Summary of Bible references on the Rapture
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5. When shall these things be?
Matthew 24:3 And as he sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mark 13:4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished?
Luke 21:7 And they asked him, saying, Teacher, when therefore shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are about to come to pass?
Anytime someone talks about the signs of the Lord's coming someone will say "no one knows the day or the hour". Why didn't the Lord say that when the disciples asked Him "when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming?" They asked this in Matthew, Mark and Luke and in each instance the Lord responded in great detail.
Matthew 24:3 And as he sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mark 13:4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished?
Luke 21:7 And they asked him, saying, Teacher, when therefore shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are about to come to pass?
Anytime someone talks about the signs of the Lord's coming someone will say "no one knows the day or the hour". Why didn't the Lord say that when the disciples asked Him "when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming?" They asked this in Matthew, Mark and Luke and in each instance the Lord responded in great detail.
There are several women who prefigure the rapture: the Shulamite woman, Rahab, Ruth and Esther. These women are quite different but think about it, when the Lord returns there will be many that are raptured and they are all in different situations. Esther was the queen, in the palace while Mordecai was a deplorable on the street, locked out of the city center, and a protestor. Rahab is a prostitute in a Canaanite city. Canaan signifies commerce. We have key people working in some of these companies, with CNN, with Facebook, with Amazon.com that are critical at helping us spy out the situation. Where do you think we got all these affidavits of election fraud, or who blew the whistle on many of these expose's that have come out the last few months. Ruth has nothing to do with the government or with the corrupt Canaanites, but she is one who is willing to humble herself and become nothing to take care of her mother in law. The rapture is for all those walking in faith. Esther is a great example of someone who took up their cross and followed the Lord. Mordecai is a great example, Rahab is a great example and Ruth is a great example. So what about the Shulamite woman? Ultimately this a romance, a love story. Like Mary there are those who have chosen the better part. Loving the Lord, worshipping the Lord, in the end is the better part.
Exodus 9 -- They lied and now they have boils on their face.
1 Then the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, 3 Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.
Cattle are the engine, the power of the agricultural economy. They are the “big business”. They are both the transportation and the power of the economy. The frogs might be the small retail outlets you see shopping malls with all the trinkets and junk they sell. This type of junk is closely associated with the junk associated with various sports teams. Their ratings have plummeted and no doubt the sales of that junk has also crashed. They were the first to get wiped out. But these cattle would represent the S&P 500, the main engine of the US economy. Cars represent the single biggest item in the US economy. However we are in a crisis, there are a shortage of chips and these chips are essential for building these cars. Since people can't buy a new car they aren't trading in the old cars and so not only do we not have new cars we also don't have used cars. Prices have risen about 30% in a single year. They call it a "supply chain" issue because if you break one link in the chain everything breaks. One guy posted that when he went to buy new tires they told him it would be six months to 2 years to get them. We have a shortage of trucks, is this because some truck drivers are not vaccinated? Or is the problem that some trucks need repairs and we don't have the parts? I saw another story where a shoe store was empty, the owner said that when the shoes arrived they all had to be thrown out because they were covered in mold. Sitting out on the water for weeks has made much of the goods moldy. Food is being discarded. The world’s economy operates on credit, it gives them “leverage”. However, since March they have been put into a terrible bind, they can’t continue to operate without borrowing money and no one would lend them money. As a result the US government has been buying up corporate debt at an unprecedented rate, even by 2010 standards the numbers are completely off the charts. It doesn’t show up as increasing US debt because on the books they have exchanged dollars which they print with corporate debt. It looks like an investment until the day you have to admit that paper is worthless. On that day your money will collapse in value. This is happening in the US, Japan, and Europe but it is even worse in China and Russia. We have seen the biggest real estate bubble in human history just collapse. The collapse will be official in a few weeks at which time we will have a bigger catastrophe than the 2008 mortgage meltdown. So what is happening is that people have lots of cash but nothing to buy. As a result many people are not returning to the work force, we are short of the labor that makes our economy work. The other thing that happens is you get runaway inflation.
7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
What we have seen with the cancel culture and the censorship of conservative Christians is an exodus from companies like Google, Twitter, Amazon, Apple, CNN, NY Times, Washington Post, etc. Mike Lindell was attacked and instead of going to the stores where his products are sold people are going on line in droves to buy from him. He has been adding new products on a weekly basis. The companies that are independent of these giants associated with Egypt are not just losing customers in the US, they are losing their standing worldwide. Australia, Poland, Mexico, Germany, France, Israel, Taiwan, etc. These countries see the insidious side of these companies and they are moving to protect themselves. But not only so we are seeing a distinction between the people of God and the people of the world. Those in the world are looking for the handouts and figuring out how not to return to work. Those who belong to the Lord realize they need to work and are not looking for a handout.
8 And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.
When you deal with something, investigate it, judge it, and carry out that sentence it is as though you burned it to ashes. Why are we having all these protests? Suppose the police make a mistake, they kill an innocent person. Well they write up the report to indicate the person was a suspect (recently a police chief was fired for instructing his officers to do that). They might plant evidence on them like drugs or a gun (police have admitted this happens frequently). They might in the case of the mortgage crisis determine that the crooks are “too big to fail”. Basically an admission that the country is run by crooks and the government is incapable of dealing with them. Every time the government does not thoroughly and completely judge sin those “ashes” carry something that will cause boils. The protests are boiling over because of this. The “criminals” know that being set up by the police or the government is commonplace, they also know that once they have a felony on their record they are a second class citizen. This hypocrisy, this failure to deal with sin affects the magicians. All these regulators and government officials and pundits and talking heads. They have boils on their face because they have failed to deal with sin. Governor Cuomo, Governor Newsom, Governor Whitmer, they all have boils on their face and can no longer stand before us. Hunter Biden and the FBI which had his laptop and even Joe Biden also are covered in boils. These magicians told us a year ago the pandemic came from a bat cave, today they have boils on their face. They told us that HCQ could not be used to treat Covid and at least 20 to 30,000 died because of that, now they have boils on their face. They told us Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation, now they have boils on their face. They told us what was happening at the border was a human rights violation and as soon as they were in power they would put an end to it. Now they have boils on their face.
