Lo! I tell you a mystery.  1 Corinthians 15:51

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.  2 Thessalonians 2:7

The Bible is not the mystery.  It is the solution to the mystery.  This series of lessons will help you easily see the ‘big picture’ of salvation history, including where we have been, when we are, where we are going, and precisely when we will be there.

When you read this you can perceive my insight into the mystery. Ephesians 3:4

Here are a few very basic rules that must first be understood before diving into biblical prophecy.  They hold true for just about any prophetic passages. 

Session 1 - Time

A Day: “Day” has four basic meanings for us prophecy buffs.

1.  Ezekiel 1:1

2.  Ezekiel 4:4-6

3.  Psalms 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8

4.  Isaiah 2:12 (and many more places)

Bible days always begin at sundown and end at sundown.  This is a difficult concept to get used to since our days always start in the middle of the night (midnight).

Here’s a Bible brain buster: 
            Where was the sun when Mary Magdalene went to the empty tomb?     

A Year:  We account for a year in an identical manner as people did in the Roman Empire of Jesus’ day.  But our way of counting years is slightly different than those in Old Testament times. 

   Old Testament writers counted years on the basis of the appearance of the moon.  A year based on the moon is called a ____________ year and consists of ________ days.

   New Testament writers, for the sake of prophecy, counted years based on the sun.  A year based on the sun is called a ___________ year and consists of __________ days.

   Since our calendar is based on solar years, we must convert lunar years to solar. 

                                    A lunar year is 360 days.

                                    A lunar year is 0.9857 solar years.

                                    A solar year is 365.24 days, more or less.

Seven is a prominent number in Scripture and very important for prophecy and humanity.  The seventh of something indicates the completion of that something.  The seventh of something is also the last of something.  Here are probably the most important sevens for our study.

Genesis 2:2

Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Leviticus 23:3, Hebrews 4:4

Leviticus 13:1,2-5; Leviticus 23:24-44

John 4:52; Jude 14,15

Revelation 11:15

 

 

Session 2 – The place

Absolutely everything in Bible prophecy revolves around one place: Ezekiel 5:5

This place is a “cup of reeling”: Zechariah 12:2

This place is designated to be the capital of the nations: Isaiah 2:2-4

The very heart of this place is another place: Ezekiel 5:11

And within that, yet another:  Ezekiel 41:4

This is a representation of the Tabernacle (tent) that led the Israelites through the Wilderness for forty years, a cloud by day, a light by night, until finally reaching what was to become Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where Gideon threshed grain (Judges 6).

Notice that this was a moveable structure carried by priests when traveling and set up when not.  The people of Israel in their tribes encamped around the Tabernacle.

When Israel was established as a nation under David, he made plans for a permanent structure.  His son, Solomon, actually built the structure known as The Temple.  The Temple conformed to the structure of the tabernacles, but was much larger.  Solomon ruled and built in the 10^th century B.C.

Herod the Great began to rebuild the temple in 20 B.C.  Herod’s Temple was the one we read about in the New Testament.  It was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans.

Here is the structure within the Tabernacle and Temple known as “The Holy Place” and “The Holy of Holies” or “Most Holy Place.” 

 

 

Here is the Ark of the Covenant that was with its Mercy Seat – located inside the Holy of Holies with its two covering angels.  This box contained the rod of Aaron, the Ten Commandments, and a sample of the Manna from the Wilderness.

 

The Ark was only accessible to the High Priest once a year – on the Day of Atonement.

There were to be no “graven images” of Yahweh; the empty space between the angels on the Ark was thought to have been the seat of the Almighty, therefore it’s known as the “mercy seat.”

Although the Temple is gone, as are the accoutrements, the Temple Mount over the Holy of Holies remains vacant except for a small structure, the Shrine of the Tablets.  The Wailing Wall is the only wall remaining from the earlier temple structure.  The golden Dome of the Rock, a Muslim mosque, is now the primary structure on the Temple Mount, and a great focal point of attention for Jews, Christians and people interested in prophecy.

Many interpret “The Abomination of Desolation” (Matthew 24:15) to be the Dome of the Rock.  As we will see, several prophetic time lines point to the year it was built.

Important places for prophecy emanate outward from the Holy of Holies; the temple is next in importance, then Jerusalem, then Judea, then all of Israel, then the nations surrounding Israel, then the world.

“LAND”:  This word is very important to understand. 

Ezekiel 7:22.  Also, thou son of man, thus saith Yahweh Elohim unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.

In many places, the word “land” is translated “earth.”  We understand the “earth” to be the whole world.  This is very misleading in passages like

Revelation 8:7.  The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth (tēs gēs) …

Revelation 16:2.  the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth (tēn gēn).

“Earth” was only meant to mean “ground” or “land,” not the whole world.  There is another world that’s translated “world” or “earth,” but gē only means land.  The full extent of Israel from the viewpoint of prophecy is not just the littler strip of land we call Israel – but all the land from the Nile to the Euphrates Rivers, including parts of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq.

 

Session 3 – Time Seven

The entire foundation for Bible prophecy is found in the number 7.  In six days the world was created; days are considered to be eras or ages.  The Bible is a book of Salvation History.  We don’t know anything about what came before the creation.

We understand that salvation history consists in seven thousand years: seven days of a thousand years each.

Also, Revelation tells us that the last thousand years (the seventh) of Salvation History is the age in which Jesus rules as over the whole earth as Yahweh Sabaoth:

Zechariah 14:9.  And Yahweh shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Yahweh, and his name one. 

Revelation 20: 4.  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them … and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Revelation 11:15.  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our L-rd, and of his Messiah; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

The seven day, seven thousand year length of Salvation History is summed up by the prophet Barnabas, whose Epistle is included in the earliest New Testaments, but was excluded later.  Barnabas’ illustrates how the very first followers of Jesus (i.e. Messianic Jews and Israelites) understood eschatological time.

          Note: the technical term for what we are studying is eschatology.  This word is from the Greek word eschaton (escaton), which means “last” as in last things or last days or last-times.  Pronounce eschatology.  Now try eschatological.  Wheww!

 

Barnabas 15:1 And, moreover, concerning the sabbath it is written in the ten commandments, in which he spake on Mount Sinai unto Moses face to face: Sanctify ye the sabbath of Yahweh with pure hands and a pure heart.

     Where do we find the Ten Commandments? 

 

 ________________ & _______________

 

     Which of the ten is the Sabbath commandment?     _______________

 

Barnabas 15:2  And in another place he saith, If my sons shall keep my sabbath, then will I place my mercy upon  them.

 

For how many years is the seventh-day Sabbath to be observed?  See  Exodus 31:16,17

 

Barnabas 15:3  He speaketh, too, of the sabbath in the beginning of the creation: And Elohim made in six days the works of his hands, and finished them on the seventh day, and rested in it and sanctified it. 4 Consider, my children, what signify the words, He finished them in six days.

 Barnabas 15:4b They mean this: that in six thousand years Yahweh will make an end of all things, for a day is with him as a thousand years.

 

     Please copy Barnabas 15:4b here:

 

 

Barnabas 15:4c And he himself beareth witness unto me, saying: Behold this day a day shall be as a thousand years.  Who does Barnabas quote? ______________________

 

Barnabas 15:4d Therefore, my children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, shall all things be brought to an end.

     What things do you suppose are all things?  What does the

 

Bible say elsewhere that will be made an end of after six thousand years?  Check Revelation 20:1-3.

 

     And what else will happen?  Check Revelation 20:4

 

 

Barnabas 15:5  And the words, He rested on the seventh day, signify this: After that his Son hath come, and hath caused to cease the time of the wicked one, and hath judged the unElohimly, and changed the sun and the moon and the stars, then shall he rest well on the seventh day.

 

     Were you correct?

 

6  And further he saith, Thou shalt sanctify it with pure hands and a pure heart. Who, therefore, can sanctify the day which Yahweh hath sanctified, unless he be pure of heart? in all things have we been deceived.

        In a big nutshell, what is Barnabas saying?

 

 

   How does what he says relate to the concept of a prophetic day?

 

 

Though Barnabas is no longer in the canon of Scripture (though it probably should be), we see that Barnabas’ words parallel Revelation and other passages.

Look at Acts 4:36 regarding Barnabas:

Joseph, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, was surnamed by the apostles Barnabas (which means, son of encouragement).

