesn’t work. This only adds up to three days and two nights, not three days and three nights.

Note: John 20:1 tells us that “on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.”

Did you catch the problem here? John tells us it was still dark when Mary went to the tomb on the first day of the week t[hat for Jews began at sundown], and found it empty. Jesus was already resurrected well before daybreak, in fact just before the weekly Sabbath sundown. Thus he wasn’t in the tomb any of the daylight portions of Sunday, so daytime Sunday cannot be counted as a day.

That leaves us with, at most, part of a day on Friday, all of Friday night, a whole daylight portion on Saturday, and Saturday night. That totals one full day and part of another, and one full night and most of another; still a full day and a full night short of the time Jesus said He would be in the tomb.

Clearly, something doesn’t add up

Either Jesus misspoke about the length of time He would be in the tomb, or the “Good Friday–Easter Sunday” timing is wrong according to the scriptures.

Obviously, both cannot be true. So which one is right?

The key to understanding the timing of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection lies in understanding God’s timetable for counting when days begin and end, as well as the timing of His biblical festivals during the spring of the year when these events took place.

We first need to realize that God doesn’t begin and end days at midnight as we do. Genesis 1:5 tells us quite plainly that God counts a day as beginning with the evening (the night portion) and ending at the next evening; “So the evening [nighttime] and the morning [daylight] were the first day.” God repeats this formula for the entire six days of creation.

In Leviticus 23, where God lists all of His holy Sabbaths and festivals, He makes it clear that they are to be observed “from evening to evening” (Leviticus 23:32); in other words, from sunset to sunset, when the sun went down and the evening began.

This is why Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, followers of Jesus, hurriedly placed his body in Joseph’s nearby tomb just before sundown (John 19:39-42). A Sabbath was beginning at sundown (John 19:31), when work would have to cease.

Two kinds of Sabbaths cause confusion

As John tells us in John 19:31: “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies [of those crucified] should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken [to hasten death], and that they might be taken away.”

In the Jewish culture of that time, the chores of cooking and housecleaning were done on the day before a Sabbath to avoid working on God’s designated day of rest. Thus the day before the Sabbath was commonly called “the preparation day.” Clearly, the day on which the Messiah Jesus was crucified and his body placed in the tomb was the day immediately preceding a Sabbath.

The question is, which Sabbath, weekly or annual?

Most people assume John is speaking of the regular weekly Sabbath day, observed from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. From John’s clear statement here, most people assume Jesus died and was buried on a Friday; thus the traditional belief is that Jesus was crucified and died on “Good Friday.”

Most people have no idea that the Bible talks about two kinds of Sabbath days; the normal weekly Sabbath day that falls on the seventh day of the week, and seven annual Sabbaths days, listed in Leviticus 23 and mentioned in various passages throughout the Bible, that could fall on any day of the week.

Because traditional Christianity does not keep the annual or weekly Sabbaths they have failed to recognize what the Gospels plainly tell us about when Jesus the Messiah was crucified and resurrected.

Most people fail to note that John explicitly tells us that the Sabbath that began at sundown immediately before Jesus was buried in the tomb was one of those annual Sabbath days. Notice in John 19:31 his explanation that “that Sabbath was a high day” A “high day” being a term used to differentiate the seven annual Sabbaths from the regular weekly Sabbath days.

So what was this “high day” that immediately followed Jesus Christ’s hurried entombment?

The Gospels tell us that on the evening before Jesus was crucified, he kept the Passover with his disciples (Matthew 26:19-20; Mark 14:16-17; Luke 22:13-15).

Leviticus 23, which lists God’s festivals, tells us that on the day after the 14th of Nisan, a separate festival, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, begins (Leviticus 23:5-6). The first day of this Feast is “a holy convocation” on the 15th of Nisan on which “no customary work” is to be done (Leviticus 23:7).

This day is the first of God’s annual Sabbaths. This is the “high day” of which John wrote. Several Bible commentaries, encyclopedias, and dictionaries note that John is referring to an annual Sabbath here rather than the regular weekly Sabbath day.

Passover [the 14th day of Nisan] begins at sundown and ends the following day at sundown when this annual Sabbath began. Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples, then was arrested later that night. After daybreak the next day He was questioned before Pontius Pilate, crucified on the afternoon of the 14th of Nisan, then hurriedly entombed just before the sunset when the “high day [the 15th of Nisan],” the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, began.

Leviticus 23 tells us the order and timing of these days, and the Gospels confirm the order of events as they unfolded.

Jesus was crucified on Wednesday afternoon [the 14th of Nisan in 31 A.D.].

Several computer software programs exist that enable us to calculate when the Passover and God’s other festivals fall in any given year. Those programs show that in A.D. 31, the year of these events, the Passover meal was eaten on our Tuesday night and Wednesday sundown marked the beginning of the high day – the 15th of Nisan,” the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Jesus, then, was crucified on Wednesday morning around 9 A.M. and died around 3 P.M. in the afternoon and buried before sundown on Wednesday afternoon.

Try as you might, it is impossible to fit three days and three nights between a late Friday burial and a Sunday morning resurrection. The Good Friday -Easter Sunday tradition simply cannot be proved from the scriptures.

Can we find further proof of this in the Gospels? Yes, indeed we can!

Let’s turn to a seldom-noticed detail in Mark 16:1: “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.”

In that time, if the body of a loved one was placed in a tomb rather than being buried directly in the ground, friends and family would commonly place aromatic spices in the tomb alongside the body to reduce the smell as the remains decayed.

Since Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb just before that high-day Sabbath began, the women had no time to buy those spices before the Sabbath. Also, they could not have purchased them on the Sabbath day, as shops were closed. Thus, Mark says, they bought the spices after the “high day Sabbath” had passed.

But notice another revealing detail in Luke 23:55-56: “And the women who had come with the Messiah from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath [the 15th of Nisan, a “high day” Sabbath] according to the commandment.”

Do you see a problem here?

Mark clearly states that the women bought the spices after the Sabbath [the 15th of Nisan] - “when the Sabbath was past.” Luke tells us that the women prepared the spices and fragrant oils, after which “they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”

So they bought the spices after the Sabbath, and then they prepared the spices before resting on the Sabbath. This is a clear contradiction between these two Gospel accounts - unless two Sabbaths were involved!

Indeed when we understand that two different Sabbaths are mentioned, the problem goes away

Mark tells us that after the “high day” Sabbath, which began Wednesday evening at sundown and ended Thursday evening at sundown, the women bought the spices to anoint Jesus’ body. Luke then tells us that the women prepared the spices; activity which would have taken place on Friday; and that afterward “they rested on the Sabbath [the normal weekly Sabbath day, observed Friday sunset to Saturday sunset] according to the commandment.”

By comparing details in both accounts, we can clearly see that two different Sabbaths are mentioned along with a workday in between.

The first Sabbath was a “high day”; the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which fell on a Thursday. The second was the weekly seventh-day Sabbath.

The original Greek in which the Gospels were written also plainly tells us that two Sabbath days were involved in these accounts.

In Matthew 28:1, where Matthew writes that the women went to the tomb “after the Sabbath,” the word Sabbath here is actually plural and should be translated “Sabbaths.” Bible versions such as Alfred Marshall’s Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, Green’s Literal Translation Young’s Literal Translation, and Ferrar Fenton’s Translation make this clear.

When was Jesus resurrected?

We have seen, then, that Jesus the Messiah was crucified and entombed on a Wednesday, just before an annual Sabbath [15th of Nisan] began; not the weekly Sabbath.

So when was He resurrected?

John 20:1, as noted earlier, tells us that “on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” The sun had not yet risen; “it was dark,” John tells us when Mary found the tomb empty.

John 20:1 ¶  The first day of the week came Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and sees the stone taken away from the sepulcher. Then she runs, and comes to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and says unto them, They have taken away the lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter, therefore, went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulcher.  So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then comes Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher, and sees the linen clothes lie,  and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

But Mary stood [didn't go but stayed after Peter and John had gone]  next to the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher, and sees two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said unto them, Because they have taken away my lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself around and saw Jesus standing, and didn't know that it was Jesus [because it was dark]. Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? who are you seeking? She, supposing him to be the gardener, said unto him, Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned herself, and said unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus said unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Obviously, then, Jesus was not resurrected at sunrise on Sunday morning. Actually, he had risen just before sundown on Saturday.

So when did this take place? The answer is plain if we simply read the Gospels, and Jesus the Messiah’s own words, and accept them for what they say.

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth,” said Jesus (Matthew 12:40).

As we have proven, Jesus was entombed; placed “in the heart of the earth” just before sundown on a Wednesday [the 14th of Nisan]. All we have to do is count forward. One day and one night bring us to Thursday at sundown. Another day and night bring us to Friday at sundown. A third day and night bring us to Saturday toward sundown.

According to Jesus Christ’s own words, He would have been resurrected three days and nights after He was entombed, at around the same time; close to sunset.

Does this fit with the Scriptures?

Yes, as we have seen, he had already risen and the tomb was empty when Mary arrived “while it was still dark” [probably an hour or two after Saturday sundown] on what the Jews refer to as the first day of the week, which begins at sundown or what we call Saturday night.

While no one was around to witness His resurrection (which took place inside a sealed tomb watched over by armed guards), Jesus the Messiah’s own words and the details recorded in the Gospels show that it had to have happened three days and three nights after His burial, near sunset toward the end of the weekly Sabbath.

Try as you might, it is impossible to fit three days and three nights between a late Friday burial and a Sunday morning resurrection. The Good Friday - Easter Sunday tradition simply cannot be proved from the scriptural record.

However, when we look at all the details recorded in the Gospels and compare them with Jesus’ own words, we can understand the truth; and it matches perfectly.

The words of the angel of God, who so startled the women at the empty tomb are proven true: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said” (Matthew 28:5-6, New International Version).