Recently it was announced that Colin Powell died. There are conflicting reports about this, did he die from Covid, from Cancer, or as some claim was he arrested, taken to a military tribunal for his role in 911 and has now entered witness protection? What we do know for sure is all of these leaders have been caught in lie after lie and they have boils all over their faces.
1 Then the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, 3 Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.
Cattle are the engine, the power of the agricultural economy. They are the “big business”. They are both the transportation and the power of the economy. The frogs might be the small retail outlets you see shopping malls with all the trinkets and junk they sell. This type of junk is closely associated with the junk associated with various sports teams. Their ratings have plummeted and no doubt the sales of that junk has also crashed. They were the first to get wiped out. But these cattle would represent the S&P 500, the main engine of the US economy. Cars represent the single biggest item in the US economy. However we are in a crisis, there are a shortage of chips and these chips are essential for building these cars. Since people can't buy a new car they aren't trading in the old cars and so not only do we not have new cars we also don't have used cars. Prices have risen about 30% in a single year. They call it a "supply chain" issue because if you break one link in the chain everything breaks. One guy posted that when he went to buy new tires they told him it would be six months to 2 years to get them. We have a shortage of trucks, is this because some truck drivers are not vaccinated? Or is the problem that some trucks need repairs and we don't have the parts? I saw another story where a shoe store was empty, the owner said that when the shoes arrived they all had to be thrown out because they were covered in mold. Sitting out on the water for weeks has made much of the goods moldy. Food is being discarded. The world’s economy operates on credit, it gives them “leverage”. However, since March they have been put into a terrible bind, they can’t continue to operate without borrowing money and no one would lend them money. As a result the US government has been buying up corporate debt at an unprecedented rate, even by 2010 standards the numbers are completely off the charts. It doesn’t show up as increasing US debt because on the books they have exchanged dollars which they print with corporate debt. It looks like an investment until the day you have to admit that paper is worthless. On that day your money will collapse in value. This is happening in the US, Japan, and Europe but it is even worse in China and Russia. We have seen the biggest real estate bubble in human history just collapse. The collapse will be official in a few weeks at which time we will have a bigger catastrophe than the 2008 mortgage meltdown. So what is happening is that people have lots of cash but nothing to buy. As a result many people are not returning to the work force, we are short of the labor that makes our economy work. The other thing that happens is you get runaway inflation.
7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
What we have seen with the cancel culture and the censorship of conservative Christians is an exodus from companies like Google, Twitter, Amazon, Apple, CNN, NY Times, Washington Post, etc. Mike Lindell was attacked and instead of going to the stores where his products are sold people are going on line in droves to buy from him. He has been adding new products on a weekly basis. The companies that are independent of these giants associated with Egypt are not just losing customers in the US, they are losing their standing worldwide. Australia, Poland, Mexico, Germany, France, Israel, Taiwan, etc. These countries see the insidious side of these companies and they are moving to protect themselves. But not only so we are seeing a distinction between the people of God and the people of the world. Those in the world are looking for the handouts and figuring out how not to return to work. Those who belong to the Lord realize they need to work and are not looking for a handout.
8 And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.
When you deal with something, investigate it, judge it, and carry out that sentence it is as though you burned it to ashes. Why are we having all these protests? Suppose the police make a mistake, they kill an innocent person. Well they write up the report to indicate the person was a suspect (recently a police chief was fired for instructing his officers to do that). They might plant evidence on them like drugs or a gun (police have admitted this happens frequently). They might in the case of the mortgage crisis determine that the crooks are “too big to fail”. Basically an admission that the country is run by crooks and the government is incapable of dealing with them. Every time the government does not thoroughly and completely judge sin those “ashes” carry something that will cause boils. The protests are boiling over because of this. The “criminals” know that being set up by the police or the government is commonplace, they also know that once they have a felony on their record they are a second class citizen. This hypocrisy, this failure to deal with sin affects the magicians. All these regulators and government officials and pundits and talking heads. They have boils on their face because they have failed to deal with sin. Governor Cuomo, Governor Newsom, Governor Whitmer, they all have boils on their face and can no longer stand before us. Hunter Biden and the FBI which had his laptop and even Joe Biden also are covered in boils. These magicians told us a year ago the pandemic came from a bat cave, today they have boils on their face. They told us that HCQ could not be used to treat Covid and at least 20 to 30,000 died because of that, now they have boils on their face. They told us Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation, now they have boils on their face. They told us what was happening at the border was a human rights violation and as soon as they were in power they would put an end to it. Now they have boils on their face.
Recently it was announced that Colin Powell died. There are conflicting reports about this, did he die from Covid, from Cancer, or as some claim was he arrested, taken to a military tribunal for his role in 911 and has now entered witness protection? What we do know for sure is all of these leaders have been caught in lie after lie and they have boils all over their faces.
I see many different "watchmen" on the internet trying to parse the date of the Lord's return and I feel like this is missing the point.
Noah -- what was critical was getting the ark ready.
Esther -- first she and Mordecai needed to catch Haman and destroy his plot to kill the Jews.
Rahab -- she was saved because of what she did to save the spies at great risk to herself.
Abigail -- she was taken to the kings palace because she saved her family from destruction despite being married to a drunken fool.
Ruth -- Boaz married her because of her righteousness in caring for her mother in law.
Lot -- They couldn't destroy the city until he got out to safety.
Lamed is the Hebrew letter that refers to ascending up, it comes after "a great success". The first 11 letters of the alphabet indicate the lessons we learn and they culminate in a spoon that can reach down to save. Only then can you have the rapture.
It is pointless to know when the flood is coming if the ark is not ready. Pointless to commend Esther and Mordecai until they have defeated Haman. Doesn't help Rahab to know when the city is going to be destroyed if she has not first saved the spies. Ruth doesn't need to worry about Boaz, rather she needs to focus on caring for Naomi. Abigail's job is to care for her household and save them from the stupidity of Nabal.