Who am I to disagree with St. Luke?  Nevertheless, bar Nabi does not mean “son of encouragement,” but “son of a nabi”; that is, “a prophet,” meaning that Barnabas himself was a prophet.  His Epistle is a prophetic treasure trove.

Consider the following table:

Adam	Abraham	Moses	David	Jesus		Millennium
			BC	AD	1000	2000
Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6	Day 7
A Day is as a Thousand Years and a Thousand Years is as a Day

According to this matrix, where are we in Salvation History?

 

What are the implications of this discovery?

 

This is the very foundation of Bible Prophecy – and an example of how simple it can be if some of the confusing teachings are cleared out of the way.  Remember, the Bible wasn’t meant to be a mystery, but the solution to a mystery – and the mystery is history.  We’ll look at this matrix again in the next lesson.

 

Session 4 – The Calendar

Here’s a screenshot of today’s paper, Feast of Trumpets, 2005:

Notice the date in Jerusalem (where the cursor is located).  Write it here: _________________________ .

Tishrei is the seventh Hebrew (Scriptural) month.  The headline is from the first day of the seventh month.  The Bible speaks of this day in Leviticus 23:23-25.  It’s known to Christians as the Feast of _____________ .

The Tribe of Judah has been keeping close track of years since the creation on account of the Feasts described in Leviticus 23.  The seven day week was set forth by Yahweh in Paradise.  Though many cultures have tried to change it, we still have a seven-day week.

There has only been one time in Salvation History that the Tribe of Judah (i.e. Jews) modified the Hebrew (Scriptural) calendar.  Knowing about this time of calendar change will open up some wonderful insight into our time.

Simon bar Kokhba (also known as bar Kosiba, ‘son of a star’):

   Simon bar Kokhba led a revolt in Israel against the emperor Hadrian and the Roman Legions in 132 AD.  The Romans put the rebellion down in 3½ years.  But the leading rabbi at the time, R. Akiba, presented bar Kokhba to the Jews as their Messiah, and the status quo accepted this claim. 

   Previously, Daniel’s prophesied very specifically when Messiah would come (Daniel 9:24-26).   This prophecy did not point to 132 AD.  But since R. Akiba was certain of bar Kokhba’s messiahship, he changed the calendar to reflect correspondence with Daniel’s prophecy.  R. Akiba removed 240 years. One day the Hebrew year was 4131.  The next day it was year 3891.  This 240 year deficit has never been corrected.  (as per Seder haDoroth)

The year on the Jerusalem Post represents the number of years since Adam.  That year is ________ .   If we add back the _________ “lost years,” the actual years from Adam is ________ .

Use the timeline again to locate your date in history and make a mark there. 

Also make a mark close to the year you were born.

                                                                              Your marks should be around here:

Adam created	Abraham born	Moses born	David born	Jesus born		We are living
			BC	AD	< 1000 AD	< 2000 AD
< 1000 years	< year 1000	< year 2000	< year 3000	< year 4000	< year 5000	< 6000
A Day is as a Thousand Years and a Thousand Years is as a Day

 

Our year 2000 AD is 6000 years from Adam and creation. 

If Scripture and Salvation History consists in seven thousand years,

And our Messiah was born on the beginning of the fifth Scriptural day of a thousand years,

And the counting of the Jews is correct,

Then we are living upon the very event horizon of the thousand year reign of Messiah.

Revelation 20:4. 4.  Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of Elohim, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Messiah a thousand years. 

Is this not a profound discovery?  Can we prove it is correct?  Yes we can and next time we shall!

 

Session 5 – The Sign

Review – We are about to put the capstone onto the foundational Bible prophecy of all prophecies – upon which any other Bible prophecy (and fulfillment) is built.  The foundation of prophetic scripture consists in these characteristics:

1) A day is as a thousand years;

2) The creation was finished in six days, the seventh day was a Sabbath.

3) Salvation history (i.e., the history found in the Bible) consists in seven prophetic days, or 7,000 years.

4) The Bible says nothing about what happened before, and very little about what happens after.

5) Except that the 7^th thousand year day is the Millennium of Yahweh’s rule on the earth.

6) The Hebrew & Roman calendars point out that 2000 AD or thereabouts completed 6000 years from Adam.

7)  If this is so, then we are moving into the last thousand years of Salvation History, the Millennium rule.

Jesus gave us a couple simple ways for the wise to prove that his rule was approaching.

Luke 21:29-31. Look at the fig tree, and all the trees; as soon as they come out in leaf … when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of Elohim is near. 

 

The Prophet Hosea (9:10) interprets the meaning of the fig tree – the fig is always Israel. 

 

In Jesus’ time, Israel was ruled by the Roman Empire.  After Rome, the Arabians, then the Crusaders, then the Turks, then Great Britain.  In 1874, the world began speaking of a Jewish State.  In 1914, a Jewish State was mandated.  In 1948, after the loss of millions of Jews in Europe, the Jewish State was re-created and named ISRAEL.  This is the first and only time since Jesus spoke that the Fig Tree came out in leaf. 

 

All the trees are the nations.  It was the United Nations, the rest of the trees, that mandated the Jewish State.  Since then, the world has split up into many, many small states and countries – especially in the former Roman Empire of Europe.

 

1948 is a sign to Watchmen.

In the same location, we see another incredible sign:

Luke 21:24 Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Luke 21:24 Jerusalem will be trampled down by the gentiles until their time is complete. (NJB)

 

Jerusalem was not won by Israel in the war against the Arabs in 1948.  It was part of the “West Bank” still in Jordanian (Gentile) hands.  In 1967, the entire Arab League attacked Israel on the Sabbath day of rest (seventh day).  During the next SIX DAYS, the fledgling nation Israel, with few troops and little in the way of armaments, defeated the combined Arab host in an Armageddon of battle.  This “Six Day War” resulted in Israel’s winning of all the territory on the Palestinian peninsula, including the entire city of Jerusalem.

 

This was the ONE AND ONLY TIME Jerusalem came out from under the feet of Gentiles – and remains the capital of Israel today.  This is a spectacular prophecy fulfilled in our lifetimes – 1967!

In the next passage, we see what this has to do with the seventh day of a thousand years, the Millennium, the reign of Messiah, and our place in it all, for we are personally addressed in this passage.

Luke 21:27.  And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. … 32.  Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all has taken place.  33.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 

 

The GENERATION which lives to see the sprouting of the fig tree and the liberation of Jerusalem would also live to see the second coming and live in the millennium.  That generation is our generation.

 

We need only consider of how much time a generation consists.  Generation is genea – the same word translated as “begat.”  It is a human generation. 

The Bible dictionary says a generation is 30 – 33 years.  If so, this takes us to the Hebraic year 6000 or the Roman year 2000.

 

However for prophetic understanding, a generation can be a couple things.

 

   40 years – which the “generation of Israel” sojourned in the desert, the number in which David (and the other good kings) ruled, or in which Jesus (in days) fasted in the desert.  This reckoning takes us to 2007 – seven years into the Millennium.

 

   70 Years – this is the lifespan of a man, the number of years of decreed captivity, the number of years from the birth of Jesus to the destruction of the Jewish Temple.  This reckoning takes us to 2037.

 

Finally, right after these surprising pronouncements to our generation, Jesus speaks directly to us in an imperative command: 

Luke 21:34-36  But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare;  for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth.  But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man.

This ends the first five sessions of The Mystery is History: Our Time in Bible Prophecy.  Where we might go from here in our own study –

        1.  Where is Jesus now, and by what means will he come?  The biblical answer is not commonly known.

        2.  What will become of the people on earth when he comes?

        3.  What does the prophetic passages say will become of the earth?

        4.  How are those who know these things expected to live in these days?

 

A People Prepared: Making Ready for Messiah, Part 1

Jackson Snyder, May 24, 2005

Dedicated to Bailey Faith Turnbaugh, age 4, baptized today
Preached at AllPoints Community Church, Woodstock, GA May 29, 2004

What Everyone Should Know About the Roman and Hebrew Calendars

 

Prepare Ye, Prepare Ye, the Road for Yahweh! 

Prepare Ye, Prepare Ye, the Road for Yahweh!

A Voice Crying in the Wilderness! 

A Voice Crying in the Wilderness!

Prepare Ye the Road; Prepare Ye the Road for Yahweh.