Let’s not cling to the traditions of men and ideas that aren’t supported by the word of God.

Addition and Subtraction: Passover dates 26 A.D to 34 A.D.

26 A.D. Fri.    Mar. 22, 0*Sat.   Apr.    6,  7 a.m. Sun.    Apr.   7Mon.   Apr.  8Sun.   Apr.  21
27 A.D.Sun.  Mar. 23, 6 a.m.Wed. Mar. 26,  7 p.m.**Fri. Mar. 28Sat.    Mar. 29Fri. Apr. 11
28 A.D.Mon.  Mar. 22, noonTues. Apr. 13,   2 p.m.Wed.   Apr.  14Thurs. Apr.15Wed.   Apr. 28 
29 A.D.Tues. Mar. 22,  6 p.m.Sat.   Apr.   2,   7 p.m.**Mon.    Apr.    4Tues.  Apr.   5Mon.    Apr. 18
30 A.D.Wed. Mar. 22,  0*Wed. Mar. 22,  8 p.m.***Fri. Mar.  24Sat.    Mar. 25Fri. Apr.   7
31 A.D.Fri.    Mar. 23,  5 a.m.Tues. Apr.  10,  2 p.m.Wed.   Apr.   11Thurs. Apr.12Wed.   Apr.  25
32 A.D.Sat.   Mar. 22, 11 a.m.Sat.  Mar.  29, 10 p.m.**Mon. Mar.     31Tues.  Apr. 1Mon.    Apr.  14
33 A.D.Sun.  Mar. 22,  5 p.m.Fri.   Apr.  17,   9 p.m.**Sun.  Apr.      19Mon.   Apr. 20Sun.     May    3
34 A.D.Mon. Mar. 22,11 p.m.Wed. Apr.   7,   2 p.m.Thurs. Apr.     8Fri.     Apr.   9Thurs. Apr.  22

Some historians place Herod's death at 4 B.C. which means that Jesus would have been born 6 B.C. if that is so then the year he died would be 28 A.D. The math calculation: 6 B.C. - 1 for the change over from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. = 5 B.C. - 33 [Jesus was 33 years old when he died] = 28 A.D. plus 2,000 years = 2028 as the end of this age. Notice from the above Jewish Passover Calendar that the Passover in 28 A.D. was on Wednesday [April 28]

Recently a lot of historians have placed the death of Herod at 1 B.C. which means Jesus was born 3 B.C. So let's do the math: 3 B.C. -1 for the change over from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. = 2 B.C. - 33 [Jesus age when he died]  = 31 A.D. plus 2,000 years = 2031 as the end of this age. Notice that according to the Jewish Calendar that the Passover in 31 A.D. was on Wednesday [April 25]

I have chosen 2031 as the date for the end of this age, and subtract 7 years from that time and we will probably be witnessing a treaty [the covenant of death] being signed between the nation of Israel and the leader of the 10 Muslim nations that surround Israel. 31/2 years after the treaty, the leader of the 10 nations [the Beast Power] will break the treaty and invade Israel which will be the beginning of the great tribulation, which will last to almost the end of this age. My calculations are based on a day = 1,000 years.

Monday, November 22, 2021

YEHOVAH PROVIDES A WAY OF ESCAPE FROM TEMPTATION

The Spirit of Yehovah indwells those that are His, and the power of Yehovah works on their behalf even when they are tempted. We know this because Paul clearly states in his letter to the Corinthian congregation, “No temptation has come your way that is too hard for flesh and blood to bear. For God can be trusted not to allow you to suffer any temptation beyond your powers of endurance. He will see to it that every temptation has a way out so that it will never be impossible for you to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13, Phillips).

We live in a culture today that doesn’t comprehend that the Messiah Jesus offers a way to overcome temptation. They don't understand that the lord Jesus was crucified to become a sin-offering sacrifice in order that they could be reconciled to his God and his Father Yehovah by that sacrifice!

This world offers many ways that one can escape fleshly temptations, but only Jesus acting as the agent commissioned by Yehovah can provide the way to resist temptations. The Messiah Jesus clearly states, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

Just as an aside: We are to follow Jesus' example and show people the way to obtain salvation - deliverance, bring them to understand the truth of God's plan that leads to age upon age lasting life in the ages to come!

Yehovah says that He will provide, as His shows in the life of Abraham His called-out servant. Let's read through Genesis 22:1-14:

Yehovah tested Abraham and called to him, “Abraham!”“Yes, here I am!” he answered. Yehovah said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you.”

Note: Is Isaac a type of the lord Jesus the Messiah who became a sin-offering sacrifice, a burnt offering sacrifice for us.

Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place that Yehovah had told him about. Two days later Abraham saw the place in the distance.

Then Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go over there. We’ll worship. After that, we will come back to you.”

Notice this example of a faith believing in deliverance from a trial:

Yehovah commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on the mountain He would show him, yet he says to his servants that after he goes up to that mountain, he and his son will come back!

Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to his son Isaac. Abraham carried the burning coals and the knife. The two of them went on together.

Notice: Abraham takes burning coals with him in order to be able to sacrifice his son on an altar as a burnt offering. Can you imagine taking your son up on a mountain in order to tie him up on a pile of wood in order to burn him up, cremate him? Yet Abraham doesn't hesitate for one second. He was totally committed to faithfully obeying his God Yehovah, believing Yehovah would provide a way for him and his son to go back down the mountain. Did Abraham believe that if he killed his son that Yehovah would bring him back to life, resurrect him? I think he did.

Isaac spoke up and said, “Father?” Yes, Son?” Abraham answered. Isaac asked, “We have the burning coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God will provide a lamb for the burnt offering, Son.”

Notice: Is this statement a reference to a type of Jesus the Lamb of God?

The two of them went on together. When they came to the place that Yehovah had told him about, Abraham built the altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied up his son Isaac [who submitted to him doing so, even as Jesus submitted to the will of his Father to become a sin-offering sacrifice] and laid him on top of the wood on the altar.

Next, Abraham picked up the knife and took it in his hand to sacrifice his son. But the Angel of Yehovah called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!”  “Yes?” he answered. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear Yehovah, 
because you did not refuse to give me your son, your only son.”

When Abraham looked around, he saw a ram behind him caught by its horns in a bush. So Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son [even as Jesus, as the lamb of God, became a sin offering sacrifice, a burnt offering for us, in place of us].

Abraham named that place Yehovah Will Provide. It is still said today, “On the mountain of Yehovah it will be provided.”

This was the same place where Solomon would build the temple of Yehovah, where God provided a place for his people to meet with him.

When we finally admit, “My way of doing things doesn't work. My way is not the right one,” and in faith obedience totally commit to following Yehovah’s way, we will have His powerful provision working in us to be able to overcome any temptation/test/trial.

Yehovah provides the indwelling life-enabling power we need as His servants/slaves to live according to His love and righteousness in all we say and do. When we do so in faith obedience we will be enabled by His indwelling presence to overcome every temptation, test, or trial that comes our way. Then we can pray that the mountain - temptation, trial, will be cast into the sea and it will be gone. (Matthew 21:21)

Thursday, November 18, 2021

WHAT ARE WE, AS WE SERVE THE LIVING GOD YEHOVAH?

We are to serve our God and Father Yehovah with a bountiful cheerful spirit. We experience joy and peace of mind in whatever we do for Him. We as priests serve and take care of our brothers and sisters, who are members of the body of the Messiah Jesus, the called out Assembly of Yehovah?

We have been called to take the message that Yehovah gave to His uniquely begotten son Jesus His anointed one to give to us. The message of the soon-coming Kingdom [Kingship] of Yehovah and all that message of hope entails!

Our God and Father Yehovah has given us all the resources we need to carry out what he wants us to do. He has given us by His indwelling Spirit, strength, ability, wisdom, and His all-encompassing love! We have a reservoir of power within to draw upon as we walk on the path He wants to walk upon through this sin-sick world reaching out to others to pull them out of the fire into His wonderful light. This being true there ought to be absolutely nothing that can hold us back from accomplishing His will for us.

He has shown you, O man, what is good: and what does Yehovah require of you, but to do justly, and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

For God will not forget your work, and the love which you have shown to His name, having ministered to the saints (holy ones)…. (Hebrews 6:10)

No one has seen God at any time: if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:12)

…. God is love. (1 John 4:8)

Brothers and sisters do we realize what we are as a result of our God and our Father’s amazing grace?

Notice:

2 Corinthians 6: 16, 18: … you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk-in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And I will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord [Yehovah] Almighty.

Galatians 4:4-7: When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons; God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore you are no more a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through the Messiah.

Philippians 2:12-16: …. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. Do all things without murmuring or disputing: That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life….

1 John 3:1-2: Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Wow!

Ephesians 2:19: Now, therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints (holy ones), and members of the household of God;

Galatians 6:10: As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

We indeed have the opportunity to do good to all men by bringing the good news message to them as ambassadors of the Messiah Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:20-21; 6:1-2: Now then we are ambassadors for the Messiah, as though God did beseech you by us: we ask you in the Messiah’s stead, be you reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he says, I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I scoured you: behold,  NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.)

Conclusion:

We know that Yehovah is love and as His sons, we are to reflect His love in all we do and say. We are the temple of the living God because His powerful Spirit indwells us. We are the sons of Yehovah by the Spirit of adoption and as such have been placed as sons and daughters in His household. As we read Roman chapter 11, we see that we have been grafted into the Israel of God of which the Messiah Jesus is the representative man. We know that in the Messiah we are new creations, members of the New Humanity Yehovah has been creating since Adam. We are priests of Yehovah (Revelation 1:6; 5:10).