For example they have said get the vaccine or lose your job. To lose your job is to escape from Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot needs to escape before God will rain fire on Sodom. Right now our government is like a drunken fool and it is our job to show up to school board meetings, precinct meetings, and do what we can to save this nation. There was election fraud and many other examples of fraudulent, criminal behavior. If you were in there midst you need to be a whistleblower like Rahab the prostitute. Others like Steve Bannon, the deplorables, and some of those in the government are like Esther and Mordecai. They are exposing the evil Haman and his plot to wipe out the Christians with this pandemic and vaccine. Still others are building the ark letting all the believers know there is room in this ark for many different gifted ones. The ministry is in many different areas, in every one we need believers who are led by the Spirit and follow the Lord Jesus.
Noah -- what was critical was getting the ark ready.
Esther -- first she and Mordecai needed to catch Haman and destroy his plot to kill the Jews.
Rahab -- she was saved because of what she did to save the spies at great risk to herself.
Abigail -- she was taken to the kings palace because she saved her family from destruction despite being married to a drunken fool.
Ruth -- Boaz married her because of her righteousness in caring for her mother in law.
Lot -- They couldn't destroy the city until he got out to safety.
Lamed is the Hebrew letter that refers to ascending up, it comes after "a great success". The first 11 letters of the alphabet indicate the lessons we learn and they culminate in a spoon that can reach down to save. Only then can you have the rapture.
It is pointless to know when the flood is coming if the ark is not ready. Pointless to commend Esther and Mordecai until they have defeated Haman. Doesn't help Rahab to know when the city is going to be destroyed if she has not first saved the spies. Ruth doesn't need to worry about Boaz, rather she needs to focus on caring for Naomi. Abigail's job is to care for her household and save them from the stupidity of Nabal.
For example they have said get the vaccine or lose your job. To lose your job is to escape from Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot needs to escape before God will rain fire on Sodom. Right now our government is like a drunken fool and it is our job to show up to school board meetings, precinct meetings, and do what we can to save this nation. There was election fraud and many other examples of fraudulent, criminal behavior. If you were in there midst you need to be a whistleblower like Rahab the prostitute. Others like Steve Bannon, the deplorables, and some of those in the government are like Esther and Mordecai. They are exposing the evil Haman and his plot to wipe out the Christians with this pandemic and vaccine. Still others are building the ark letting all the believers know there is room in this ark for many different gifted ones. The ministry is in many different areas, in every one we need believers who are led by the Spirit and follow the Lord Jesus.
It's about to happen
https://rumble.com/v16nov5-a-pentecost-rapture-story-sunday-52922-soldiers-for-christ.html
The whole world will be under one leader, it is about to be real.
https://rumble.com/v16nov5-a-pentecost-rapture-story-sunday-52922-soldiers-for-christ.html
The whole world will be under one leader, it is about to be real.
Acts 3:17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.
We have seen a lot of heinous things done in the last year but they were done in ignorance. For example a number of very prominent scientists, researchers, the head of the CDC and even the President warned us about the Pandemic and that is came from the Chinese Bioweapons lab and their warnings were mocked, ridiculed and reviled. Some people were behaving deceitfully, their heart was full of deceit because they had designed wickedness. But many of us simply acted in ignorance, trusting that those who had sworn to protect the US were in fact doing that.
18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.
2,000 years ago it was Jesus who had warned them and who they rejected. They may have thought that Jesus was causing trouble and if they would silence this one man then the whole nation could have peace. That was a lie and after crucifying Jesus Titus came and destroyed the entire nation and scattered them to the four corners of the earth. At the end of the age it will be God's people who are warning you, they will be the ones you reject, ignore and opt to silence. Some will realize they acted in ignorance and repent, others will harden their hearth like Pharaoh and be destroyed.
We have seen a lot of heinous things done in the last year but they were done in ignorance. For example a number of very prominent scientists, researchers, the head of the CDC and even the President warned us about the Pandemic and that is came from the Chinese Bioweapons lab and their warnings were mocked, ridiculed and reviled. Some people were behaving deceitfully, their heart was full of deceit because they had designed wickedness. But many of us simply acted in ignorance, trusting that those who had sworn to protect the US were in fact doing that.
18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.
2,000 years ago it was Jesus who had warned them and who they rejected. They may have thought that Jesus was causing trouble and if they would silence this one man then the whole nation could have peace. That was a lie and after crucifying Jesus Titus came and destroyed the entire nation and scattered them to the four corners of the earth. At the end of the age it will be God's people who are warning you, they will be the ones you reject, ignore and opt to silence. Some will realize they acted in ignorance and repent, others will harden their hearth like Pharaoh and be destroyed.
Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Why do people say the church was "born" on Pentecost. It was when Jesus ascended that He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.
Why do people say the church was "born" on Pentecost. It was when Jesus ascended that He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.
Is Pentecost the same as Shavuot?
If you watched the last message that I posted from Pastor Sandy and also from Dr. Barry Awe you can see this is clearly a sticking point on Shavuot and Pentecost being the same thing. I have not considered it a major issue since the evidence for me is overwhelming that all three of us (Pastor Sandy, Dr. Barry and I) are in full agreement that Shavuot is the rapture scenario.
Pastor Sandy has said the feast of New Wine is not Biblical (Dr. Barry says it is in the dead sea scrolls).
I feel I am in the middle of these two so as an observer I'll write how it appears to me.
Verse in Acts
Pastor Sandy -- refers to Acts where it says that there were Jews from every region of the Roman Empire who heard them speaking in their own tongue. You say everyone has to be there for Shavuot, hence it is Shavuot. I lived in NYC for many years, it was a cosmopolitan city. On any day, not just July 4th we had people living there from all over the world. Yes this verse in Acts could be evidence that it is Shavuot, it could also simply be evidence that Jerusalem was a cosmopolitan city. (I will use a scale 0-5 with 5 being absolute proof and 0 being meaningless). I give this a 3.