Lectors’ Prayer 1:  Father, invest me with Your Power as I prepare to proclaim the marvel of Your Message.  I have prepared my reading and tried to assimilate the meaning of what I am about to say: help me, I ask you, to read not just with my lips but with my whole heart and soul.  Make me a hollow reed so that Your Voice will be heard by all who hear me.  Free me of excessive concern over my performance and the impression I create in this Sacred Action.  Turn all my apprehensions into an energy for proclaiming Your Word with power and authority.  May Your Spirit fill me as it fills the Holy Words that I am about to proclaim. Amen.

 Luke 1:8-17  Now while [Zechariah] was serving as priest before Yahweh when his division was on duty,  9.  according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of Yahweh and burn incense.  10.  And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.  11.  And there appeared to him an angel of Yahweh standing on the right side of the altar of incense.  12.  And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.  13.  But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.  14.  And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth; 15. for he will be great before Yahweh, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.  16.  And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Yahweh their Elohim,  17. and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for Yahweh a people prepared.” 

 

THE MESSIANIC PROXIMITY

Previously, The Signs Were Missing

   Christians of all ages since the first have understood their generation to be the last before the return of Yahweh to rule over a united earth.  Consider the words of St. John in his first letter:

1 John 2:18.  Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour.

   Even as a boy living in a time two millennia distant from this writing, I was indelibly impressed by the preacher who proclaimed the last hour.  Do you know, it’s been the last hour all this time, through the lives of countless generations?  However, in the past, the signs of the “last hour” were missing – especially those in the prophetic oracles of Yahshua.  My friends: those prophetic signs that were absent in past generations are clearly present in ours.  Inquiring minds are starting to realize the incredible possibility that Yahshua could really, really be “at the door” in our day.  Millions are terrorized by Left Behind fictions, but you and I are joyful and glad in these signs that so abound, for we know our redemption draweth nigh.

   Yes, in our day, in this hour, special biblical signs couldn’t be any more prominent.  And to see them clearly doesn’t require the Bible scholarship of a Jack VanImpe.  Consider just two of many convincing proofs.  Listen:

 

When Is the Millennium?

   (1) The Bible contains seven thousand years of salvation history.  We don’t know what happened before nor do we comprehend what’ll happen after.  This seven thousand year span is exemplified in the seven-day creation.  A day is as a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8).  We know that on the seventh day of creation, Elohim rested.  Likewise, on the seventh prophetic day, the last thousand-year span we call the Millennium, Yahshua will reign (Revelation 20:4) and all creation will rest from it’s groaning and be born anew.  ¿When are the Sovereign and his Millennium to arrive?   Let me tell you.


The Jews have always kept meticulous track of time.  If you check The Jerusalem Post, you’ll find the Jewish year to be 5764.  That means, 5 thousand 764 years from Adam.  In the Year of our Lord 135, the Jewish scribes, thinking the Messiah had come as a military leader (Simon bar Kokhba), set their calendar back 240 years to conform his advent with the messianic prophecies of Daniel (Seder haDorot).  The Jewish calendar was never corrected – it’s 240 years short.  When we add those years back to the date on today’s Jerusalem Post, we learn that we’re living in the 6004^th year since Adam.  We call this adding back of years “the Hebraic Calendar.”  In doing so we see that six prophetic days have passed, six days of a thousand years each, six thousand and four years.  That means we’re slightly into the seventh millennium; for those with ears to hear, we’re four years into THE Millennium, according to this reckoning.

   The Christian calendar also bears this out.  The year 2000 corresponds with the Hebraic year 6000.  Our Messiah first came as a babe at the beginning of the 5^th prophetic day – after 4000 Hebraic years had passed from Adam.  His return is to be at the beginning of the 7^th prophetic day – after 6000 Hebraic years.  So, Snyder, if we’re in 6004, where IS the Messiah right now?  I’m glad you’re sitting down.  Consider: he might have already returned. 

 

Like a Thief

   Before you put me out, let me remind you of our Savior’s words,

Matthew 24:42-44. Watch, for you do not know on what day your Sovereign is coming.  If the householder had known when in the night the thief was coming, he would have watched.  Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

There’s something secret about his return if he insists on using the metaphor, “like a thief in the night.”  Further, didn’t the “Risen Jesus” reiterate his warning of a covert return?

Revelation 16:15  I shall come like a thief. Blessed is anyone who has kept watch, and has clothes on, so that he does not go out naked and expose his shame (NJB).

   And didn’t Peter, Paul and John record the same metaphor – he’s coming as a thief in the night – sometime on the seventh prophetic day – the day of the seventh trumpet.  What does this mean?   It means that before the public appearance of the King of Kings, he’s already present to prepare the world for his reign.  Only a few will recognize his thief-like return because only a few will be watching.  (Acts 1:11: In like manner, just a few will perceive his return.)  It’s apparent that he’s preparing just a little flock to reign with him in his earthly Kingdom. 

Luke 12:32.  “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

   Maybe rather than ask, “¿If the time has come, Jack, where IS he?” we should ask, “Where are we?”  Are we awake?  Are we alive?  Have we kept our pants on so we won’t be ashamed at his appearance?  Or do we stand exposed on this, the seventh prophetic day of creation?  Heaven forbid.

 

1967 and Beyond

   (2)  The second sign I’ll share is from Yahshua’s prophetic word.  He’s speaking of Judea when he prophesies in

Luke 21:23.  “For great distress shall be upon the land (thV ghV) and wrath upon this people (law); 24.  they will fall by the sword and be led captive among all nations.”

Of course, this was old news even in Yahshua’s day.  And the people of Yahweh have been dispersed in every generation since.  However, he also predicts the end of this dispersion:

Luke 21:24b “Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are completed.”

   Yahshua says the times of the Gentiles will be complete when non-Israelites no longer control Jerusalem.  This gives us a firm date to go by.  Jerusalem has always been occupied by Gentiles.  Until the 1960s, no one thought Gentile occupation could ever end.  Even after Israel became a nation in 1948, Jerusalem was still split down the middle into Israel and Jordan.  But finally, on June 28^th, 1967 after the Six Day War, the entirety of Jerusalem was annexed by Israel on the seventh day.  This was the only time since before Yahshua that Israelis had control of Jerusalem, the very people to whom this Olivette prophecy was addressed.  (In 1980, the Israeli Parliament passed the Jerusalem Law, which made this city the capital city of Israel, which it remains today.)

   Yahshua goes on to say

Matthew 24:33b When you see all these things, you know that HE is near, at the very gates.  34.  Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place.

The “he” in the passage is the coming Sovereign.  The generation is the seeing generation.  Hallelujah!  I’ve made it to the seeing generation no matter how many times the devil’s tried to kill me, and I praise Yahweh that you’re here too!  We’ve lived to see Yahshua’s final sign come to pass, the liberation of the Holy City, thus we trust he’s at the very gates. 

   Next, we need to know that A prophetic generation, or cycle, is 40 years – the time period that the children of Israel wondered in the desert.  The rule of David.  The wonderings of Yahshua.  If six thousand years of time has passed; if we’re living at the beginning of the seven millennium; if the time of the Gentiles was completed in 1967; if a biblical generation amounts to 40 years; if he comes as a thief when the world is sleeping; if we are the seeing generation; and if we aren’t asleep or adverse to this possibility – then Yahshua may be inside the gate right now.  One prophetic generation beyond 1967 culminates in 2007; and it seems like more than coincidence to me that the Hebraic year number 6000 and the Christian year number 2000 coincide, as do 6004 and 2004.  As Ronald Reagan said, “Everything happens for a purpose.”  You’re here for a purpose, my friend.  “Repent, and believe the Good News.”

 

The Signs Not Perplexing

   My friend, the signs of Yahshua’s return aren’t meant to be obscure or difficult to figure out, especially for the generation that dwells upon the event horizon – the very lip of eternity.  As Reagan also said, let’s not overlook the obvious, although there is vast prophetic confusion in our day.  Why would Yahshua tell us that he’s coming as a thief if he didn’t expect some few to catch him?  I’m watching closely; are you?