This is what we are in the lord Messiah Jesus and as God is Love and Jesus was the outshining of the nature of Yehovah, so as new creations, in the Messiah, we ought to be the outshining of his love, as his ambassadors toward all people. That love will enable us to reach out to all men and women with the message of salvation - deliverance that will be backed up by the Spirit of Yehovah and the Messiah in us as we speak to them!

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

DEALING WITH OUR FEARS

We have to learn to fight our own battles if we want to become mature believers. You can’t depend on someone else for your deliverance. Perhaps you have a prayer warrior friend you can call and say, “I’ve got a battle before me. Will you pray for me?".

Now that is scriptural, but it is not your God and your Father's complete will for you. Yehovah wants you to become a warrior! He wants you to be able to stand up against the rulers of the darkness of this world.

Note: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)

Note: When Israel was being oppressed by their enemies, God promised Gideon, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man” (Judges 6:16, NKJV). God told Gideon, “I have sent you; I will be with you.”

Notice: Judges 6:11-16: Then the angel of Yehovah came and sat under the pistachio tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. The angel of Yehovah appeared to him and said to him: “You valiant hero! Yehovah is with you!” “Excuse me, sir,” answered Gideon, “but if Yehovah is with us, then why is all this happening to us? And where are all his miracles our ancestors told us about when they said,  Didn't Yehovah bring us up from Egypt?’ But now, Yehovah has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” Yehovah [the angel acting as Yehovah's agent] turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hands of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” But Gideon answered him, “Forgive me, Yehovah, but with what am I to save Israel? For my family is the poorest in Menasheh, and I’m the youngest person in my father’s house!” Yehovah [the angel acting as Yehovah's agent] said to him, “Because I will be with you, you will strike down Midyan as easily as if they were just one man.”

Things will begin to change the moment you are fully persuaded that God is with you.

Like Gideon, you may be fearful and wonder, “How can I fight? I’m weak and inexperienced.” Remember what God told Gideon:

“Go in this might of yours” (Judges 6:14). “What might?” you ask. Gideon’s might was bound up in coming to believe, to have faith in God’s promise to him:

“Surely I will be with you.”

Beloved, those same words, “I am with you”, is your strength! You will receive strength being enabled by the indwelling Spirit of Yehovah to carry out and do whatever He commissions you to do!

We know that we as His priests have been commissioned to preach the good news message that Jesus preached to the nations!

Note: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him [Yehovah], who is, and who was, and who is to come; and from the seven angels which are before His throne; And from Jesus the Messiah, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And has made us kings and priests unto his God and his Father; to Him [Yehovah] be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelations 1:4-6)

Jesus told his disciples after his resurrection from among the dead: "repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem". (Luke 24:47)

When they received the power from on high that Jesus sent down on the Day of Pentecost they went forth from that time preaching the message he gave them to all the nations beginning at Jerusalem. They did so knowing that the lord Jesus was with them every step of the way, even as he is with us every step of the way as we carry the message he received from his God and his Father to give to us to take to the nations! This is what we have been commissioned to do.

When we do so we are "Yehovah's valiant warriors" acting as His agents.

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

HOW ARE WE TO - LOVE YEHOVAH ELOHIM - GOD?

A teacher of the law asked Jesus: “what is the first commandment of all?” Jesus answered him, the first commandment is:

Hear, O Israel: YEHOVAH our ELOHIM (God), YEHOVAH is one: (CJB)

And you shall love YEHOVAH your ELOHIM (God) with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your resources. Deuteronomy 6:4 [Complete Jewish Bible]

These words spell out that in order to love YEHOVAH ELOHIM (God) we need to be absolutely, completely, totally committed to Him.

We are to love YEHOVAH ELOHIM (God) with all our heart, all our being, all our resources. The triple “all” encompasses:

1.   totality of devotion – all your heart

2.   totality of person – all your being

3.   totality of action – all your resources

Note: Realize that you cannot do this on your own, using your own resources. In order to be able to become totally committed to Yehovah Elohim (God) you need to commit to dying to self, and then enter the waters of baptism as one who is dying to self and coming out of the water becoming a new creation in the lord Messiah Jesus receiving the Yehovah’s Spirit, that will give you the indwelling enabling power to become totally committed to Him in all you say and so.

In answering the scribe Jesus follows up with the second great commandment, which shows us one more way we can be committed to loving Yehovah Elohim (God)

Mark 12:31: The second is this: “You are to love your neighbor as yourself”.(CJB)

When we love our neighbor as ourselves, we love all those who reflect the image of Yehovah, which means everyone. So in loving our neighbors as ourselves, we love Yehovah!

That is the creed of the Messiah Jesus, the simplicity of his message of deliverance – salvation!

Saturday, November 13, 2021

WHEN THE SAINTS - HOLY ONES - GO MARCHING IN!

 Let’s say you could go back to Jesus’ time. Say you were to tap a random Judean on the shoulder and announce to him that the Messiah was, at last, coming to deliver his people. Say he believed you. Would it surprise you if he was to direct his attention not upwards to heaven, nor inwards to Jerusalem, but outwards, to the wilderness which encompasses Israel to the east and to the south?

Of course, the Messiah was expected to be born in the city of David, but the mature anointed conqueror was expected to come in power, like Joshua, from across the Jordan.

Recent scholarship cautions us to adopt a critical stance towards sweeping statements that offer to open a window on the first-century Palestinian Jewish soul.

THE BIG STORY

The N.T. estimation of the desert is none other than that of the O.T. and Judaism. As ever, Israel's forty years of wandering in the desert is counted as a momentous fact of God's historical activity, and the idea that eschatological movements begin in the desert is still alive (Matthew 24:26, Acts 21:38). [2]

The wilderness is an integral part of the context within which Israel’s identity as a nation uniquely elected and redeemed by God is rooted. Not some abstract idea or philosophical principle but an actual event, grounded in history- the exodus.

The salvation-history approach has correctly perceived that an aspect of the desert motif in the OT derives from its setting within Israel’s story of national origins. [3]

In other words, for millennia, if a Jewish child asked his parents who they as a people were, or why live in a manner so different to the surrounding nations, the answer given would be a story [13]. In obedience to Deuteronomy 6:20-25, it would go something like this: “We were pharaoh’s slaves in the blast-furnace of Egypt, but Yehovah Elohim - God had made a promise to the ancestor of our race… ” Indeed, the many festivals and rituals that dominated the life of the Torah-keeper were designed to evoke such questions and stimulate such memories.

The desert motif attains theological value not primarily from semantic shifts for individual terms as if they constituted a technical theological vocabulary, but rather in broader relations to significant narrative patterns or poetic images. [4]

So the image of the wilderness did not stand by itself as a clearly defined, self-contained unit. Instead, its meaning and place in the heart of our Judean friend would have been derived from the role it played in the wider story Israel told herself about herself. The big story which underpinned all others of her history and destiny formed the very basis of who she understood herself to be.

What's more, it defined not only where they as a people were coming from, but from where all human history was heading to. They understood themselves to be a people living between two exoduses*.

*This is a simplification. In addition to the original exodus, the return from exile in Babylon was also spoken of in terms of being an exodus. But at that time the picture remained incomplete since the promised kingdom did not materialize and has not until the present day. David’s throne remains vacant and the nations have not flocked to Jerusalem to receive Messiah’s teaching. From the Biblical description, two more events seem to be in view:

The first, an organization of the theocratic kingdom at Sinai, followed by a conquest of the land following the same route taken by Joshua. This is the focus of this paper.

The second, this event will be followed at some point by another exodus of the Jewish Diaspora, returning to Israel from the North, South, East, and West.

At that time the wealth of the nations will be gathered to the promised land by them and they will be greatly revered for the sake of Yehovah, whose arm will have been laid bare before the nations.

Since the earliest followers of Jesus were very much a part of this thought world, we should expect a measure of consistency to continue into the New Testament. At the very least, the burden of proof should rest upon any suggestion otherwise.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

While the place of the wilderness in the exodus narratives is clear enough, as is the place of the exodus in Israel's past, this still doesn't shed much light on how it came to play a part in eschatology. To gain some insight into that, we need to delve into the prophetic literature which informed and nurtured the Jewish vision of the future.

In the messianic speculations of Judaism concerning the desert, particular significance is attached to the passages Hosea 2:16; 12:10; Job 30:4 and Isaiah 40:3, the latter being encountered in the Qumran, as well as in John the Baptist. [5]

Mentions of the wilderness occur throughout the prophets. Amos gives an idealized depiction of Israel’s desert sojourn as a time of election and innocence which he sets in sharp contrast with the apostasy and corruption current in his day.

Ezekiel is less nostalgic

The covenant people have been consistently unfaithful from the wilderness days up until the present. This will result in exile, portrayed as a return to the harsh conditions and dispossession which they suffered then.

Jeremiah manages to incorporate aspects of both

He looks with one eye, through a rose-tinted monocle, at Israel’s past desert experience as a time during which they enjoyed Yehovah’s guidance, care, and protection. With the other, he sees, with foreboding a future in which they will experience a second wilderness desolation. One which, most sinister of all, will come to engulf the very land promised to the fathers.

The pleasant land which flowed with milk and honey will be a waste, the habitation of jackals and other such spooky and solitary animals.

It is Hosea and Isaiah whose messages reach beyond the exile to speak of the wilderness in eschatological terms.

Hosea depicts Israel as the unfaithful wife who would be taken into the wilderness for a purgative sojourn which will result in a renewal of her covenant with Yehovah. It is there that she will be betrothed to him and finally be able to call him ishi - my husband....

The apocalyptic flight of the woman into the desert is to be explained from the high regard in which Israel's time in the wilderness was held, and simultaneously attests to the expectation that the Messiah Jesus will come from the desert (cf. Matthew 2:15, Hosea 11:1). [6]

Such was the anticipation stirred by this message that Matthew, who had no shortage of material deemed it important enough to include, at least symbolically, in Jesus' early years narrative:

... by means of the flight into Egypt [Matthew] renders possible the arrival of the messiah from the Egyptian desert. [7]

It is as though he senses that his Jewish audience cannot conceive of the genuine savior arriving from anywhere else. More on this later.