Dr. Barry -- also refers to what is said in Acts that people joked "they are drunk on new wine". Now if the joke was simply "they are drunk" I'd give this a 0. But you only get new wine when you harvest the grapes and that would only be at the new wine festival, so I also give this a 3.
Enoch
Pastor Sandy -- This is his most compelling piece of evidence and I give it a 5. Enoch is a type of the church he was born and raptured both on the same day as Shavuot (I'm pretty sure he is getting this from extra Biblical documents so that eliminates any complaint over Dr. Barry using dead sea scrolls). However, this does not directly, through the Scripture, tie in to Pentecost. He is making that connection using the traditions of men. According to our tradition the church was born on Pentecost.
So I asked a very simple question, surely Paul would have told us when the church was born. The verse I came up with was Ephesians 4:8, made sense to me since the Book of Ephesians is the definitive book on the church. 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
So from this I conclude that the strongest Biblical evidence is that the church was born when Jesus ascended and not on Pentecost, that is simply the tradition of man to say that ascension day was ten days before Pentecost (I will address the 40 days referenced in the Bible in a later point).
Moses
Dr. Barry uses the account in Shavuot of Moses going up the mountain to depict Jesus ascension. This is based on another principal teaching that is integral which is that all the key feast days are prophetic and must be fulfilled. The Lord's ascension is a very big part of that, after all look at Ephesians 4:8, so then what is this fulfilling? There is nothing ten days before Shavuot, but Shavuot is perfect depiction of the rapture and also of the New Covenant being given and hence the birth of the church. Again, I give this a 5 but I also agree that this does not in any way prove that Shavuot is not Pentecost.
Is Shavuot 50 days and Hence Pentecost?
Pastor Sandy -- essentially says that Shavuot is the Hebrew term and Pentecost is the Greek term. His evidence is that in the Orthodox synagogue where he learned Hebrew they counted out the Omer daily. This is also man's tradition. So I give this a 3. When I read the Old Testament they were told to count out seven complete Sabbaths. I am a geologist, I know that a lunar cycle is 29.5 days. I also know that if you start in the middle of Nisan you will have two new moon sabbaths. Yes, the lunar cycle may have changed in the last few thousand years, but at the time of David it is clear that a new moon sabbath was longer than a typical sabbath. It should be 2-3 days and that also was the tradition that if the clouds obscured their vision they would say the next day was the first day. However, Pastor Sandy also does the math saying that Enoch was born on the sixth day of Sivan. So if the 16th is the #1 day in the count of the Omer, then that does come out to 50 days. Which is why I give this a 3.
Dr. Barry -- He quotes Leviticus 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. I give this a 3 as well. It is Biblical and it strongly suggests a feast that is exactly 50 days after Shavuot which in turn could be our Biblical reference to Pentecost. But it is an inference. Yes there is an offering to be made then, but we aren't told that it is a New Wine offering.
40 days
This is the heart of the matter. If Jesus was with them for 40 days after the resurrection then it is clearly not Shavuot and the Bible clearly says that He was. How do I deal with this?
Pastor Sandy -- takes it at face value.
Dr. Barry -- tries to find wiggle room saying that maybe this count started ten days later or something, I don't buy it. 0
So this is the critical issue for me. I looked into the Greek and discovered there are several words for day and that this particular word is often translated "time". It would certainly be reasonable to translate this as saying Jesus was with them 40 times. It is also clear from the record that this was not 40 continuous times from the account of the disciples going fishing. We don't see Jesus in the beginning of that story, rather He pops up at the end by surprise.
So then let's go back to the Old Testament where the Bible says you have to complete 7 sabbaths. That is weird, but obviously refers to completing the church age of 7 churches. Why is it that most festivals give us a specific date, based on a New moon or the full moon, but Shavuot doesn't it gives us this strange "fulfill seven Sabbaths and then it is the next day" type of count? What I got from this is that it is like graduation at school. Suppose I asked "when is graduation?" Well, that depends, when are you going to complete all your coursework? I can't tell you a date because if you haven't completed all your work you will have to go to summer school.
So let's go back to the Lord meeting with them 40 times, that is like having 40 lessons and that is essentially what it says in Acts. He met with them 40 times and gave them 40 lessons on the kingdom. If you have a class that meets 40 times no one would understand that to mean that it is 40 days from the first class to the last class.
Conclusion
1. I feel that Enoch is a type of the church, he was born and raptured on the same day indicates that the church will be raptured on the same day it was born on.
2. I also feel that this day is Shavuot.
3. However, I agree with Dr. Barry that Ascension day is Shavuot. Not interested in man's tradition, Jesus told me to watch out for that.
If you watched the last message that I posted from Pastor Sandy and also from Dr. Barry Awe you can see this is clearly a sticking point on Shavuot and Pentecost being the same thing. I have not considered it a major issue since the evidence for me is overwhelming that all three of us (Pastor Sandy, Dr. Barry and I) are in full agreement that Shavuot is the rapture scenario.
Pastor Sandy has said the feast of New Wine is not Biblical (Dr. Barry says it is in the dead sea scrolls).
I feel I am in the middle of these two so as an observer I'll write how it appears to me.
Verse in Acts
Pastor Sandy -- refers to Acts where it says that there were Jews from every region of the Roman Empire who heard them speaking in their own tongue. You say everyone has to be there for Shavuot, hence it is Shavuot. I lived in NYC for many years, it was a cosmopolitan city. On any day, not just July 4th we had people living there from all over the world. Yes this verse in Acts could be evidence that it is Shavuot, it could also simply be evidence that Jerusalem was a cosmopolitan city. (I will use a scale 0-5 with 5 being absolute proof and 0 being meaningless). I give this a 3.
Dr. Barry -- also refers to what is said in Acts that people joked "they are drunk on new wine". Now if the joke was simply "they are drunk" I'd give this a 0. But you only get new wine when you harvest the grapes and that would only be at the new wine festival, so I also give this a 3.