   Some contend, “the Bible says nobody may know dates or times.”  These folks have no idea of the context of this saying.  Messiah assured us that a righteous generation ought to be able to interpret the signs of the times.  ¿Are we not a royal priesthood, a holy nation?  I’ve just outlined to you the signs of the times – the calendar’s about times!   In the next installment of this series, I’ll share another irrefutable sign of Yahshua’s presence for your consideration.

   et our prophetic insight isn’t our main objective today, only the alarm bell that hopes to awakes us from slumber, and the slothful, pew-centered, program polluted religion observed by the spiritually dead.  Our primary mission is to prepare now for his visible appearance any day.  (For me, the rapture is a far too iffy foundation upon which to build my claim upon eternity.  If Yahweh was going to rapture believers out of tribulation, why isn’t the rapture happening now in places like Sudan and Algeria, where millions of innocent believers have been slaughtered in this seeing generation.)  As for me, I want to be ready to walk in Jerusalem just like John.  How about you?

 

THE SEVEN-FOLD MINISTRY OF PREPARATION, 1

 

   When the angel of Yahweh came to Zechariah in the Holy Place, he gave the priest good news about a most unusual son that was to come from his own loins; we know him as John the Baptist.  Yahshua made it clear that John was given to be the forerunner of the Messiah not only in days gone by but in the last days.  The angel gave Zechariah a sketch of John’s purpose – to prepare the way of Yahweh, appearing in the persona of Yahshua of Nazareth, Yahweh’s only begotten son.  John came and gave his life in preparing hearts for Yahshua’s advent – “Repent!” he cried.  “For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  Those who heeded this trumpet call were later entrusted with the sacred oracles of the end-time plan by the Sovereign Yahshua himself.

   In our time, we understand that the latter-day forerunner is to be a small John-the-Baptist movement – a little flock.  Indeed, Yahweh is preparing his little flock now in the same way that he once sent John to make his path straight.  If we look at the angel’s prophecy to Zechariah about John’s ministry, we see a supernatural diagram for preparing the way for the soon-coming King of Kings and his austere Rule.  We find in the angels’ prophecy that, just as there are seven millennia in salvation history, there are seven characteristics of a people prepared.

 

1) “He Will Be Great” – We Must Be a Great People 

   What makes a people great?  Many equate greatness with fame.  But the most foundational meaning of “great” is “big” in the sense of magnanimous or all-encompassing.  A people becomes great if it’s hopes, dreams and faith are big.  In his essay on successful human resources strategies, Dr. James W. Walker describes what greatness requires in the workplace.  He writes,

“Companies too often set their sights too low and end up with human resource strategies that are too functional, too operational, too narrow, and too generic.  At best, these strategies maintain parity.  They fail to make the compelling and convincing case necessary to energize their organizations to take bold actions and [make] changes to achieve a competitive advantage through people.”

   What Walker is saying is that “companies” should be less conservative and more willing to take risks.  Risk-taking excites employees and invites them to take “bold actions” on behalf of their common goal.  Friends, we desperately need some excitement!  We need to abandon the status quo and make a new case for Messiah.  We must NOW set our sites higher than the rest and focus on Yahshua first, then our collective vision.  I don’t know about you, but I’m desperate for something thrilling.  I’m so sick and tired of sitting around I could live forever.  Too many lives at stake – eternity at stake – the fate of the world at stake.

   Walker’s advice applies to us perfectly.  Being the seeing generation, we’re in the human resources business.  We may not be a great people in number or fame, but that doesn’t matter.  We can always be a great, magnanimous and wider-visioned people if we decide that’s what we want to be, because we already claim an apostolic faith and a powerful god, yes?  The sky’s not the limit.  ¿Shall we not be great in the eyes of Yahweh (John 1:15) and be called the children of the Most High?  Yes, if we want to, we are able!  Get excited then!  Focus in!  BE GREAT!

 

2) “He Shall Drink No Wine” – We Must Be a Serious (Sober) People

   To be great, we are to be consistent in our Messianic witness and dedicated entirely to our mission as preparedness workers.  In John’s day, “to drink no wine” was a technical expression indicating that John was dedicated to Yahweh from birth.  When he reached the age of bar mitzvah, he accepted a Nazarite vow.  You see, John was a Levite of the priestly class.  He was to inherit his father’s office in the Temple, if he would just take it, but he denied his just desert in favor of just the dessert.  He abdicated his glorious ecclesiastical office in favor of his true calling.  He avoided a career to take up a life-consuming mission.  He chose death rather than a parchment and a pension – all for the sake of preparing saints of all ages – saints like us – to look up and live.

   ¿What does this have to do with wine drinking?  With a sober determination, John passed up the convenient and profitable for a Kingdom he couldn’t even see – the Kingdom of Heaven.  He wasn’t disappointed. 

   The same Messiah who fulfilled him in his day is returning in ours.  Neither will we be disappointed.  You might recall Yahshua saying, “He who is least in the kingdom is greater than John” (Luke 7:28).  However, at the time this was said, there was only one other person in the Kingdom and that person was the Kingdom.  John’s second only to Yahshua because “many are called but” John made the sobering first choice.

   For us, sobriety means we seek Yahweh’s will for our mission and allow nothing, nothing, nothing to deter us.  Consider the terse statement of your Savior found in

Luke 14:26.  “If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.  27.  Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.  28.  For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 

Oooh!  This is a hard saying.  But what more can we add to the notion of sobriety to this?  Listen!  Six thousand years have passed.  Now serious choices must be made, and serious sacrifices are required.  Time’s up.

   And time’s up for my message.  We’ll conclude this morning’s word with the third of the seven characteristics of the forerunner, certainly the most powerful:

 

3) “He Will Be Filled With The Holy Spirit” – We’re to Be a Spirit-filled People

   These days, everyone who can sing, “This Is the Day” considers herself spirit-filled.  Entire churches and denominations call themselves spirit-filled while denying the very foundation of what that term entails.  Nowadays, “spirit-filled” has come to mean upbeat or exciting or enthusiastic or entertaining or guitar strumming.  But in truth, to be “spirit-filled” or “spirit-baptized” means to be personally endued from the Holy One above with a two-fold power – first, unto personal holiness – second, unto boldness to witness.  “I have baptized you with water,” cried John, “but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  And the Risen Yahshua reiterates the same message to his disciples at the time of his ascension:

Acts 1:4,5.  Yahshua charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 

   What does this mean?  Indeed, for the seeing generation, the baptism of the Holy Spirit has little to do with entertainment.  It has much more to do with accepting the call to your mission then tarrying in prayer, faith and expectation until the Spirit of Yahweh ignites your spirit ablaze through the Shekinah of his glory or the hands of the Apostle. 

   There’s also confusion as to the evidence of spirit-baptism.  We mustn’t overlook the obvious.  We may ask ourselves, “Have I remained in expectation until I’ve felt the power of Yahweh’s glory coursing through my body?”  “Am I being supernaturally motivated to model the fruits of the Spirit and seek His gifts?”  “Am I acquiring a mission and boldly going forth like never before?”  “Am I lifted up in the sight of Yahweh because I’ve first humbled myself before him?”  “When I am weak, is he made stronger through me?”  “Am I strengthening the brothers and sisters, or am I at the business of tearing them down?”  Most importantly, “Am I loving Yahweh will all my being?”  Now that’s the most important question of all.

   John the Baptist and the Bible clearly teach that this baptism is a second work of grace apart from justification, salvation or born-again experience.  It’s also called ‘the gift of the holy spirit’ because when you receive, you’ll know for certain – there’s a powerful assurance.  No more will you have doubts about your salvation because you’ll obtain and inner, undeniable proof that Yahshua is real and alive and “nigh unto you”; and that he’s called and empowered you to be his witness in your seeing generation.  Your devotion, actions and words are indicative of your interior condition.

   So the Baptism in the Holy Spirit isn’t some optional thrill or merely a useful accessory to being a believer.  If we are to be a people prepared and preparing, if we are to fulfill the heavenly calling, if we are to be awake with our clothes on, then we mustn’t let another powerless, tedious and tasteless month go by without seeking out this essential blessing.  There may not be many months remaining before his presence becomes a public spectacle.  Don’t be caught naked; be clothed in the Shekinah Glory at all times in the meantime.

   Finally, if you’ve already received this second blessing, there’s no better time than now, as we study to be a prepared people, a seeing generation, to examine yourself anew to determine how you’ve used your precious endowment.  As there are seven great days of creation, and as there are seven long millennia of salvation history, there are also seven levels through which we may progress to assure our receiving empowerment and becoming a seeing people, a people prepared.  We shall learn the other four along with an unquestionable sign at our next meeting.