Isaiah's vision is richer still:

The description of this new beginning for the community far transcends the old story that it recapitulates. All the hardships encountered on the first trek are excluded, all the miracles witnessed on the first journey are to be repeated on a much grander scale. The wilderness will be completely transfigured and become a paradise of the care and sustenance of the returning exiles (Isaiah 40:3-5; 41:18- 19; 43:19-20). The wilderness Sojourn has become a triumphant, miraculous procession. [8]

So it is from Isaiah that the Jewish people learned to look with hope, not only to a return from the wilderness of exile but to a final full-blown eschatological exodus after which they would be permanently forgiven, restored, and settled in the land. From then on they would never again turn away from Yehovah neither would Yehovah cease to do good to them. The Gentiles would be drawn to their light and heathen kings to the brightness of their rising.

Here the global prophetic vision becomes prominent and Israel’s past and future exoduses are seen as instruments in the larger scheme of a Creator whose concern is to redeem not only his people Israel but the entire creation from bondage to sin and the curse.

Viewed from this standpoint, human history across the span of the present age of darkness can be seen in terms of an exile from Yehovah Elohim - God which began with the expulsion from Eden of our ancient ancestors and will end with the return of Yehovah’s elect to a place where the tree of life is, finally, within their reach again.

To summarize, scholarship informs us that sources around the time of Jesus from both inside and outside the bible bear witness to Israel’s expectation that their savior would come to them from the wilderness. Furthermore, they do so with an uncharacteristic degree of uniformity. We have learned that the reason this belief had come to be so widely spread and deeply rooted was twofold.

First, it was due to the centrality of the desert to Israel’s self-identity, being drawn from their story of national origins. This was commemorated yearly in the three major festivals:

Passover recalled the night of the exodus;

Pentecost, the giving of the Torah at Sinai and

Tabernacles; the wilderness wanderings prior to the conquest of the land.

Secondly, it was due to the ministry of the prophets, most notably Hosea and Isaiah, who promised Israel’s final and permanent restoration to the land in the age to come in terms of a recapitulation of the exodus events.

It should be clear from all this that the  Messianic March through the wilderness is in truth the recovery of a genuine glimpse into the thoughts and symbols which animated the minds of Jesus, John the Baptist, and their contemporaries.

Ironically, it is modern scholarship combined with recent historical research methods and assisted by documents unearthed subsequently that have come to confirm much of what they set out.

Truly the witness of these serious academics who now find themselves endorsing such speculation is evidence of the fact that the secret of Yehovah is true with those who stand in awe of Him. As Peters himself states: “when these things are realized, men will be amazed to find how largely and minutely all this has been described in the word, and yet how little it has been noticed and appreciated, just as the things relating to the First Advent were overlooked.”

The scene is now set for the arrival of the apostles and prophets of the N.T. We have a fair idea of what their contemporaries expected, the question that remains unresolved is, according to the N.T. documents, were they right or wrong to do so?

CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY

Anyone collecting people in the Jordan wilderness was symbolically saying: this is the new exodus - N.T. Wright. [9]

While Matthew drew typological inspiration from Hosea, John the Baptist found his entire vocation in the vision of Isaiah:

“I am ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness make straight the way of the Lord - Yehovah', as said the prophet Isaiah” (John 1:23, quoting Isaiah 40:3).

At this point, it might be a good idea to ask a couple of searching questions about a key interpretative issue…

Does the fact that John the Baptist applied Isaiah 40 to himself mean that the events described in this passage have already taken place? While they may shed light on our understanding of his ministry, have they anything to tell us about the future?

According to Peters “the offer of the Kingdom at the First Advent necessitated a typical representation of this act in the wilderness (and hence applied to John), but owing to the foreknown unbelief and sinfulness of the nation both the Kingdom and the real preparatory acts here predicted were postponed. Jesus did not exhibit himself as the king. His glory as the Messiah was concealed under humiliation.” [10]

Could this be true? Were John’s actions the symbolic enactment of a far greater event that is yet to take place?

We have seen that the prophets who gained a following often engaged not only in teaching and oracular pronouncements but also in symbolic actions. These regularly involved leading people into the wilderness, often around the Jordan. They sometimes appear to have focused on a stylized symbolic entry into the land, with the apparent expectation and promise that Israel's God, Yehovah would act dramatically as he had done at the time of the exodus.

These symbolic actions were not random. No historical purpose is served by ignoring the fact that people who act in this way, as leaders or as led, do so in obedience to a controlling story, a meta-narrative that underlies their whole program and agenda. The sense of expectation which induced this strange behavior is, quite simply, only explicable if we understand those involved to have been obedient to an underlying story within which their actions made sense... [11]

John's actions and the place of Isaiah 40 in his self-understanding only make sense in the light of a bigger picture, the big story which included the future event which did not take place in his ministry and has not to this day.

More importantly, this is the only way in which the response of his contemporaries to his call can be accounted for. This is the real litmus test.

To put it a different way, imagine the reaction a person would get if they were to follow John’s example today in, say, the river Thames. Aside from the obvious health and safety implications, he would be either ignored or sectioned under the mental health act as a danger to himself. Within the worldview of our day, the only speculation concerning John’s ministry would likely revolve around what drug he was ‘on’.

The crowds who went out to see John took him very seriously indeed and they did so based upon the role, they recognized him as playing in what for them was the story of stories of their national destiny. Of future hope based upon past deliverance.

Retelling, or re-enacting, the story of the exodus, then, was a classic and obvious way of pre-telling, or pre-enacting, the great liberation, the great 'return from exile,' for which Israel longed. [12]

So to disregard the predictive potential of Isaiah 40 because of what John did 2,000 years ago is to completely misunderstand him. His symbolic actions do not replace the expectation of a literal exodus. Quite the contrary, they were designed to be an enacted confirmation and proclamation of it.

The same would go for other symbolic actions in the N.T. The last supper did not replace the literal breaking of Jesus’ body or shedding of his blood. The cursing of the fig tree and the tantrum in the temple did not replace the literal judgment on national unbelief or the destruction of Jerusalem which those actions foretold.

That being the case, neither should the triumphal entry rule out a future coming of Jesus, from the direction of Jordan to take his rightful place on David’s throne at a time when ethnic Israel will have finally learned to say “blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh”.

Symbolic, typical, call them what you will. Actions such as these provide an endorsement, not redefinition or replacement of the literal realities they represent.

STRAIGHT OUT OF EGYPT

So what about Matthew? He has attracted more flack from modern commentators than anyone else for playing ‘fast and loose’ with his Hebrew Bible. The text in question is, of course, Matthew 2:14-15.

So Joseph got up and took the child and his mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord [Yehovah] through the Prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

The bearing this has on our current discussion is obvious and a similar dilemma demands to be resolved: How in the world can the infant Jesus’ return from Egypt be a ‘fulfillment’ of Hosea 11:1 when in that text the prophet is speaking of the past exodus?

Is Matthew guilty of wresting passages out of their original context and distorting their meaning to serve his Christian apologetic agenda?

The question that speaks to the heart of the issue is this: has the Messiah already come from the wilderness, in an allegorical and largely unrecognized way? Should we tick that box off and conclude that what Hosea had to say about the desert has been fulfilled, in the sense that it has no more to say about the future?

The lesson John the Baptist has just taught us offers us a key to understanding Matthew.

After all, isn’t it a little anachronistic to demand of him that he conform to the literal-grammatical interpretation we use today? Wouldn’t judging Matthew by such standards be rather like dismissing John, based upon the fact that if he did today what he did back then he would be deemed mad? It would be based upon a misunderstanding on our part.

Perhaps the real difficulty arises from the way in which ‘fulfillment’ is often thought of today in terms of something being foretold and then happening. Not only does this concept confine ‘fulfillment’ to predictive prophecy alone, but it also tends to equate one prediction with one event, after which it becomes unavailable as a referent to anything else.

Such a restrictive understanding of ‘fulfillment’ just doesn’t fit with what Matthew is doing here and forces the unnecessary choice between what Hosea obviously meant and Matthew’s application of it to the life of Jesus.

After all, there was no shortage of verses that Matthew could have used to ‘proof-text' events in Jesus’ life in order to assert his Messianic credentials. This is hardly theological rocket science even for a new believer, much less a Jew who had been steeped from childhood in his Hebrew Bible. He would have been well aware that choosing a spurious text and bending it to mean something it patently does not mean would undermine his credibility and be counterproductive, to say the least.

So how are we to account for the fact that he went so far beyond neatly lining events up with predictions?

Matthew seems to have been at least equally concerned with presenting a Jesus who fitted into the big story of Israel and her future mentioned previously. To return to an earlier quote, he seems to be telling his audience something about Jesus’ broader relations to significant narrative patterns or poetic images.

If we extend our earlier findings of symbolic praxis in the Jewish thought-world to encompass what Matthew meant when he said scripture was ‘fulfilled’, suddenly his use of it in connection with Hosea 11:1 starts to make better sense.

If humans such as Ezekiel and John the Baptist can engage in symbolic acts, Yehovah has also used historical events in the same way? Israel’s God Yehovah defines Himself very much in terms of His ability, unlike the false gods, to guide history in order to fulfill His promises. It is from this that certain of His interventions, including the exodus, derive their typological value. Matthew saw Yehovah doing this and using the word ‘fulfilled’ was his way of pointing this out to his readers.

In doing so he would have been appealing to an approach that was standard in his time and place.