Enoch
Pastor Sandy -- This is his most compelling piece of evidence and I give it a 5. Enoch is a type of the church he was born and raptured both on the same day as Shavuot (I'm pretty sure he is getting this from extra Biblical documents so that eliminates any complaint over Dr. Barry using dead sea scrolls). However, this does not directly, through the Scripture, tie in to Pentecost. He is making that connection using the traditions of men. According to our tradition the church was born on Pentecost.
So I asked a very simple question, surely Paul would have told us when the church was born. The verse I came up with was Ephesians 4:8, made sense to me since the Book of Ephesians is the definitive book on the church. 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
So from this I conclude that the strongest Biblical evidence is that the church was born when Jesus ascended and not on Pentecost, that is simply the tradition of man to say that ascension day was ten days before Pentecost (I will address the 40 days referenced in the Bible in a later point).
Moses
Dr. Barry uses the account in Shavuot of Moses going up the mountain to depict Jesus ascension. This is based on another principal teaching that is integral which is that all the key feast days are prophetic and must be fulfilled. The Lord's ascension is a very big part of that, after all look at Ephesians 4:8, so then what is this fulfilling? There is nothing ten days before Shavuot, but Shavuot is perfect depiction of the rapture and also of the New Covenant being given and hence the birth of the church. Again, I give this a 5 but I also agree that this does not in any way prove that Shavuot is not Pentecost.
Is Shavuot 50 days and Hence Pentecost?
Pastor Sandy -- essentially says that Shavuot is the Hebrew term and Pentecost is the Greek term. His evidence is that in the Orthodox synagogue where he learned Hebrew they counted out the Omer daily. This is also man's tradition. So I give this a 3. When I read the Old Testament they were told to count out seven complete Sabbaths. I am a geologist, I know that a lunar cycle is 29.5 days. I also know that if you start in the middle of Nisan you will have two new moon sabbaths. Yes, the lunar cycle may have changed in the last few thousand years, but at the time of David it is clear that a new moon sabbath was longer than a typical sabbath. It should be 2-3 days and that also was the tradition that if the clouds obscured their vision they would say the next day was the first day. However, Pastor Sandy also does the math saying that Enoch was born on the sixth day of Sivan. So if the 16th is the #1 day in the count of the Omer, then that does come out to 50 days. Which is why I give this a 3.
Dr. Barry -- He quotes Leviticus 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. I give this a 3 as well. It is Biblical and it strongly suggests a feast that is exactly 50 days after Shavuot which in turn could be our Biblical reference to Pentecost. But it is an inference. Yes there is an offering to be made then, but we aren't told that it is a New Wine offering.
40 days
This is the heart of the matter. If Jesus was with them for 40 days after the resurrection then it is clearly not Shavuot and the Bible clearly says that He was. How do I deal with this?
Pastor Sandy -- takes it at face value.
Dr. Barry -- tries to find wiggle room saying that maybe this count started ten days later or something, I don't buy it. 0
So this is the critical issue for me. I looked into the Greek and discovered there are several words for day and that this particular word is often translated "time". It would certainly be reasonable to translate this as saying Jesus was with them 40 times. It is also clear from the record that this was not 40 continuous times from the account of the disciples going fishing. We don't see Jesus in the beginning of that story, rather He pops up at the end by surprise.
So then let's go back to the Old Testament where the Bible says you have to complete 7 sabbaths. That is weird, but obviously refers to completing the church age of 7 churches. Why is it that most festivals give us a specific date, based on a New moon or the full moon, but Shavuot doesn't it gives us this strange "fulfill seven Sabbaths and then it is the next day" type of count? What I got from this is that it is like graduation at school. Suppose I asked "when is graduation?" Well, that depends, when are you going to complete all your coursework? I can't tell you a date because if you haven't completed all your work you will have to go to summer school.
So let's go back to the Lord meeting with them 40 times, that is like having 40 lessons and that is essentially what it says in Acts. He met with them 40 times and gave them 40 lessons on the kingdom. If you have a class that meets 40 times no one would understand that to mean that it is 40 days from the first class to the last class.
Conclusion
1. I feel that Enoch is a type of the church, he was born and raptured on the same day indicates that the church will be raptured on the same day it was born on.
2. I also feel that this day is Shavuot.
3. However, I agree with Dr. Barry that Ascension day is Shavuot. Not interested in man's tradition, Jesus told me to watch out for that.
13 On that day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
According to the Old Testament on the feast of trumpets the gates of heaven are opened and the King is going to come out of the house. But this chapter refers to the King as Jesus, Jehovah Savior.
The opening days of Tishrei are known as “The Days of Awe” or “The Awesome Days.” Going from the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) to the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur); there are ten days. The Jewish teachers say, when the Shofar is blown on the Feast of Trumpets, the Gate of Heaven is opened. During this time you pray your prayers, repent, call on the Lord, or cry to the Lord. You have ten days for God to give you a good decision. On the tenth day (The Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur) God seals the fate of every person. Once the Feast of Trumpets was concluded, then the High Priest would go into a chamber in the Temple for seven days. He was to prepare before entering the Holy of Holies. He was away from the people. He was hidden until the Day of Atonement when he would come out and perform the Yom Kippur ceremony determining whether Israel had been forgiven of sin or whether Israel would suffer judgment.
I want to look at this chapter through the lens of these ten days as being the conclusion to this age. It is during these ten years that we learn the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens as the seals are opened. Also, this is a very different view from that with which I have always heard this chapter.
This priest going into a hidden chamber 7 days before the day of atonement signifies the rapture where the faithful servants are raptured to the “hidden chamber” during the last seven years, the great tribulation. If the great tribulation ends in 2029 and that is when we have the Day of Atonement, then this first three years would be 2020-2022. That would be the year of the Pandemic, the year that Biden stole the election, and this year of Russia invading Ukraine.