 

RECEIVE OR RENEW THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SEVEN STEPS

 

1.  Sincerely make confession of your commissions and omissions against the Father Yahweh and your generation.

2.  Renounce all evil, all unsavory attachments, all occult bondage, all habitual bad behavior and worldly folly. 

3.     Affirm your trust in Yahweh and his son to save you from the wrath to come.  Ask that you might be born again.

4.  Determine now to start leading a life that reflects Yahshua and keeps the commandments of Yahweh.

5.  Nurture a personal relationship with the Father and Son through prayer, devotion, charity and good deeds.

6.     Determine that without fail you’ll frequently assemble with likeminded believers and worthily partake in the sacrament.

7.  Remind the Father that you are a holy nation and ask Him to gloriously baptize you in the Holy Spirit. 

8.  Keep seeking; keep asking; keep living in total expectation of receiving your endowment at any time. 

 

A People Prepared: Making Ready for the Messiah, Part 2

Jackson Snyder, May 26, 2005

What Everyone Should Know About the Roman and Hebrew Calendars

Lectors’ Prayer 2:  Praise to you, Yahweh Elohim, king of the universe, and all glory to your name.  I praise you and thank you for calling me to proclaim your word to your beloved people.  Open the hearts of all who worship with us, so that they may hear your voice when I read.  Let nothing in my life or manner disturb your people or close their hearts to the action of your Spirit.  Cleanse my heart and mind, and open my lips so that I may proclaim your glory.  All praise to you, heavenly Father, through the Sovereign Yahshua in the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Luke 1:8-17  Now while [Zechariah] was serving as priest before Yahweh when his division was on duty,  9.  according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.  10.  And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.  11.  And there appeared to him an angel of Yahweh standing on the right side of the altar of incense.  12.  And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.  13.  But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.  14.  And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth; 15. for he will be great before Yahweh, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.  16.  And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Yahweh their Elohim,  17. and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for Yahweh a people prepared.” 

Matthew 16:2.  He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather; for the sky is red.’   3.  And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 

Luke 21:23b Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.  25.  “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,  26.  men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  27.  And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  28.  Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” 

Revelation 16:15.  “Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed!”

Revelation  20: 1.  THEN I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain.   2.  And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3. and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more.  4.  Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  6.  Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him a thousand years. 

 

A REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS INSTALLMENT

 

   Christians of all ages since the first have understood their generation to be the last before the return of Yahweh to rule over the united earth.  Consider the words of St. John in his first letter:

1 John 2:18.  Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour.

In the previous installment of this message, we pointed out that it’s been the last hour all this time, through the lives of countless generations.  But in the past, the biblical signs of the “last hour” have been missing – especially two of the prophetic oracles of Yahshua regarding his return; they are, the “signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3) and the completion of the “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24).  In our day, the signs have been posted and are clearly read – with a few coming to the conclusion that Yahshua could really, really be “at the door” in our day – maybe even through the door. 

   We outlined that, like the seven-day creation, salvation history in the Bible consists of seven prophetic days of a thousand years each.  The Bible deals only with these seven thousand years, no more, no less.  We believe that the 7^th thousand year stretch is the Millennium mentioned in Revelation 20:4, in which Yahshua will return to reign for that last thousand years before turning a recreated earth back to his Father.  We discovered that, according to the Hebraic calendar, a little more than 6000 years have passed from Adam unto today, which places us in time at the beginning of this seventh and final thousand-year period. 

   We discovered a fulfilled prophecy of Yahshua in Luke 21:24 that we can actually date – the year that the Gentiles lost rule of Jerusalem.  That didn’t happen until after the Six Day War in 1967.  Who would’ve thought Yahshua could have predicted an event so far into the future?  It’s a sign that’s absolutely undeniable.  Yahshua promised that the people who lived at the fulfillment of the “Times of the Gentiles” – in 1967 – would also live to “see it all,” speaking of the circumstances surrounding his return to earth to rule and reign. 

“They came to life,” says the prophet (Revelation 20:5,6),  “and reigned with Messiah a thousand years.  Blessed and holy is the person who shares in the first resurrection!”  Amen.

   A prophetic generation is 40 years in length, which, if added to the restoration of Jerusalem in 1967, gives us a possible target date of 2007 for the advent of the New Messiah, give or take a half-dozen years.  My absurd conclusion – based on the Hebraic Calendar, the liberation of Jerusalem and the 40-year generation – is that we could be living right now in the Millennium prophesied in Revelation 20:4 – at the very “event horizon” of forever.  The rhetorical question was asked, “So, Snyder, if we’re living 6004 years from Adam, at the beginning of the seventh and last day of salvation history, in the Millennium, then where IS the Messiah?  Show him to me!  Shouldn’t he be flying in with the angels and saints of all ages to gather us home?”   Well, I ask you, dare you consider the possibility that Yahshua may have already returned?

   How can that possibly be?  Well, didn’t Yahshua say numerous times both in the flesh and as the Risen Savior that he’d return as a thief in the night?  And didn’t Paul, Peter and John use the same metaphor over and over – that if a person were aware that the thief would steal in at a certain hour, the householder would be prepared to catch him?  And didn’t the angel tell his few disciples that the way he ascended will be the way he’ll return – to just a few witnesses?  That he was preparing a little flock for his coming, a flock waiting in expectation and faith?  And mightn’t we be better to refrain from asking, “Where IS he?” and ask instead, “Where am I?  Am I alive?  Am I prepared?  Is my mind open?  Can I hear what the spirit is saying to the assembly?”

   One important conclusion:  we mustn’t overlook the obvious.  Yahshua didn’t mean for the signs of his return to be difficult to decipher.  What could be easier than looking at a given date then adding a generation?  Despite whether you’ve followed my reasoning in this short review or not, whether you believe it or not, it’s still our sworn duty as the seeing generation to be alert, watchful and keep our clothes on so that we might not be ashamed.

 

THE MESSIANIC PROXIMITY 2 – THE FALSE PROPHET

 

   Now consider a new sign:  The Bible warns that in the centuries leading up to Messiah, there’ll be many antichrists and a particular false prophet that will lead many astray.  This movement away from true worship has been called “The Great Falling Away.”  Popular Bible teachers would have us to believe that the falling away is in the future.  But consider that what we know today as the Arab Block was the first great mission field for the first great missionaries, the Apostles. Historians concur that whole kingdoms in that region were converted to the Apostolic faith in the lifetimes of the Disciples.  Still today, in Syria, Iraq and Iran, there are assemblies of Christians who date their beginnings to the Apostles.  Even the holy book of Islam, the Koran, informs us that Thaddaeus and Judas the brother of Jesus evangelized from Damascus to beyond Babylon.  What happened afterward?  An antichristian false prophet arose to lead thousands astray by force.

What makes a prophet an antichrist? 

1 John 2:21.  I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie is of the truth.  22.  Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.  23.  No one who denies the Son has the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also. 

The prophet Mohammad arose in the seventh century, preaching a very flattering message about Yahshua to Christians.  In his Koran, he affirmed that Issa (Jesus) was born of a virgin to be a prophet in the footsteps of Moses; that Jesus had the words of life, that he died and ascended, and that he would return in our age to judge.  Mohammad and the Koran are also very specific about the relationship between Allah and Issa – God and Jesus.  Mohammad said (and Muslims believe):

The Christians call Issa the son of God. That is a saying from their mouth. They imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say.  God’s curse upon them (Sura at-taubah, 30).

     This saying proclaims that Islam denies the Father and Son, and that anyone who affirms the Son is cursed.  This qualifies Muhammad as a false prophet: “You’ve heard that antichrist is coming.  This is antichrist,” says John, “is he who denies the Father and the Son.  No one who denies the Son has the Father.”

   Indeed, Revelation tells us that the whole world will be stirred to war by the demonic hordes of a false prophet, and that the blood of the saints through the ages is upon his hands.  Regarding Christians and Jews, the false prophet has decreed,

Fight and slay the pagans (i.e. non-Muslims) wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them and lie in wait for them.  Fight those who believe not in Allah and his apostle, nor acknowledge the religion of truth [even the] people of the book [i.e. Jews and Christians], until they pay with willing submission, and feel themselves enslaved (Sura 9:29).

   Yahshua said that in the years preceding his return, there would be wars and rumors of wars in diverse places.  He said that

Matthew 24:9-13 “They will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. Many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another.  And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.  And because wickedness is multiplied, most men’s love will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end will be saved.” 