“Second temple Jews believed that their national history, their communal and traditional story, supplied them with lenses through which they could perceive events in the world, through which they could make some sense of them…” [14]

When Matthew says that Hosea 11:1 or for that matter Jeremiah 31:15 is 'fulfilled' it does not mean that Hosea or Jeremiah were predicting anything, either consciously or unconsciously. Instead, he is drawing out the symbolic significance of a historical event and pointing out the way in which it finds a parallel in the life of Jesus.

Matthew is, by means of the symbolic significance which he sees in this event, retelling the Exodus story in such a way as to cast Jesus in the role of the hero.

If he is the son who comes up out of Egypt, then the narrative grammar implies that he is also the true heir of the land which he has been empowered by Yehovah his Father to take possession of.

This is far less arbitrary than adopting an allegorical approach since it is firmly located within the checks and balances provided by the narrative context. This broader framework provides a sense of the big picture, the sum of scripture. It demands that the events and symbols exist in a dynamic space and cohere with a far more integrated view of what the bible is really ‘on about’. As Psalm 119:160 puts it, the sum of your word is truth.

When we set this awareness of scripture in the context of the prevailing second-temple belief that the real return from exile had not yet occurred, the idea of scriptural fulfillment takes on a meaning which transcends the mere proof-texting of which first-century Jews have often been accused. It was not simply a matter of ransacking sacred text for isolated promises about a glorious future. The entire story could be read as a Story, namely, as the still-unfinished story of the creator, the covenant people, and the world.

In that context: an event that happened ‘according to the scriptures’ would be an event in the story itself. The explicit prophecies of the great age to come fitted into the broader pattern. [15]

The stories which characterize the worldview itself are thus located, on the map of human knowledge, at a more fundamental level than explicitly formulated beliefs, including theological beliefs. [16]

It is the sense in which the symbolism of Jesus' return from Egypt fits like a piece into this puzzle that defines the meaning of ‘fulfill’ in contexts such as this. Matthew is standing in the prophetic tradition of using the past to say something about the present and future.

Now he may have chosen Hosea for no other reason than that the two words 'Egypt' and 'son' are brought together so succinctly in the same verse. It recalls how the first place in the Bible where Israel is called God's son is precisely in connection with Moses' demand that Pharaoh let them go.

But from our present standpoint, it becomes immediately obvious that he is telling us something more. The story did not end with Israel coming out of Egypt and as we have already seen the quote was chosen from among the messages of a prophet who also promised a future wilderness sojourn.

So Yehovah's Son had arrived from Egypt's direction and Elijah had come to herald his passing through the river Jordan. He went on to announce the kingdom of God, offering it to his generation, and warning them that, though the time was ripe for Israel to receive her king, the consequences of rejecting him would be dire. So for those who had eyes to see, when the joyful cries of 'Hosanna to the son of David', turned into jeers and calls of 'crucify him, we have no king but Caesar', the opportunity had, for the present time, been forfeited.

Would it be unreasonable to conclude from this that Israel's attention should continue to be turned to the wilderness for the true realization of her national hope?

The passage John drew from still has something to say about events near to the close of this age. Let’s examine the text in a little more detail.

ISAIAH 40:3-11 - THE HIGHWAY OF YAHWEH

“If we turn to Isaiah 40:3, it is extremely doubtful whether we have more than a mere typical fulfillment in John’s mission.” [17]

The rendering of the verse is worth mentioning. Peters cites Lowth and Nowes who separate the clause as follows:

A voice cries:

“In the wilderness prepare you the way of Yehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our God”

He then quotes Barnes as saying that “the parallelism seems to require the translation proposed by Lowth” [18]:

There is also a rhythmic balance in the Hebrew vocalization when the verse is set out this way which is lost in the conventional arrangement.

All this serves to underline the fact that the desert was not just the location of the herald’s proclamation. It was the place from which the salvation so announced would come.

The opening section makes it clear that the message is related to a time of comfort for Israel when her warfare is accomplished and her iniquity pardoned. Because of this, it can only reasonably be assigned to a period in the future.

The verses immediately following describe what it is that we are to expect to see coming down that highway in the wilderness. An examination of them supports Peters’ observation:

The glory of the Yehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This fits much better with passages that speak of the second, as opposed to the first coming. Texts such as Revelation 1:7: “Behold, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him.”

Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear to say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!"

Behold, Yehovah GOD will come with might, With His arm [the Messiah Jesus] ruling for Him.

“This cry in the wilderness etc. is taken as commentators, Barnes, etc. inform us from the approach of a mighty Conqueror, and is expressive of irresistible power and of a triumphant march… and the results of this triumphal appearance in deliverance and rule” [19]

This picture of an unstoppable advance in the power of Yehovah Elohim - God, resulting in the rule of His chosen agent certainly fails to match the Jesus we have seen so far; a meek man who submitted himself to death at the hands of his enemies.

Also, the detailed description of the rule of this ‘arm of Yehovah’, which the prophet goes on to provide in subsequent chapters further reinforces the fact that the salvation heralded by John heralded has not yet come to pass.

Behold, the reward is with Him
and His recompense before Him.

Revelation 22:12 alludes to this text in connection with a future coming at the end of the age:

“Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me.”

At the first advent, Jesus’ adversaries triumphed. The reward for his faithful followers was imprisonment and death. The revelation of the glory of Yehovah in the transfigured Messiah Jesus was limited to an inner circle within the 12. The nation was not delivered and the one destined to conquer was led as a lamb to the slaughter.

So what did John mean by his use of Isaiah 40? He was pointing out the Messiah to Israel and giving his own, inspired endorsement to their expectation that Yehovah would come triumphantly, in the person of His anointed agent, along a highway through the wilderness to save them.

We have already touched on the fact that the location of John’s ministry at the river Jordan ties in with another layer of meaning which lay implicitly within the desert typology.

PRELUDE TO CONQUEST

The river Jordan was the point at which Israel passed over to possess the promised land Joshua 1:2, 11). The cycle of Isaiah's prophecies which begins with the herald’s voice moves through the servant songs onto the description of an anointed conqueror. We shall study this in just a moment.

It is understandable, on account of this broader context of the prophecies which defined John’s role, that the anticipation of the crowds who witnessed and heard him should have been aroused. According to Luke “the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he was the Messiah [i.e.: that anointed conqueror], or not”.

Of course, John denied this. But how appropriate that at the very place where Joshua had demanded of Israel covenant loyalty to Yehovah by challenging them to choose there and then who they would serve, that John should command the crowds to renew their commitment to their God - Yehovah, be baptized and follow another Joshua!*

The Greek Iesous is the equivalent of the Hebrew Yeshua/Yehoshua - in English, Jesus/Joshua.

So widespread was the speculation concerning this place among the general population that it had not escaped the attention of the ruling powers. N.T. Wright quotes Dominic Crossan: “Desert and Jordan, prophets and crowds, were always a volatile mix calling for immediate preventive strikes”. [20]

All this brings to the fore the fact that the journey through the wilderness is not the end of the story. It is the prelude to conquest. After all, if the desert was the place from which Yehovah would come to deliver his people then it was also, by implication, the place where they were prepared for war...

Speaking of] the wilderness sojourn in the Pentateuch:

The other major metaphor is martial, hinted at in Exodus 13:17 and explicitly celebrated in the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15). As Numbers 1-10 makes clear, the remaining part of the wilderness trek involves the arrangement and formation of Israel into an invasion force under the leadership of the divine warrior, Yehovah.

Note: The martial terminology of the community as saba, army, host, repeatedly in Numbers 1-10, or as hamusim - harnessed, in battle array, in Exodus 13:18). [21]

”It is a form ready for action before it emerges from the wilderness… sudden and overwhelming [in its] appearance”. [22]

In line with this picture of war and conquest, we find another text relevant to this subject from the midst of the very section of the prophecy of Isaiah devoted to describing the anointed conqueror.

THE GRAPES OF WRATH

Q- Who is this who comes from Edom,
with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, this One who is majestic in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength?

A- "It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save."

Q- Why is Your apparel red, and your garments like the one who treads in the winepress?

A- "I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples, there was no man with me. I also trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath, and their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I stained all my raiment. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption has come”. - Isaiah 63:1-4

George Peters says of this passage that it cannot possibly, without the grossest inconsistency be applied to the First Advent of Jesus. For, aside from other reasons, it is not true that he then came in anger, fury, and vengeance and shed the blood of his enemies. At his second advent, numerous passages expressly mention wrath, vengeance on enemies, and a fearful slaughter and supper. [23]

At the first advent, the only blood Jesus shed was his own. He did not come to condemn, but to save. In this terrible vision, he is not atoning for sins. He is punishing them.

Noteworthy here are the specific places named.

The conqueror shows up, coming from Edom, the desert land which stands between Sinai and Israel, along the Exodus route taken by Joshua on his way to capture the land. His garments are stained with the blood of his enemies, compared in simile to the juice of grapes.

What is more, according to the N.T., the fulfillment of this vision is clearly located in the future, at the second advent:

Revelation 19.11-15: And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, he judges and wages war... he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood... and he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

Peters quotes Steir in stating that Isaiah 63 is: “the fulfillment of what is related Revelation 14:20 and 19:18, 21". [24]

Mattison also provides a full list of notable parallels between Isaiah 63 and Revelation 19, in The End-Time Timeline. [25]

It has sometimes been suggested that this passage is symbolic, with the crushing of Edom standing for Gentile enmity to Yehovah’s people being finally overthrown.

However, in John’s vision, Edom’s destruction takes place prior to the battle of Armageddon. The Messiah Jesus turns up for this battle with his garments already stained with Edomite blood! And it is Armageddon that is generally equated with the decisive defeat of the assembled enemies of God from all nations. Two separate, literal events are depicted here.

Further evidence of this is the fact that both Armageddon and Edom/Bozrah are names of distinct, literal places.

So the Messiah is to arrive at the great battle not from heaven, but from Edom.