Another picture of the church’ who will be taken away or hidden from God’s wrath. The priest was hidden in a secret chamber in the Temple. The church will be hidden away in the Heavenly Temple. (https://forthosewhoareinterested.co...mpets-is-the-day-of-the-opening-of-the-gates/)
During these first three years we see Jesus sitting besides the sea. The sea refers to the world, the gentiles. Sitting is leisurely. One thing the pandemic did was it made many of us to "sit down". As a teacher I eliminated close to 2 hours a day of commuting, and I cut out about 10 hours a week of class room teaching. My workload was greatly reduced in 2020 through 2021. Then in the summer of 2021 NYC mandated the vaccine for teachers. I decided to retire rather than get the vaccine. So to say that I have been sitting for these last three years with Jesus is a very fair depiction. Jesus is sitting beside the sea and I am sitting beside the internet. I do preach the gospel to about 50 or more people a week in person, I do go to church meetings, I do go to bible studies, and I do go to food kitchens to help feed the homeless. But the vast majority of my time is spent sitting beside the internet.
2 And there were gathered unto him great multitudes, so that he entered into a boat, and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach.
It is stunning to me that this blog is on track to get to 80,000 views. I don't think this counts the same viewer twice, so that would be 80,000 different viewers. I am flabergasted. It is clearly a multitude. How do you explain it other than people want to hear God's word. One of the goals I had with this blog was no glitz, no gimmicks, just the word of God. If I do not see a direct correlation between something someone shares and the word of God I do not post that link. As for me I feel like I am dancing with the word, the word is the one leading and I am simply following the lead of the word.
3 And he spake to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them: 5 and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth: and straightway they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 and when the sun was risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them: 8 and others fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He that hath ears, let him hear.
This is the very first lesson we need to learn. Anyone who has attended church for any length of time has been taught on this portion of the word. But I want to look at this from a different view now. Let's look at this from the view of Jesus, the King of Kings, on His throne and judging us. Your trial has just begun and what do we see? We behold a sower who went out to sow. That is not you, it is someone serving Jesus who brought the word to you. Maybe when you heard the gospel you were by the wayside. OK, but many who will be judged will be the birds who stole that word and devoured it. I do not want to be one of those birds at the judgement seat. Lord Jesus, I pray that you would cover me with your blood and forgive me if I ever devoured the word and stole it from one of your children. But what is very clear also is that the wayside is a terrible place to receive the word of God. So if I am at the judgement seat of the Lord the last thing I want is for everyone to see that I was living my life by the wayside, allowing all the word the Lord sent my way to be devoured. Social media is the "wayside" of the internet. To me, this blog is like good rich soil, that is deep. When I first began this project in 2020 I was on a different forum. They began to censor me, to try and steal the word, just like those evil birds. I was also on Facebook and they suspended me for a month. They didn't tell me why, they didn't tell me what my offense was, only that someone didn't like something I had posted. These are evil birds stealing the word of God. I deleted my Facebook account the same day I got that notice and I moved from that other forum to this forum. That was a little more than a year ago. You know we always think of scarecrows and birds in the farmers field, but the Lord doesn't say that. The easiest place for birds to steal seeds is on the wayside, much harder in a field where the seeds are beneath the earth. But then I have heard the internet is also "the rocky places". Hidden sins in your heart. It is a place of gossip, vanity, pornography and slander. The enemy is a thief, liar, and a murderer. The name Satan means slanderer. You hear a word that rejoices your heart and you share it on the rocky places and wow, they will slander you, attack you, lie, gossip, twist, distort, etc. When this happens it is very hard work. I don't back down. Pull out the shovel, pull out the pick and dig up those rocks. But nothing I hate more than to discover a patch of the internet with these hidden rocks. Then of course the internet is also a place with thorns growing up. We call these "trolls". They stick to you, they are hard to pull off, they are painful, if you spend a day in the thorns you will be covered with small cuts at night. They will pretend to be Christians, plants growing on the ground just like wheat, they are soaking in the sun and taking up the nutrients just like wheat, but there is no ministry of life. They are waterless clouds. The easiest way to clear a field of thorns is to burn it. These ones are on the verge of being burned. Right now we need to prepare to meet our God. If you are the stony ground with hidden sins you indulge on the internet, if you are a phony Christian, a thorn bush, you need to repent and get right with the Lord. Two thousand years ago the advice was to dig up those rocks and make a rock wall, clear those thorns and plant wheat. This is no longer the beginning of the age, we now have wheat ready to be harvested. Now is the time to get on your knees and repent. Finally we have the good ground. When I first started this blog I think I had 8 views after the first day. I rejoiced. I thought, hey, if Christians make up 10% of the world and we each reach 10 others we could reach the world! Then when I got to 100 views I rejoiced again, this time I was more realistic. No doubt 80% of those we reach we are preaching to the choir. But still if half of all the Christians each go out and reach 20 others we could reach the world! Well it has been about 15 months and now it is approaching 80,000. I am just thrilled, this is the good ground bringing forth 100 fold, maybe sixty, maybe thirty. Thank the Lord and praise Him, His word is faithful and it will not return unto Him void.
According to the Old Testament on the feast of trumpets the gates of heaven are opened and the King is going to come out of the house. But this chapter refers to the King as Jesus, Jehovah Savior.
The opening days of Tishrei are known as “The Days of Awe” or “The Awesome Days.” Going from the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) to the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur); there are ten days. The Jewish teachers say, when the Shofar is blown on the Feast of Trumpets, the Gate of Heaven is opened. During this time you pray your prayers, repent, call on the Lord, or cry to the Lord. You have ten days for God to give you a good decision. On the tenth day (The Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur) God seals the fate of every person. Once the Feast of Trumpets was concluded, then the High Priest would go into a chamber in the Temple for seven days. He was to prepare before entering the Holy of Holies. He was away from the people. He was hidden until the Day of Atonement when he would come out and perform the Yom Kippur ceremony determining whether Israel had been forgiven of sin or whether Israel would suffer judgment.
I want to look at this chapter through the lens of these ten days as being the conclusion to this age. It is during these ten years that we learn the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens as the seals are opened. Also, this is a very different view from that with which I have always heard this chapter.