Do you realize that, in the midst of this global terror campaign, the ayatollahs, the imams, the sheiks and the clerics and their hordes of demonic destroyers are killing over 300,000 Christians every single year over all the world?  The chalice of martyrs’ blood is at the brim, for Apollyon’s hordes have been let loose on those who must endure until their end.  Messiah must soon come, for the whole earth has been mustered to the kind of war that’s never been experienced before.

 

THE SEVEN-FOLD MINISTRY OF PREPARATION, 2

 

   Unlike the dear martyrs that die all the day long for their faith, we’re the fortunate sons and daughters of Zion, hidden away in the wilderness of Revelation 12(:13-17) for a time – protected by the water of great oceans.  We’re here and safe because we have a very important mission to fulfill – to prepare the way for Yahshua Tsaviot – the Commander of Heavenly Armies.  He’s at the very door.  And he’s made us free to prepare.

   John the Baptist was charged with a mission: to prepare a people for Messiah with the words, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”  In these latter days, Yahweh is raising up a small but vocal John the Baptist movement to make preparation for the Son – a small flock, but an informed, sensitive, powerful and spiritual faction.  If we look at the John prophecy, we see in it a firm, supernatural plan for preparing ourselves, our own and our world, for the soon-coming King and his Millennial Rule.  In that prophetic word we find seven characteristics of a people prepared.  We reviewed three characteristics last time:

 

1) “John Will Be Great” – We Must Be a Great People 

   What makes a people great?  Greatness is often equated with wealth or fame.  But the best meaning of “great” for us is just plain old “big” – a people are great if their hopes, dreams and faith are big.  We learned that we’re in the human resources business.  We make disciples who are prepared.  But we’re also in the spiritual resources business.  Our greatness goes beyond that of those antichrists who carry bombs and machine guns, “for the weapons of our warfare aren’t carnal but they’re mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.”  If we could only be a great, magnanimous and wider-visioned people, a spiritually gifted and active people, a more compassionate people, we could defeat any bloody enemy with the sword of His mouths and all prayer.  If we want to be great, we can.  We just must decide that’s what we want and go for greatness.  The sky’s not the limit when you have an invincible faith and an almighty god.  Shall we be great in the eyes of Yahweh (John 1:15) and be called the children of the most high?  Yes, if we will, we shall!

 

2) “John Shall Drink No Wine” – We Must Be a Serious (Sober) People

   ¿What does our mission have to do with drinking?  I mentioned that “he shall not drink” is a technical phrase meaning that John discarded his rightful place as a priest in the great temple, which was his inheritance.  He chose instead to receive the inheritance of his Heavenly Father – a bed of skins in an arid desert, a plate full of bugs – and an exciting and dangerous mission: preparing a people for the advent of the greatest person “who ever lives to make intercession for you.”  With a sober determination and a calculated choice, John passed up that which was convenient and profitable for a Kingdom he couldn’t even see – the Kingdom of Heaven that came in his day as it’s coming again in ours – in the person of Messiah.  We must be serious about our mission.

 

3) “John Will Be Filled With The Holy Spirit” – We’re to Be a Spirit-filled People

   John the Baptist, the Forerunner, attested, “I have baptized you with water but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  And the Risen Yahshua reiterates this same message to his disciples at the time of his ascension:

Acts 1:4,5.  Yahshua charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 

We’re to be a spirit-filled people ¿but how can we be unless we’ve experienced the deep move of Yahweh inside?  When the Holy Spirit descended on the men, women and children in the upper room on this Pentecost day in Christian year 33, the Jewish year 3793 and the Hebraic year 4033, those awaiting him we not disappoint when he arrived!  Hardly!  There was a rushing wind, flames of fire, tongues of the nations, inspired speaking and a condition that appeared as drunkenness.  My friend, if you’re spirit-filled and baptized in the fire, you know it.  There’s evidence of it in you.  Boldness!  Authority!  Fruits!  Gifts!  Discernment!  And a deep, deep inner witness and love for the Baptizer.  In times like these, you must be baptized in the Holy Spirit in similar fashion as they were in the upper room at Pentecost.  Ask, then tarry in his presence until you receive the empowerment that he will love to give you.

 

4) “He Will Turn Many To Yahweh” – We Must Likewise Be an Evangelical People

   The work of evangelization is the work of reconciliation – bringing together god and human – and human and human.  The goal of the entire endeavor of preparing a people for Yahweh is atonement and unity – not the kind of strained unity achieved by church councils and conferences, where liberal and conservatives find enough common ground to protect their financial and intellectual investment.  No, this is theocratic unity – we subordinate our wishes to Yahweh and his Law for His purposes; and we teach others to do likewise so that when Yahshua comes out of hiding in a couple months, he’ll find faith – a people prepared!  A people at one.  A people who are veterans in fighting the spiritual battle against all forces that destroy peace.  And a generation of spirit-filled young children to carry on.

   John was baptizing out at Bethany Beyond Jordan – that’s on the West Bank outside Judea in Perea – well out in the country but still in Herod Antipas’ domain.  When things get really hot, John moves to Aenon in the Decapolis, out of the reach of the authorities, the happy home for millions of contented swine.  These were god-forsaken locations for setting up a new ministry.  ¿Couldn’t he have planned a better location?  ¿Shouldn’t he have gone to Detroit if he wanted a bunch of hyper-emotional converts?  No.  He chose desolate places where Yahweh sent him.  Yet in each place was found the quickening water of the Jordan.  And the people came out to him in mass – from everywhere.  That’s because John had something worth coming out for.

   Those were the days, my friend.  In our land of plenty, in our rich churches, in our metropolitan communities, there’s too much competition for the mind and body.  Too many ball games.  Too many great TV specials.  Too many so-called spirit-filled churches where entertainment is king.  Too many hospitals – the center of entertainment for many.  Too many substitutes for the real thing.  Too many replacements for that inner void.  Too many foul spirits to fill in where they have no business.  Oh, if we were an impoverished people – if we were given the gift of paucity – if our community was afflicted with penury – if we found ourselves suddenly in poverty, then they’d come out, come out of Babylon to where there’s living water.  Because we live in the golden age of our society, our task of evangelization is made all the more difficult. 

   But people may still come out to see a miracle.  This fellowship has the makings of a miracle ministry if somebody will get excited.  That’s another characteristic of John’s prophetic ministry.

 

5) “John Will Go In The Power Of Elijah” – We Can Be a Powerful People

   Yahshua proclaimed John the Elijah of his day.  The first Elijah worked during the reign of King Ahab, who mixed the worship of Yahweh with that of Asherah and Baal.  Ahab made a graven image of Yahweh in the form of a golden calf; then he married Yahweh off to Asherah, the Christmas Tree.  Read about it in 1 Kings 16:30ff.  Jezebel came along from Sidonia and brought her own goddesses and priests.  Ahab proclaimed that Yahweh and Baal were the same god – a “god of many names” – married to Asherah, the Christmas Tree.  The name “Jezebel” means, “Yahweh is Baal.”  Obviously, Elijah had to minister the true word in quite a lonely fashion within a perverse but so-called “inclusive” environment of exciting worship services and religious celebrities.  As a lone voice in the wilderness of sin, he challenged the absurdity of these pontifical pronouncements and took on the ecclesiastical and political establishment of his day.  You know his story.  Elijah won great victories, but ended up in the fetal position of fear in the belly of a dank cave.

   John also took on the Ahab and Jezebel of his day – King Herod and Queen Herodias.  Herodias had been married to Herod’s brother Philip, but now Herod had her.  This was a blatant break with the Law that Herod himself had established.  He put himself above his law and above that of Yahweh, and John denounced him publicly as a profaner of true worship and an impostor.  John was not only a religious giant, but a political challenger.

   Elijah was known for his overt miracles.  When he mastered the prophets of Baal, fire flew from heaven.  On the other hand, John wasn’t a miracle worker in that sense.  He had a different gift.  He was able to persuade people of every stripe to repent and believe – an Elijah-type performing internal miracles. 

   Elijah went off with Yahweh.  John died.  Power has a different meaning in our dispensation than in that of Law.  Power today means internal fortitude – spiritual authority – supernatural ability.  And for us, such power comes only through our own surrender.  For even when we’re at ebb, Yahweh’s at high tide.  We are a people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand; and through his hand, we are a powerful, miracle-working people no matter what our physical state.  