Peters then links Isaiah 63 and Revelation 19, with a prophecy from the Torah: “Messiah is the conqueror of Edom as Balaam of old predicted.” [26]

THE CROUCHING LION OF JUDAH

Come, and I will advise you what these people will do to your people in the days to come… Numbers 24:14 He cites Numbers 24:17-18 as evidence of this:

I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be a possession, Seir, its enemies, also will be a possession, while Israel performs valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come he that will have dominion.

In the preceding verses, however, there is mention of a coming out of Egypt:

His king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. Yehovah brings him out of Egypt, He is for him like the horns of the wild ox He will devour the nations who are his adversaries, And will crush their bones in pieces, And shatter them with his arrows.

There then follows some symbolism drawn directly from Jacob’s blessing of Judah:

He crouches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion who dares rouse him?

Blessed is everyone who blesses you, and cursed is everyone who curses you.

This is found in Genesis 49:9-11:

Judah is a lion's whelp… he crouches,
he lies down as a lion,
And as a lion,
who dares rouse him up?

The scepter [also mentioned in Numbers 24:17] shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

It was this text which came to form the basis of the expectation that Israel’s great leader would come from Judah’s line. And this blessing, amazingly, is rounded up with some imagery which takes us, full circle, back to Isaiah 63 and Revelation 19:

… he washes his garments in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes.

If it is indeed Genesis 49 that underpins the imagery of Numbers 24, then the Messianic overtones of this passage actually begin before verse 17, at least in verse 7.

Combining this with Isaiah 63/Revelation 19 we see that Israel’s king, described here as a lion, is actually the holder of Judah’s scepter, the Messiah, coming out of Egypt to take possession of Edom/Seir and smite the corners of Moab.

AN ORACLE AGAINST MOAB

Isaiah 16:1: Send the lamb to the ruler of the land, From Sela to the wilderness, To the mountain of the daughter of Zion.

This is a cryptic passage and its translation is disputed. The reason for this is that in Hebrew there is no preposition between ‘lamb’ and 'ruler', resulting in some ambiguity in the relationship between the two words:

On the basis of this, an alternative reading has been favored by some, including Seiss, the Latin Vulgate, and Luther [27]:

Isaiah 16:1: “I will send the Lamb, the ruler of the land, from Sela of the wilderness unto the mount of the daughter of Zion

Though neither translation can conclusively exclude the other:

The second reading makes perfect sense both in the context of Messianic conquest here presented and the rest of the oracle. They describe the sending as taking place during a time of hostility against Israel, during which Jews will flee into the territory of Moab, seeking refuge*. 

After this “the throne shall be established in mercy: and he shall sit 10 upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.” (v.5)

* This hinges on the rendering of v.4 found in the Masoretic text.

Who could ‘he’ be but the Lamb of God and Lion of Judah? The Chaldees concur making it refer to “the Messiah, the Anointed of Israel” and the timing of the prophecy, by extension, to the days of Messiah. [28]

THE PRAYER OF HABAKKUK AND THE DIVINE WARRIOR

Habakkuk provides an account of both the march through the wilderness and the conquest of the land that is detailed and broad. But first, it is necessary to establish the place of that vision in the context provided by the rest of the book.

The book of Habakkuk takes the form of a dialogue between the prophet and his God. His opening imprecatory prayer seems to be directed against the sinners among his people. God’s response is the announcement that he will send in the Chaldeans to be the instruments of his judgment on them.

This is followed by another imprecatory prayer and at the beginning of chapter 2, Habakkuk states his intent to station himself at his guard post until he sees how God will answer him. And God does.

This time he is given a vision ‘for an appointed time’ (lamowed), even ‘the end’ (lakets - obscured in some translations). It concerns the ‘proud one’ - a wicked man who God promises to judge. The remainder of the chapter which leads into the prophet’s final prayer describes the taunt that will be taken up against him.

A question arising from this is, who is this wicked one?

In Proposition 163 of the Theocratic Kingdom, Peters notes in Habakkuk’s (2:3-5) description of Israel’s enemy some notable parallels to the antichrist, which indicate that this text may be more than just the depiction of a typical 'bad guy'. I have combined his observations with some of my own.

First, he is 'the proud man'. It is hardly exaggerated to describe a man who declares himself to be god as befitting this description (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Daniel 7:8, 20; 8:11, 25- Daniel’s vision was similarly assigned ‘to many days’ – leyamim rabbim i.e. the distant future).

Also, he 'enlarges his appetite as Sheol – the grave, and he is like death, never satisfied (Isaiah 28:14-22). He gathers to himself ‘all nations and collects to himself all peoples' so becoming 'the head over the house of the wicked' (Revelation 17:12-17; 19:19). That he does so by means of making people ‘drunk’ with his ‘wine’ all strongly implies that he is one and the same with the beast of Revelation (14:8, 18:3).

The structure here is similar to the Assyrian passages surrounding Isaiah chapter 10. The wicked person is raised up in order to execute God’s terrible punishment of his people but is in turn judged for his pride and failure to acknowledge that his success is owed entirely to his place in the divine plan.

If the antichrist is indeed the one described here, this alone would necessitate placing the account of his destruction, which follows for the rest of the prophecy, including the route God will pursue on his way to the climactic showdown, as pertaining to that final battle at the time of the end.

After declaring various woes upon the proud man, the prophet prays once more. But here too his words seem to take on a prophetic twist that goes beyond a recollection of the glories of the past exodus. For example, in v.16 the prophet is still awaiting the 'day of trouble'. At the time of writing it had not yet occurred.

If so, Habakkuk 3 offers us an eschatological description of God going forth from Teman and
Paran with his glory covering the heavens and the whole earth being full of his praise.

From there he sets out to 'drive asunder nations and scatter the mountains' (3:6), 'march through the land in indignation' and 'thresh the heathen in anger' (3:12), doing all this 'for the salvation of his people, even for the salvation of your anointed (3:13)'. Now the Conquest of Canaan at the time of the first exodus took place after God had already delivered his people from Egypt at the Red Sea. Yet this deliverance takes place in the land that the enemy's troops will invade (3:16), the promised land itself.

The emerging picture is this:

At the end of the age, God will stir himself to action storming into the land in order to free his people from their Chaldean oppressor, the man of sin. The whole tenor of this is much more in line with the future march of the Isaianic anointed conqueror described above, than in the original exodus.

Going back to 3:9, the 'oaths of the tribes, even thy word' may be coupled with the mention of God setting out from Paran, providing a link to the prophetic blessing of Israel’s tribes by Moses in Deuteronomy 33.

Consider verse 2: "Yehovah came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and he came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones; at his right hand there was flashing lightning for them."

Note here the further geographical references to Seir and Sinai:

We have already examined the former and will encounter the latter further on. Peters asserts that the blessings proclaimed Deuteronomy 33 will “only be fully realized at the restoration of the nation at the second coming of its king (Acts 1:6; 3:21)”. "Such a coming”, he adds, “With myriads of saints is only predicated of the still future advent.

We have no account of any other, and this correspondence with what will occur at the predicated second advent is indicative of its intended application.” [29]

Jim Mattison suggests that this scripture has a dual fulfillment and I would be inclined to agree with him, Cowie endorses Peters' view:

V.2 - "Yehovah came from Sinai" - Though much of this chapter is couched in the past tense it is nevertheless evident that Moses is speaking prophetically not historically. Note the unfulfilled prophecy concerning Israel's future security and glory — Vv.26-29...

"And rose up from Seir unto them" - The word 'rose up' is ZARACH in the Hebrew signifying to irradiate (or shoot forth beams) i.e. to rise (as the sun)... "he shined forth from Mt.Paran"

Again the analogy is that of the sun, now risen high in the sky.

The exact location of Mount Paran is difficult to determine but it was somewhere in the region of Kadesh Barnea. The Messiah and his saints are seen moving rapidly across the region of the Sinai Peninsula, northwards, then eastwards, and then north again to enter the land from the east. [30]

The imagery is unmistakable and chimes in with other texts. In Malachi 4:2, The Messiah is presented to us as the sun of righteousness who will arise, and in 2 Peter 1:19, he is the day star whose appearance heralds the dawn of the new and glorious Messianic age. These all combine to remind Israel to look up for a redemption that will come from the direction of the ascending sun, arising from the other side of Jordan in the East.

THE MAN FROM THE EAST

Isaiah 41:2: “Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings?”

The passage has troubled interpreters since the description doesn’t fully match either of the two prominent contenders, Abraham and Cyrus. It seems best suited to the Messiah and Peters claims support for this from Barnabas, Tertullian, and Augustine. [31] Yet even these firm friends of the conference are at a loss to explain how he can come ‘from the East’. The route here proposed resolves this difficulty and provides further attestation to the Messianic march through the wilderness.

Peters suggests in connection with this that the ‘kings of the East’ in Revelation 16 could be Jesus, accompanied by his transfigured saints arriving for battle. [32]

We now have a collection of prophecies related to the return of Jesus that specifically mention Sinai, Edom, and Mount Paran in Kadesh Barnea.

A course is being charted which retraces Israel’s steps in the exodus and the conquest of the land under the leadership of Joshua. [33, 34] We have been offered a glimpse of God’s roadmap to peace in the Middle East.

One of the strengths of this view is the way that it draws together such a range of disparate and 'difficult' texts in a coherent way.

MARCHING UPWARDS TO ZION

Extol him who rides through the wilderness by his name, Yah! - Psalm 68:4 12

This hymn of praise opens with the prayer of Moses said at the outset of each day's wilderness journey.*

* With two differences: Psalm 68:1 is jussive instead of imperative and Yehovah is addressed as Elohim instead of Yehovah.