This priest going into a hidden chamber 7 days before the day of atonement signifies the rapture where the faithful servants are raptured to the “hidden chamber” during the last seven years, the great tribulation. If the great tribulation ends in 2029 and that is when we have the Day of Atonement, then this first three years would be 2020-2022. That would be the year of the Pandemic, the year that Biden stole the election, and this year of Russia invading Ukraine.
Another picture of the church’ who will be taken away or hidden from God’s wrath. The priest was hidden in a secret chamber in the Temple. The church will be hidden away in the Heavenly Temple. (https://forthosewhoareinterested.co...mpets-is-the-day-of-the-opening-of-the-gates/)
During these first three years we see Jesus sitting besides the sea. The sea refers to the world, the gentiles. Sitting is leisurely. One thing the pandemic did was it made many of us to "sit down". As a teacher I eliminated close to 2 hours a day of commuting, and I cut out about 10 hours a week of class room teaching. My workload was greatly reduced in 2020 through 2021. Then in the summer of 2021 NYC mandated the vaccine for teachers. I decided to retire rather than get the vaccine. So to say that I have been sitting for these last three years with Jesus is a very fair depiction. Jesus is sitting beside the sea and I am sitting beside the internet. I do preach the gospel to about 50 or more people a week in person, I do go to church meetings, I do go to bible studies, and I do go to food kitchens to help feed the homeless. But the vast majority of my time is spent sitting beside the internet.
2 And there were gathered unto him great multitudes, so that he entered into a boat, and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach.
It is stunning to me that this blog is on track to get to 80,000 views. I don't think this counts the same viewer twice, so that would be 80,000 different viewers. I am flabergasted. It is clearly a multitude. How do you explain it other than people want to hear God's word. One of the goals I had with this blog was no glitz, no gimmicks, just the word of God. If I do not see a direct correlation between something someone shares and the word of God I do not post that link. As for me I feel like I am dancing with the word, the word is the one leading and I am simply following the lead of the word.
3 And he spake to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them: 5 and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth: and straightway they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 and when the sun was risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them: 8 and others fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He that hath ears, let him hear.
This is the very first lesson we need to learn. Anyone who has attended church for any length of time has been taught on this portion of the word. But I want to look at this from a different view now. Let's look at this from the view of Jesus, the King of Kings, on His throne and judging us. Your trial has just begun and what do we see? We behold a sower who went out to sow. That is not you, it is someone serving Jesus who brought the word to you. Maybe when you heard the gospel you were by the wayside. OK, but many who will be judged will be the birds who stole that word and devoured it. I do not want to be one of those birds at the judgement seat. Lord Jesus, I pray that you would cover me with your blood and forgive me if I ever devoured the word and stole it from one of your children. But what is very clear also is that the wayside is a terrible place to receive the word of God. So if I am at the judgement seat of the Lord the last thing I want is for everyone to see that I was living my life by the wayside, allowing all the word the Lord sent my way to be devoured. Social media is the "wayside" of the internet. To me, this blog is like good rich soil, that is deep. When I first began this project in 2020 I was on a different forum. They began to censor me, to try and steal the word, just like those evil birds. I was also on Facebook and they suspended me for a month. They didn't tell me why, they didn't tell me what my offense was, only that someone didn't like something I had posted. These are evil birds stealing the word of God. I deleted my Facebook account the same day I got that notice and I moved from that other forum to this forum. That was a little more than a year ago. You know we always think of scarecrows and birds in the farmers field, but the Lord doesn't say that. The easiest place for birds to steal seeds is on the wayside, much harder in a field where the seeds are beneath the earth. But then I have heard the internet is also "the rocky places". Hidden sins in your heart. It is a place of gossip, vanity, pornography and slander. The enemy is a thief, liar, and a murderer. The name Satan means slanderer. You hear a word that rejoices your heart and you share it on the rocky places and wow, they will slander you, attack you, lie, gossip, twist, distort, etc. When this happens it is very hard work. I don't back down. Pull out the shovel, pull out the pick and dig up those rocks. But nothing I hate more than to discover a patch of the internet with these hidden rocks. Then of course the internet is also a place with thorns growing up. We call these "trolls". They stick to you, they are hard to pull off, they are painful, if you spend a day in the thorns you will be covered with small cuts at night. They will pretend to be Christians, plants growing on the ground just like wheat, they are soaking in the sun and taking up the nutrients just like wheat, but there is no ministry of life. They are waterless clouds. The easiest way to clear a field of thorns is to burn it. These ones are on the verge of being burned. Right now we need to prepare to meet our God. If you are the stony ground with hidden sins you indulge on the internet, if you are a phony Christian, a thorn bush, you need to repent and get right with the Lord. Two thousand years ago the advice was to dig up those rocks and make a rock wall, clear those thorns and plant wheat. This is no longer the beginning of the age, we now have wheat ready to be harvested. Now is the time to get on your knees and repent. Finally we have the good ground. When I first started this blog I think I had 8 views after the first day. I rejoiced. I thought, hey, if Christians make up 10% of the world and we each reach 10 others we could reach the world! Then when I got to 100 views I rejoiced again, this time I was more realistic. No doubt 80% of those we reach we are preaching to the choir. But still if half of all the Christians each go out and reach 20 others we could reach the world! Well it has been about 15 months and now it is approaching 80,000. I am just thrilled, this is the good ground bringing forth 100 fold, maybe sixty, maybe thirty. Thank the Lord and praise Him, His word is faithful and it will not return unto Him void.
Matthew 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
I used to always ask that question, but not anymore. On the internet everyone has to learn how to speak in parables when discussing certain forbidden topics like everyone being bitten by snakes. Can't talk about that. Or about Haman and his plot to overthrow the king. Can't talk about that. These are topics that you will be censored immediately and de-platformed if you don't learn how to talk in parables.
11 And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Think how easy it is to speak in parables if you know the word of God. If you are filled with the word it is simple. I saw a docudrama once about soldiers being extracted from behind enemy lines. They were talking to each other over a radio that was not secure so they knew the enemy would listen. But the two of them used to caddy at the same golf course so he would describe his location and where he was going as different spots on the golf course. "I'm at the first tee and I'll meet you at the clearing at the 7th green".