 

6) “John Will Turn The Hearts Of The Fathers to the Children” – People Will Expect More From Us

   I heard a psychologist recently say that the most valuable three words she can offer some patients are: “Get over it!”  She said, “You’d be amazed how that works when spoken with authority.  Some even return to me totally changed.”  This psychologist hands over her authority to the powerless patient.  So through an objective strength and strong permission, she’s empowered the weak.  People should come to expect that same from every spirit-filled believer – a sharing of power.

   In a very mystical way, Yahshua did the same thing with his disciples as the culmination of their formal education:

John 20:21-23.  Jesus said, “Be at peace.  As the Father has sent me, I send you.”  He breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain them, they are retained.”

To fulfill this kind of awesome responsibility, these boys and girls had to “forget about themselves, concentrate on him and worship him.”  His concerns became theirs.  His responsibility became theirs.  His authority was dispensed with his permission to use that authority. 

   To forgive sins was thought to be the auspices of G-d only.  Imagine the burden of this kind of empowerment – and the illegality – the risk.  No matter their personal idiosyncrasies, hindrances, baggages, oppressions, in light of the universal message of eternal salvation, they just had to get beyond themselves.  They had to “get over it” so that they could get on to their mission.

   I think of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate.  Scripture says that when Peter and John came past, he looked at them with expectation of receiving.  And receive he did – but he didn’t get the crumb he expected, he received much, much more.  Likewise, you and I, by the virtue of being together in this place, receiving the word and sacrament, and going forth to serve, are labeled.  We are a people called by the title of Yahshua.  Everybody knows who you represent and what kind of person you claim to be simply because you sit in this place.  As a Christian, you owe everybody a little something of you.  Maybe it’s time for you to get beyond whatever keeps you from being the fervent personal witness that forgives and retains sins.  People are looking up to us, expecting something.  We should give them far more than they expect.  We must give our petty problem and fleshly thorns over to him and get on with our business of preparing the way.

 

7) “John Will Turn The Disobedient” – Finally, We Must Be a People of Righteous Judgment

   When Yahshua spoke to the unconverted masses, he said, “Judge not lest ye be judged” (Matthew 7:1).  But when he spoke to the religious, he said, “Judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24).  The ability to forgive and retain sins is based on right judgment because the confessor becomes an advocate between the sinner and the perfect Father in heaven. 

   Paul interprets judgment in an even more assertive way –

Ephesians 5:11-17 (excerpts).  Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  When anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.  Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.  Do not be foolish, but understand the will of Yahweh. 

We must be judgmental and judge, exposing evil at every turn.  However, in order to do this, we must first understand the will of the Most High.

   Earlier in the month, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church took place in Pittsburgh.  On the agenda was yet another bill to alter church law to include homosexuality as compatible with Christian teaching, and thus vindicate bishops of the church who appoint self-avowed, practicing homosexuals to the clergy, and clergy people who perform same-sex marriages.  The constitutional change was again avoided, but by a small margin.  Later in the Conference, five hundred members of a homosexual advocacy group marched into the Conference hall and disrupted the proceedings for twenty minutes. 500 marched in!  No authority in that Christian body said a word – on the contrary, the bishop-in-charge thanked the demonstrators as they exited.

   Overt homosexuality in the pulpit may or may not be compatible with Christian teaching – that depends on the vote.  Overt homosexuality in the pulpit is definitely incompatible with the Bible, which should be the standard of morality rather than “Christian teaching.”  Those same ones who so vocally affirm the letter of the Ten Commandments, who so vocally disdain the practices of corrupt bishops and perverse clergy persons, these same are silent when right judgment is required.

 

The Millennium Mission

   We are to be a people who know right from wrong.  My friend, if you stay the course and endure until the end, ¿don’t you know that you’ll judge angels?  We must put our minds to the Law of Yahweh and learn of our mission when Yahshua makes his public appearance.  Some here will be judges in that great Millennium, others, legislatures.  Some will be teachers and preachers, lawyers and advocates, administrators and theologians.  Some will be the parents and others will be children.  It will be a great day, and it’s coming soon, for if he’s not stolen in like a thief already, he’s even at the door.

   Are you a people preparing?  A great and serious people?  A spirit-filled and evangelical people?  A powerful people able to bestow miraculous gifts?  A people of righteous judgment?  Are we a people prepared?  Say, yes. Yes!  Yes!

 

He’s coming in power!  We’ll hail the blessed hour!  We shall see the King when he comes!

  

LITANY:  THE SEVENFOLD PRAYER FOR THE MILLENNIUM

Pray for:

The Parousia of Yahshua

The Return of Torah

All Saints and Martyrs

Peace in Jerusalem

The Nations of the Earth

Equitable Justice for All Creation

The Kingdom Manifest on Earth

 

Like a Thief in the Night

Jackson Snyder, January 18, 2002

Luke 12: 39.  And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.

Luke 22:52.  Then Yahshua said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?

 

1 Thessalonians 5:2.  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 4.  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

 

2 Peter 3:10.  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.

 

Revelation 3:3.  Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

 

John 1:29-41 (NRSV)

All Time

   Scientists say that the universe came into being some billions of years ago and that human beings in some form have been walking the earth for only a tiny, tiny slice of that time: maybe a million and a half years, they say.  Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of major civilizations have come and gone in that time, some of which must have been quite advanced to have left such megaliths as the pyramids.  We’ll never know what articles from these civilizations have perished, for the only history left is in the stones.  Indeed, we don’t even understand how past cultures could have put such gigantic stone buildings together.  Modern technology can’t do it. 
   Traditional Egyptologists tell us that the Sphinx is maybe five thousand years old.  New theories based on the possibility that the erosion of its body was caused by water instead of sand put the Sphinx at fifteen to twenty thousand years old, which casts it far beyond our ability to accurately speculate what the statue might mean much less who could have built it.
   “Modern” history therefore consists of only the last six thousand years beginning at the end of the ice age: the events of the times before that are fuzzy at best.  The Bible records some history, but it’s primarily an account of salvation history; that is, the history of how people groups have been preserved from extinction by a higher power named Yahweh Elohim.  Furthermore, the Bible instructs humans from the viewpoint of that Power how they can be preserved for far longer than their average lifespan. 
   The Bible record deals with seven thousand years only, from the end of the ice age forward.  Very little of what happened before, which the Bible calls “the world that was,” is described, and even less of “the world that will be,” after the seven thousand years, is explained.  Of these seven thousand years that the Bible reports and predicts, six thousand are used up and gone forever. 

   How do I know this?  Because the Bible and the calendar both document time very accurately.  The Jewish people have ticked off 2,160, 712+ days (two million, one hundred sixty thousand, seven hundred and twenty plus days), since the Almighty created Adam.  Six of seven thousand years plus one and a half years have passed (2002).  Less than one thousand years of salvation history remain.  We may rightly conclude that we are now living at the beginning of that last thousand years of Bible history.

 

The Millennium

   And we are very privileged to be alive at this time, because the seventh thousand-year span is a special period with a special name: “The Millennium” (Rev 20).  Now you know that, since 1996 or so, you’ve been living in the Millennium.

   Briefly, The Millennium is the period of ten centuries in which the Messiah descends from the spiritual dimension, Heaven, and breaks back into earth’s history, this time to stay on as King of the World.  We know the Messiah Who Is To Come as Yahshua Christ.  The Gospels record that, upon his return, Yahshua begins his reign very quietly, rearranging nations to make the world ready for his public appearance and peace. 

   He doesn’t break a bruised reed or quench a dimly lit candle.  He comes silently, like a thief in the night.  During his hidden presence, we know he’s setting things up for his public appearance and rule by a number of signs. 
   Two of these signs are so unique and undeniable that I want to mention them again today.  Yahshua said that right before the Millennium, the entire world would be at war.  It wasn’t until the last century that the world could be at war at all.  The entire world has been at constant war for well over one hundred years. 
   The other sign: Jerusalem is no longer occupied by non-Jewish powers.   Yahshua implied that his coming would happen within 40 years, one generation, after this unlikely event.  It miraculously came to pass in 1967 when Jerusalem was liberated from Arab rule and 40 years from that occurrence is 2007.  Some now understand why we are privileged to be living at this time.  If the Bible is true, there is a remote but real possibility that contemporary readers may or may not experience physical death.
   When Yahshua makes his appearance public, he will disarm the warring nations of the world, exalt his people to positions of importance in his government and impose equitable justice in every quarter of the world.  The Bible promises that if a nation fails to comply with the new order, King Yahshua will simply turn off the water to that country until it does (Zech 14:16).  Sounds like a pretty effective way to quell rebellion to me! 