It was originally written by David to celebrate a momentous occasion. After its construction at Sinai, journey through the wilderness, and long sojourn in temporary homes within the borders of Israel, the Ark of the covenant was finally headed to the place God had chosen for it. The place where he would cause his name to dwell. This seems, at first glance, to be what he is recounting.

But this depiction contrasts strongly with the historical account, which is littered with the corpses of doubters and rebels, and took several generations.

The progress here is dynamic and unhindered. It appears that, instead of being confined to a description of the events unfolding during his day, the spirit of God has inspired David to describe the glories of the future march through the wilderness (v.7)

I will leave it to the reader’s judgment which fits the account best.

The wilderness theme is obscured in some translations of the Bible by an incorrect rendering of the word 'Arabah' in v.4 as 'heavens'. Everywhere else in the Bible, notably Isaiah 40:3 as we have already seen, it is rendered  'wilderness'. That being the case, we are exhorted to extol him who "that rids through the waste plains" or "though the deserts". This creates a further tie with Deuteronomy 33:

This compares beautifully with Deut:33:2 as the Arabah is the arid region south of the Dead Sea, to the east of Paran, and in the proximity of Seir. [35]

Peters provides several reasons why this Psalm points to the future, to which I have added some comments of my own:

It is not the first time this has happened

The twofold reference: to the bringing of God's people 'again' in v. 22, means that the Psalm does not refer to the original exodus, but another in the future.

The Psalm is Messianic

Paul attributes v.18 to the work of the Messiah (Ephesians 4:9). That alone is enough to establish the Messianic credentials of Psalm 68, and as such its application to a time later than David’s. This begs a further question. If verse 18 was fulfilled so long after the writing of the Psalm, when can we expect to see the rest of it take place?

At the ascension of the Messiah, the kingdom had not been restored to Israel yet (Acts 1:6). And after the day of Pentecost, apostolic preaching still reflected the fact that they awaited promised restoration of all things (Acts 3:21). Therefore the description of the conquest of the land must relate to a period subsequent to his return. This leads on to the next point.

The description is too exalted

There is a great gulf fixed between Israel of the exodus and the unstoppable juggernaut of holiness and victory described to us here. The rebellion of the exodus generation caused them to suffer both defeats from their enemies and direct judgment at the hands of their God. Such was the scale of their failure that, of the generation which stood before God at Sinai, only two souls remained when the time came to enter into the land.

The resurrection is in view

In v.20 God's salvation is described in terms of being the 'issues from death'. Could this allude to the resurrection?

The kingdom is established

The descriptions in verses 21 to 31 of the overthrow of the enemies of God and the nations submitting themselves to his rule finds scriptural parallels among depictions of the future kingdom of David's Son, such as the 72nd division of the Psalms.

Lastly, the Psalm provides us with two explicit references to Mount Sinai: Psalm 68:8:

The earth quaked; the heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

Psalm 68:17: The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands; Yehovah is among them as at Sinai, in holiness.

It should be noted that the Hebrew of v.17 is ambiguous in the extreme. With regards to this Cowie states that:

While this is literally correct there are other translations that appear to throw light on David's meaning. In his margin, Rotherham quotes Ginsburg who translates, "Yehovah has come from Sinai into the sanctuary".

The Companion Bible has, "Yehovah among them (the chariots and the angels) has come from Sinai into His sanctuary".

The Jerusalem Bible has, "Yehovah has left Sinai for His sanctuary". [36]

Jim Mattison provides further illumination, citing Jude 14-15 in connection with this. [37]

HOLY MOUNT SINAI

A recurrent feature in the texts we have studied so far has been Sinai. Even Matthew's quotation of Hosea 11:1 is pregnant with the implication that if Jesus is indeed the elect Son, in the mold of the true Israel, then his coming out of Egypt is not an isolated event but instead forms part of a sequence of events which we can still expect to see unfold.

The location has unique standing within the complex of symbols relating to both past and future exodus events and it would be in keeping with the designation of Jesus as the ‘prophet like Moses’ that he too should organize the theocratic government at the very location the original Moses did:

Yehovah did, at one time visited Mount Sinai when His Kingdom was instituted, and it is most reasonable, aside from the Scripture intimations, to believe that when it will be gloriously reorganized with the son of Man as its head, he will again manifest himself, as predicted, in the same place. [38]

Consider the task set before Moses. The people needed to be ready and equipped before they entered the land, not only to capture it but to live in it as Yehovah intended. So the time of preparation wasn’t just dedicated to the assembly of a fighting force - the foundation upon which a new society was to be built was also laid.

Therefore at Sinai, the people of Yehovah received guidance on how to live as a kingdom of priests, how the business of government should be conducted, the laws they were to live by, and the principles by which they were to order their society. Even the Levites were given instructions on how to carry out their duties at Sinai.

THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF THE MESSIAH

“Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness”- Isaiah 32:16.

At this time "positions are assigned, the kingship and priesthood inaugurated, so there could be no more suitable time and location for the resurrected faithful to stand before the judgment seat of the Messiah to receive our rewards (1 Corinthians 3:13-15.

Being already saved and made immortal and standing secure in the fact that our place in the kingdom is guaranteed, each individual’s work will be tried and rewarded accordingly. In this setting, there is no reason to suppose that Jesus was speaking figuratively when he described the good and faithful servants in the parable of the pounds as being given rulership over cities (Luke 19:11-27). After all, Yehovah had sworn to Abraham that his descendants would possess the gates of their enemies (Genesis 22:17).

At this time “positions are assigned, the kingship and priesthood inaugurated, the instructions given preparatory to the ushering in of the dispensation of the fullness of times." [39]

Jim Mattison asks the question: “What better place would there be for the Messiah to organize his kingdom with its leaders for various works than here in this secret and remote uninhabited region away from Jerusalem and Palestine where Antichrist and his legions hold sway?” [40]

It appears that this will be the short period of overlap between the setting up of the glorious Messianic kingdom and the sweeping away of the last kingdoms of the present evil age, intimated by the prophet Daniel:

Daniel 2:44 particularly declares that 'in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom' That is, previous to the final ending of the Roman Empire [which Peters equates with the feet of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream], of Gentile domination, of the horns that arise, this kingdom will be already commenced, organized. [41]

This also exposes a problem which the explicit mention of Sinai in the context of an exodus at the end of the age resolves and raises the issue as to how the Messianic march through the wilderness fits into the wider geopolitical landscape at the time of the end. Specifically, the view that Jesus will only come back to raise the just dead and establish a reign of peace on earth, to last a thousand years, after a period of unparalleled suffering and hostility towards the people of God and in the midst of a time of great turmoil and perplexity.

According to this outlook, before any of the events outlined so far can take place, the Jews will rebuild their temple and begin sacrificing there. Before this occurs an individual will have come to dominate the political scene of a country and countries currently occupying the territory of old Assyria/Babylon (At this time, Syria/Iraq). He will break the seven-year treaty he made with Israel after 3 1/2 years and overflow Israel with an overwhelming multinational military force and put an end to sacrificial temple worship, setting himself up in the holy place and demanding the worship that belongs to the Most High God.

This will initiate the time of great agony and suffering for the Jewish people and the saints which will continue for approximately 3 1/2 years. It is during this time that the two witnesses will be witnessing in Jerusalem and providing some protection to the remnant of Israel [Jews] who have come to Jerusalem (Revelation 11:3). As the 3 1/2 years come to an end; signs in the heavens herald the beginning of the Day of Yehovah. Terrible judgments from God will then ensue, reminiscent of the plagues with which he struck Egypt, only on a far greater, possibly global, scale.

The entire period outlined here, beginning with Assyria/Babylon’s invasion of Israel and desecration of the future temple will be a time of great political instability in the Middle East. During this time the Northern power will be waging unceasing war with the head of the Southern Kingdom of Egypt, passing through Israel on his way, like a devastating flood.

And so it is that, in the midst of these events, Jesus will return from the Father’s right hand in heaven and give imperishable life to his resurrected elect, gathering them at Sinai in order to organize his Theocratic Government on this earth!

But this is done here on the earth - as the representation in its entire scope demands - even while the Antichrist power, so arrogant and hostile, is in existence and holds sway over the nations. [42]

All of this necessitates a location, away from the ensuing conflicts in an area remote enough for the preparations of the Messianic campaign and the inauguration of the kingdom to take place undisturbed.

Sinai’s credentials are impressive:

It is mentioned by name in the context of an eschatological exodus. It is spiritually suitable, on account of its being the very location where the first kingdom was inaugurated and the holy nation prepared for service. It also provides resolution to the practical demands of an earthly location for the gathering and organization of the theocratic government in the midst of the intense war and conflict that will mark the birth pangs of the kingdom age.

Furthermore, Cowie is of the opinion that the very layout of Sinai itself makes it uniquely suitable for such a purpose:

“[It is} like a huge altar set in a sanctuary and is faced by a large plain capable of containing an immense concourse of people. In Sinai and Palestine, Dr. Stanley comments:

‘That a plain should exist at all in front of such a cliff is so remarkable a coincidence with the sacred narrative as to furnish a strong internal argument, not merely of its identity with the scene, but of the scene itself having been described by an eyewitness. The awful and lengthened approach, as to some natural sanctuary, would have been the fittest preparation for the coming scene. The low line of alluvial mounds at the foot of the cliff exactly answers to the 'bounds' which were to keep the people off from 'touching the Mount.'

The plain itself is not broken and uneven and narrowly shut in like almost all others in the range, but presents a long retiring sweep, against which the people could 'remove and stand afar off.' The cliff rising like a huge altar in front of the whole congregation, and visible against the sky in lonely splendor from end to end of the whole plain is the very image of the 'mount that might be touched,' and from which the [15] 'voice' of God might be heard far and wide over the stillness of the plain below, widened at that point to its utmost extent by a confluence of all the continuous valleys.’