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
If the "they" is referring to the censors and those who wish to steal the word then this makes perfect sense. It is like saying "I speak in code so the enemy will not understand". But now let's consider this from the viewpoint of the Day of Atonement when we must all appear before the throne. If people seem to be speaking in code around you and you can't understand then wow, you need to repent and confess to the Lord because you are part of the "they", the enemies camp. The problem is that you are not part of those that have, you don't have the word of God in you.
14 And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:
That is scary. He is talking about those who are hearing the word of God, they are hearing the warnings from the watchmen, they are seeing all these things happen. Everyone saw the pandemic, but not all understood. Everyone saw rallies and protests but not all understood. Everyone may realize something is not right right now, they go to the grocery store and the shelves are empty, they see Russia invading Ukraine, they see gas prices going up, but they don't perceive what is really happening.
15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them.
It is a great honor to be healed by the Lord. It is a great mercy of God that you would turn and repent. It is a great gift of God that you would understand. The reality is that people don’t see because they have closed their eyes and they don’t hear because they just got tired of listening. As a result you see such fiascos as NBA players thinking that just anyone can take a stand for righteousness and provoking riots in Wisconsin. To be a preacher of righteousness, to take a stand against the wiles of the evil one, this requires strict obedience to the Lord’s word and letting him train you. The idea that some NBA player can just decide one day they will do this as a side hustle is as laughable as me deciding I will play in the NBA as a side hustle.
So how did "their ears become dull of hearing". Uh oh, we are talking about the hidden rocks and stones. Do you "binge watch" TV, that will do it to you. Do you get into meaningless debates on social media? That will do it to you. Are you involved in hidden sins on the internet? What has caused you to become dull of hearing and to close your eyes? Have you ever thought "I don't know who to believe"? That is idiotic, you can believe the Bible. It is a sure word that has been tested for 2,000 years. The people who spoke that word to you were willing to die rather than recant. When people say they don't know who to believe I know that they are just making excuses for not reading the Bible. Then they will say "but there are so many different interpretations". That is another ridiculous excuse. Read the Bible yourself, you don't need someone to tell you what it says, the Lord sent the comforter to lead you into all the truth. When you listen to someone speak the word do you get life and peace? If so that is the Spirit leading you into the truth. Do you feel like their words are poison, you are feeling dead after listening to them, then that is the Spirit telling you "let's get out of this place". But even if you find a few people you trust you have to read the word for yourself, pray over it. The Lord wants to have a personal relationship with you, one on one. No one and nothing can replace that.
I used to always ask that question, but not anymore. On the internet everyone has to learn how to speak in parables when discussing certain forbidden topics like everyone being bitten by snakes. Can't talk about that. Or about Haman and his plot to overthrow the king. Can't talk about that. These are topics that you will be censored immediately and de-platformed if you don't learn how to talk in parables.
11 And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Think how easy it is to speak in parables if you know the word of God. If you are filled with the word it is simple. I saw a docudrama once about soldiers being extracted from behind enemy lines. They were talking to each other over a radio that was not secure so they knew the enemy would listen. But the two of them used to caddy at the same golf course so he would describe his location and where he was going as different spots on the golf course. "I'm at the first tee and I'll meet you at the clearing at the 7th green".
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
If the "they" is referring to the censors and those who wish to steal the word then this makes perfect sense. It is like saying "I speak in code so the enemy will not understand". But now let's consider this from the viewpoint of the Day of Atonement when we must all appear before the throne. If people seem to be speaking in code around you and you can't understand then wow, you need to repent and confess to the Lord because you are part of the "they", the enemies camp. The problem is that you are not part of those that have, you don't have the word of God in you.
14 And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:
That is scary. He is talking about those who are hearing the word of God, they are hearing the warnings from the watchmen, they are seeing all these things happen. Everyone saw the pandemic, but not all understood. Everyone saw rallies and protests but not all understood. Everyone may realize something is not right right now, they go to the grocery store and the shelves are empty, they see Russia invading Ukraine, they see gas prices going up, but they don't perceive what is really happening.
15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them.
It is a great honor to be healed by the Lord. It is a great mercy of God that you would turn and repent. It is a great gift of God that you would understand. The reality is that people don’t see because they have closed their eyes and they don’t hear because they just got tired of listening. As a result you see such fiascos as NBA players thinking that just anyone can take a stand for righteousness and provoking riots in Wisconsin. To be a preacher of righteousness, to take a stand against the wiles of the evil one, this requires strict obedience to the Lord’s word and letting him train you. The idea that some NBA player can just decide one day they will do this as a side hustle is as laughable as me deciding I will play in the NBA as a side hustle.
So how did "their ears become dull of hearing". Uh oh, we are talking about the hidden rocks and stones. Do you "binge watch" TV, that will do it to you. Do you get into meaningless debates on social media? That will do it to you. Are you involved in hidden sins on the internet? What has caused you to become dull of hearing and to close your eyes? Have you ever thought "I don't know who to believe"? That is idiotic, you can believe the Bible. It is a sure word that has been tested for 2,000 years. The people who spoke that word to you were willing to die rather than recant. When people say they don't know who to believe I know that they are just making excuses for not reading the Bible. Then they will say "but there are so many different interpretations". That is another ridiculous excuse. Read the Bible yourself, you don't need someone to tell you what it says, the Lord sent the comforter to lead you into all the truth. When you listen to someone speak the word do you get life and peace? If so that is the Spirit leading you into the truth. Do you feel like their words are poison, you are feeling dead after listening to them, then that is the Spirit telling you "let's get out of this place". But even if you find a few people you trust you have to read the word for yourself, pray over it. The Lord wants to have a personal relationship with you, one on one. No one and nothing can replace that.
So this dream is a great illustration of how each of us needs our own roots to support our spiritual life.
https://rumble.com/vqkyck-the-beech-tree-dream.html