 

The History of Yahshua

   We understand from the Bible that King Yahshua was the firstborn of Yahweh’s creation – the Son of Elohim – long before we ever called him by that title.  Yahshua, or more properly, Yahshua ben Yahweh, was with the Creator when our generation of living beings was made; in fact, “all things through him came into being.”  We find Yahshua moving in and out of salvation history, as well: when Yahweh walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden, he walked with Yahshua’s feet.  When Yahweh came to the tent of Abraham and Sarah, he appeared as his Son.  When Isaiah saw the Almighty, he saw our Yahshua.

   Somewhere along the line, Yahshua had to make a choice: remain in a state of glory and adulation as the commander of the heavenly legions -- or be born on earth as a helpless babe to poor parents in a third-world country.  Though he was righteous, he chose the perfect way of suffering.  He made the choice that led him here because he was full of goodness, love and obedience to his Heavenly Father.

   Yahshua lived a hard life here for thirty or forty years then was murdered.  But long after his death, people continued to see him.  He walked with the disciples to Emmaus after his death, he appeared to his doubting family and they believed, he showed himself alive to St. Paul on the Damascus Road and taught him mysteries in Arabia; he appeared to the Revelator and showed him what was to come in his time and in all time.  Legend says he went to Rome and to Spain and to the Orient.  Legend also says he came to this new world and gathered disciples of the native peoples. 

    The Son of Yahweh has appeared to sinners and saints for two thousand years; he personally appeared to some saints and he reveals himself to us in the bread of Eucharist and when we feel his Spirit’s warm anointing.  He is real and alive, his word is real and alive, and now we are on the very brink of his public manifestation to the world.  Will you know him when he comes?  You will have no doubt it is he, for then everyone will know him and his name!

 

Businessmen Choose Yahshua

   In our reading, John the Baptist was the forerunner of Yahshua’s “first coming”; his job was to herald Yahshua’s appearance and make ready a righteous people for him.  John didn’t even know Yahshua as the Anointed One until Yahshua went down into the creek with all those other people.  John then saw the sign and it opened up his mind; the Holy Spirit came upon Yahshua, marking him out as the Savior of the World. 

   John even knew that Yahshua would die by another’s hand; that’s why John called him the Lamb of Elohim, the final sacrifice of atonement.  So John introduced Yahshua to his group of followers there in the cold water of the Jordan River: “I myself have seen and have testified that this man is the Son of Elohim.”
   In those days, you didn’t go to the seminary to study religion.  You found yourself a teacher and linked up with him.  You left your family and you paid your own way.  John happens to be standing with two of his protégés.  These two guys were serious about their spiritual life.  They weren’t paupers; they were successful businessmen on a pilgrimage of faith.  They hooked up with a famous teacher to learn.  They were very close to him – right beside him – when John made his most important announcement. 
   When their teacher heralded Yahshua as the Anointed, these guys immediately leave John and start following Yahshua, who they didn’t even know.  Remember, they’re paying their own way.  One was the Gospel writer.  The other was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.  This sudden choice led them from the right way that they were already pursuing onto the perfect way.  This one choice determined the trail they would hike for the rest of their lives and how they would ultimately die.

 

The Right and The Perfect

   Did you notice the distinction between the right way and the perfect way?  Similar in tone to our Millennium, our watching and waiting, they lived in the time just before the Messiah was first revealed; the rest of humanity wouldn’t be drawn to him until he was lifted up on a cross then lifted up back into the heavenly dimension.  Unlike John, Yahshua wasn’t famous; unlike John, Yahshua hadn’t achieved a reputation; unlike John, Yahshua had no experience in teaching anything. Yet, at the word of John, these novices leave him to follow the promised stranger. 
   The fact that they were paying their own way makes this a significant act of faith.  They certainly wanted to get the best bang for their buck, I suppose, and I doubt that they thought they’d ever end up martyrs.  Mature men and women sometimes must make quick landmark decisions.  In leaving the right way for the perfect way in a time of great stress was a courageous move.

   You’ve probably already heard the story of the hiker who had a crisis of faith up in the mountains of northeast Alabama.  Though he was experienced, as he approached the lip of a deep crevasse, he tripped on his shoestring and fell off the side.  He was able to catch a piece of a tree root on his descent.  There was no one else there, and he realized that letting go of the root would bring his death.  He cried out, “O G-d, O my G-d, save me!  Save me!”  Immediately he heard a deep voice echoing through the canyon, “Do as I say and I will save you.”  “OK!  OK!”  The hysterical man replied, “Whatever you say!” The voice then commanded the hiker, “Let go of the root!”  “Who are you,” cried the hiker.  “Are you my God?”  “I AM!” came the answer, “Do as I say and you will be saved.  Let go of the root!”  The hiker prayed again, “Is there anyone else there who can help me?”

   When they saw the sign, the Gospel writer and his friend Andrew “let go of the root” without hesitation.  Some said they were foolish youth flirting with danger, for what they were doing was strictly illegal: the penalty was death.  Nevertheless, John, Andrew and Peter, his brother, all lived long, exciting lives.  And through such lives was built the foundation for the faith that we now inherit (though most of us in a very watered-down form). 

 

Today’s Choices
   As I mentioned, today we live in a very similar spiritual climate to that of John the Baptist.  The day before Yahshua was baptized, all the prophetic signs of his coming had been fulfilled; John and Andrew knew their Bible prophecy, and that’s why they were there – to find the fulfillment of it.  Then the next day, Yahshua came out of the water, and they saw total fulfillment, and they let go of the root. 

   Now we hold the exact same root: the same Bible Andrew knew now tells us that all prophecies leading up to Yahshua’ return to earth as King are fulfilled and that the six thousand years allotted to evil are completed.  The signs of his presence are everywhere and everything is in place for Yahshua to resurface: not as a babe, meek and mild, but as Commander Yahshua. 

   The time for choices is running out.  Six thousand years of salvation history are gone and the King takes charge over the seventh.  Though the earth may have been spinning in space for billions; though humankind may have inhabited it for millions; though Adam’s race may have thrived in it for thousands, all of existence is distilled down to one tiny concentrated drop of time – that drop of time is now. 

   You and I are hanging on to the root for dear life; an immediate decision must be made.  Most here seem to have chosen the right path, but how many the perfect?  If you’ve chosen the path of salvation, you are on the right path.  But you will choose perfectly only if your pathway is the cross of total commitment.  That road leads to a change in your life style, to greater dedication to the Kingdom of Yahshua.

   Friends, you are living in the most spiritually charged days of them all.   Right Now!  I’ve shown you the irrefutable signs of his presence.  Have they opened your mind to the signs of our times?  Of the tens of billions of people who have lived and died on this earth, you may be living on earth with him now in his mysterious presence.  Your eyes may well behold the reappearance of the Great King.  If that doesn’t excite you, if that doesn’t attract you committing your life to him, what in the world will?  Make the perfect choice.  Let go of the root!  He’ll catch you up and establish your footing on holy ground.

I looked at the mountain.  “It’s too hard, I can’t climb.”  “Take my hand,” he whispered.  “I’ll be your strength.”

I saw the road ahead.  “It’s too long; so rough and long.” “Take my love,” he answered, “I’ll guard your feet.”

I looked at the sky. “The sun’s gone.  It’s almost dark.”

“Take the lantern of my word,” he whispered.  “That will be light enough.”

We climbed.  The road was narrow and steep but the way was bright.

And when the thorns reached out for me, they found his hand before they touched mine.

And when the path grew rough for my feet, he cushioned the blows and held me up.

But I grew tired.  “I can’t go farther,” I told him. 

He answered, “You can.  Night’s gone.  Look up, child.”

I looked and it was dawn.  Green valleys stretched below.

Then I saw the marks: “You’re wounded.  Your hands are bleeding, your feet bruised.  Was it for me?”

He whispered, “I did it gladly.”

Then I fell at his feet.  “King Yahsu’, lead me in your perfect pathway,” I cried. 

“No road is too long, no valley too steep, if you are with me.  I will see you through to my perfect world.” 

We walk together now in that wonderful land, and we forever shall.

~~Based on Ruth Margaret Gibbs

 

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