The experience had a profound effect upon the people of Israel when they gathered there, under Moses, so that they entreated with him to intercede for them whilst they retired afar off. How much more awe-inspiring will be our visit to that Mount. Already the power of Yehovah is visibly manifested in that the majority of the innumerable host then assembled will have been raised from the dead. We will be reunited with loved ones who have died but then will live again. Each one there assembled will doubtless be impressed by his or her unworthiness for eternal life...” [43]

One further conclusion that we have to draw from this is that if Sinai is indeed the place where Jesus will finally receive the kingdom from his God and his Father and, in turn, hand it to his saints; then it follows that the vision of Daniel 7 must be located there as well.

THE ANCIENT OF DAYS AND THE SON OF MAN

The prophet [Daniel] looks in a vision at the horn [Antichrist], and then, looking away from him, turns to gaze upon the prophetic picture presented at Mount Sinai without specifying the locality; thus passing from one to the other without a commingling of them. [44]

The vision is awe-inspiring to say the least. Thrones are set up and the Ancient of Days takes His seat. The throne-chariot of the Divine Warrior is ablaze with flames and a river of fire flows out from before him. He is attended by a countless multitude. As Daniel continues to look, one ‘like a son of man’ comes before him, on the clouds of heaven.

To him is given dominion, glory, and an everlasting kingdom over all nations and places under the heavens. The prophet also witnesses that through this investiture, the saints of the Most High God receive the kingdom and possess it ‘for all ages to come’.

There are enough parallels between this and the establishment of the original theocracy to make a comparison. Yet at the same time, it is clear that even the amazing manifestation of God’s presence then is a mere preview of this future event.

When the Theocracy was originally established, it was done amid the most solemn and glorious manifestations, and Mount Sinai was purposely selected for the same; now when the same Theocracy is to be reorganized, in the most august manner under the leadership of the King Messiah Jesus especially provided, is it not reasonable that instead of the third heaven or the air, etc., it should be effected in precisely the same place and with exhibitions of splendor and power far more impressive than any hitherto given. [45]

Though I have presented this topic in the context of my own convictions concerning eschatology, this does not have an enormous bearing on the matter since the events outlined all take place after the return of the Messiah Jesus, and therefore subsequent to both Daniel’s 70th week and the resurrection of the called-out Assembly. They, therefore, need not be affected by pre, mid, or post-tribulation rapture positions.

As a result, its proponents include people from all camps. Of the writers quoted in this paper, there are, first and foremost, Peters, author of ‘the Theocratic Kingdom of the Messiah’ who expected a pre-tribulation rapture, and many Christadelphian writers, including Cowie, author of ‘Events Subsequent to the Return of the Messiah, who are historicists. James Mattison, author of ‘End-Time Timeline’ believes in a futurist view of prophecy and an expectation that the rapture will take place after the tribulation, the view I share.

Peters himself begins the 166th proposition of his Theocratic Kingdom of the Messiah — the section that deals with the Messianic March — by stating that, whether or not one chooses to accept the March in all its details, the promise of the millennial kingdom of David’s Son, covenanted by God to Abraham, stands independent of this.

THE TWO-PART COMING AND THE MARRIAGE SUPPER

Yehovah Tsevaot will prepare a lavish banquet for all people on this mountain… And on this mountain, he will swallow up the covering which is over all people… He will swallow up death for all time, and Adonai Yahweh will wipe tears away from all faces. Isaiah 25:6-8 16

IF there are two parts to Jesus’ second coming, one for his people and one with his people to fight the kings of the earth, between these two will the Messiah pass the interval of time at Mount Sinai in organizing his kingdom? [46]

The insight offered into the events described here also offers some resolution to the contrast, noted by some commentators between Matthew 25:1 and Luke 12:36. The first speaks of Jesus’ followers going to the wedding and the second offers a caution to wait for the lord when he shall ‘return from the wedding’.

It may be that these words of caution are directed to two different groups:

The first, the dead in the Messiah and those faithful to the testimony of Jesus who live through the period during which these events unfold and will be gathered by the angels to Sinai.

The second would be the ethnic Jewish remnant; who have turned to their Messiah at the close of the great tribulation. They will be in dire straits, surrounded by the hostile armies of the Northern power [Anti-Christ - Beast] and awaiting the governor who Micah promised would save them in the days when the Assyrian treads down their land.

This imagery of a wedding taking place during this time is attested to by Hosea who, you will remember from the outset of this paper, promised that God would betroth his people to himself in the wilderness.

The turmoil and violence in the surrounding regions frame a contrasting picture of captivating beauty and tranquility:

“The wilderness and the solitary place will be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. The wilderness will be a fruitful field… for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Yehovah has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.” (Isaiah 35:1, 32:15-16, 35:6, 41:19-20, 43:18-21).

The barren wilderness blossoms into bud, flowing with rivers and pools of water, as the privileged guests from across the ages take their seats along with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the marriage supper of the lamb.

God in view of this may, as we anticipate, adorn the wilderness and make it a place of resort. [47]

But there can be no peace without justice. Before this harmony can be extended to embrace the whole earth, there is the small matter of human rebellion and opposition to be dealt with. Satan must be removed and those who have allied themselves with him destroyed in order for captive humanity to be set free.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Daniel 11 would seem to indicate that at some stage the King of the North [acting as Satan's agent] recognizes the threat posed to his dominion, presumably once the Messianic army, consisting of Jesus and the immortalized saints are organized and on the move towards Jerusalem.

Also note:

Revelation 12:14-16: And to the woman [the remnant of Israel] were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent [who controls the King of the North]. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood  - army after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood -army. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood - army which the dragon cast out of his mouth.


After a march northwards through the wilderness and the bloodbath in Edom, they proceed along the route taken by Joshua eventually entering Israel across Jordan and approaching Jerusalem from the East, via the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:1-5; Ezekiel 43:1-2, 4-5, 9). Further to the North is the location of the conclusive battle where the enemy and his host are destroyed at Mt. Megiddo.

With all opposition finally, overcome and his people prepared for the task of governing, the stage is set for the Prince of Peace to take his place on the ancestral throne in Zion and, with it, inherit the nations, dispensing true justice to them at last. (Isaiah 2:1-4; 42:4) Then and only then will the time finally come for the kingdoms of this world to become the kingdom of our God and of His Messiah.

IN CONCLUSION

What does this mean for us today? What is the benefit of trying to get back into the mindset of these people who lived so long ago, in circumstances so different to ours?

Perhaps the answer lies in the way in which it reminds us that God has always had something in store for his people, which he sets before us like a beacon of hope. His desire is that we get more acquainted with it, allowing its reality to take root in our hearts. That it should influence our values and convictions, giving us a sense of perspective on the temptations and challenges of our day-to-day lives.

Any small glimpse of that vision that can make it more real and vivid to us should be seized upon with both hands as an inestimable treasure.

So the real moral of the story is that ideally, this message should have the same impact on us today as it would have had on our Judean friend and all God’s people across the broad span of this age. It should encourage us to go out to meet both the seductions and sufferings of this present time with the attitude expressed by Habakkuk, whose vision we considered earlier, in his prayer:

Habakkuk 3:17-18

Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold,
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in Yehovah,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

*******

1) New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (NIDNT), Volume 3, p.1006
2) NIDNT, Vol 3, p.1007
3) New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis (NIDOT), Volume 4 p.521
4) NIDOT, Vol 4, p.520
5) NIDNT, Vol 3, p.1006
6) NIDNT, Vol 3, p.1007
7) NIDNT, Vol 3, p.1007
8) NIDOT, Vol 4, p.524
9) NT Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (JVG), p. 161
10) George NH Peters, The Theocratic Kingdom (TTK), Vol 3, p.22
11) Wright, JVG, p.154
12) Wright, JVG, p.154
13) Wright, The New Testament and the People of God (NTPG), p.39 "For most Jews, certainly in the first Century, the story-form was the natural and indeed inevitable way in which their worldview would find expression, whether in telling the stories of YHWH’s mighty deeds in the past on behalf of his people, of creating new stories which would function to stir the faithful up in the present to continue in patience and obedience, or in looking forward to the mighty deed that was still to come which would crown all the others and bring Israel true and lasting liberation once and for all."
14) Wright, NTPG, p.41
15) Wright, NTPG, p.242
16) Wright, NTPG, p.38
17) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.22:
18) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.24
19) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.22
20) Wright, JVG, p.161
21) NIDOT, Vol 4, p.525
22) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.23
23) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.22
24) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.23
25) Jim Mattison, The End-Time Time Line (ETTL), p.145.
26) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.23
27) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.26
28) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.27
29) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.21 18
30) JA Cowie, ‘Events Subsequent to the Return of Christ’ (ESRC), p.25-26
31) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.27
32) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.27
33) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.22 "Prophecy distinctly mentions Mt. Sinai, Paran, the wilderness, Mt. Seir, Edom, Teman or the South, Bozrah, giving us a direct route from Sinai northward to Palestine.”
34) Mattison, ETTL, p.144 "When we compare scriptures it appears we have the route taken by Jesus from Mount Sinai to the Mount of Olives (then Megiddo): Sinai, Paran, Mt Seir, Teman, Edom, Bozrah, Mount of Olives."
35) Cowie, ESRC, p.26
36) Cowie, ESRC, p.27
37) Mattison, ETTL, p.142
38) Peters, TKK, Vol 3, p.26
39) Peters, TKK, Vol 3, p.19
40) Mattison, ETTL, p.143
41) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.18
42) Peters, TTK, Vol 3, p.25
43) Cowie, ESRC, p.30
44) Peters, TKK, Vol 3, p.25
45) Peters, TKK, Vol 3, p. 25
46) Mattison, ETTL, p. 140
47) Peters TKK, Vol 3, p.20

Written by Alex Hall and edited by Bruce Lyon