“And He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5, 6).

So closes the Old Testament. What does this mean? WHO is Elijah? Is he here today? Is the main commission to this “Elijah” to restore family unity?

In my more than 30 years in the ministry of Jesus Christ, I have met many who claim to be mentioned in the Bible! There have been those who have claimed to be Moses, one of the prophets, Elijah or even Zerubbabel or the two witnesses!

Once, I had to forcibly eject from my office a man who claimed he was “Jesus Christ”!

True to Jesus’ warnings, “many false prophets shall arise and deceive many!”

It is heady wine, indeed, for those claiming religious credentials to “discover themselves” in the Bible! When a religious leader claims before his followers that he is mentioned, personally—mentioned in the same way great prophets and patriarchs of God are mentioned—then he can lay claim to divine credentials, and this aura of mystical spiritual credentials gives him unique control over his followers.

But is “Elijah” alive today?

Is the “work of Elijah” being done?

John the Baptist

Jesus Christ said of John the Baptist: “Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he … and if ye will receive it, this is Elias [Elijah] which was for to come” (Matthew 11: 11-14).

Jesus Christ plainly said that John the Baptist was typical of the “Elijah who was to come.” Notice the prophecy concerning John the Baptist given to Zecharias, John’s father, by a powerful angel: “. . . Thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

“For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the holy ghost [spirit] even from his mother’s womb.

“And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias [Elijah] to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and THE DISOBEDIENT TO THE WISDOM OF THE JUST; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:13-17).

Notice that an angel gives us further insight into what is truly meant by the prophecy that Elijah would “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.”

He plainly says a part of the ministry of John the Baptist would include turning the “disobedient to the wisdom of the just”!

What was the ministry of John the Baptist?

In several places, Jesus spoke of him as “the prophet who was to come,” and it is plainly said that he fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah who prophesied of “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the WAY OF THE LORD, make His paths straight” (Matthew 3:3).

John’s ministry was a great ministry! It was a ministry of witness and WARNING; calling upon that living generation barely prior to the beginning of Jesus Christ’s ministry to REPENT!

The Bible says, “Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.”

John preached: REPENT, and believe the gospel!” And what does it mean to REPENT? To repent (Acts 2:38) means to be deeply broken up over your past SINS! But, first, you must come to know what sin is (1 John 3:4).

You must come to see yourself as rebellious and disobedient to the laws of God! Repentance and conversion will finally bring a deep sense of awareness of God; a desire to throw oneself totally on the mercy, love and forgiveness of God; an acknowledgement of God as divine SOVEREIGN in your life!

Repentance and conversion replace the human, carnal spirit of antagonism, resentment, vanity, jealousy, lust and greed with the Holy Spirit of God, which is “love, joy, peace”!

Saul, whose name meant “destroyer,” was completely CONVERTED by the power of God’s Holy Spirit and became one of the most outstanding examples of a loving, gentle, meek, humble servant of God found anywhere in the Bible! His was a TOTAL personality change!

Consider the average carnal-minded person you know. Though “good,” the way the world might reason, how many people walking the streets of the cities of our nations are deeply aware of their debt to such men as Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? How many know that, commencing with the 12th chapter of the book of Genesis, the Bible could be characterized as a story about “one man’s family”?

How many know about the great covenants made between God and faithful Abraham; Abraham, who believed and obeyed God, to whom the promises of both race and grace were made unconditional?

Yet, what happens at repentance and conversion?

A whole new WORLD of knowledge and information opens up! Those who were walking about in ignorance of God’s divine plan; those who knew NOTHING of the Old and the New Covenant; repentance, salvation, and the coming Kingdom of God, now truly Do develop a hunger for the Word of God! They want to read and study the Bible! They discover who we are in the scheme of things; discovering how God promised the inheritance of national greatness to the seed of Abraham!

They learn that all of us, whether black, brown, yellow or pertaining or belonging to whatever race, when converted and receiving the Holy Spirit of God become “the seed of Abraham” (Galatians 3:29).

Truly their hearts are turned “to the FATHERS”!

For, after all, WHO ARE the “fathers” spoken of in the Bible? Notice!

John was rebuking some of the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to his baptism. He said to them, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, ‘We have Abraham to our father’; for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham” (Matthew 3:7-9).

Notice how, in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, Lazarus is carried “by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22).

The rich man, figuratively in the resurrection, lifts up his eyes and sees a wall of flame—the lake of fire—approaching! He then cries out and says, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me . . .” Later, in the discussion between the rich man and “father Abraham,” Abraham says, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

“And he said, nay, FATHER Abraham: But if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

“And he said unto him, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from he dead.”

Notice that, in this parable, Jesus refers to “Father Abraham”!

Notice another account of one of Christ’s controversies with Jewish religious leaders.

After Christ had said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,” they answered Him and said, “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, ‘Ye shall be made free’?”

Now notice a seeming contradiction.

Jesus said, “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you” (John 8:32-37).

Notice: Jesus acknowledges their racial claim to being Abraham’s children!

BUT notice how He rejects their spiritual claim to being Abraham’s children!

“They answered and said unto Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, if ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: This did not Abraham.

“Ye do the deeds of your father” (John 8:39-41).

Then Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil!” (John 8:44).

As the argument continued, the Jews spitefully asked, “Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, if a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than OUR FATHER ABRAHAM, which is dead? And the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?”

Jesus answered, “If I honor myself, my honor is nothing: It is my father that honoreth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:

“Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his sayings.

“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad.

“Then said the Jews unto Him, thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

“Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I AM!” (John 8:52-59).

Notice! These unconverted, hateful, murder-plotting Jews claimed to be the children of “Father Abraham”!

Jesus acknowledged the veracity of their claim racially, but REJECTED their claim spiritually!

He chided them for claiming they were “Abraham’s seed,” saying Abraham did not do the works they were doing!

Jesus then characterized His relationship with His FATHER in heaven; and showed that He, as VERY GOD prior to His human birth, had been BEFORE Abraham—was, in fact (had they been able to grasp it), Abraham’s FATHER!

Does a light begin to dawn?

The ministry of John the Baptist was a call to repentance!

When one repents, he does, in fact, find that his heart is turning to “the FATHERS,” meaning the patriarchs, prophets and the “fathers” mentioned in the Bible!

But Doesn’t Conversion Heal and Reunite Families?

Consider this. The church is the Body of Christ; a spiritual organism, not merely a political organization.

As the spiritual Body of Christ, the church is to do the work Jesus Christ commanded.

He gave to His church the great COMMISSION to “preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God as a witness [and a warning!] to all nations, and then shall the end come!” (Matthew 24:14).

Even as John the Baptist preached the gospel, so did Jesus say, “Repent ye and believe the gospel!”

Now, what happens all too often, when one or two members of a family REPENT?

Notice what Jesus predicted: “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

“But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

“And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

“But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come” (Matthew 10:16-23).

Here is the very commission of Jesus Christ to His 12 apostles! It represents a latter-day commission to the CHURCH! It shows that, eventually, church leaders will be brought (that means dragged, under arrest, in handcuffs—not greeted in sumptuous banquets!) before governors and kings for the name of Christ, and for testimony “against them” (not for them).

And what happens as a result of this powerful witnessing to the world?

“The brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death!” But is this not a contradiction to the way many have “understood” the prophecy of Malachi 4? If the hallmark of the ministry of the church at this time—the “work of Elijah”—iS to UNITE families; if one of its main features is to provide youth programs, clubs, field trips, summer programs and camps, athletic endeavors and clubs for children, then WHY does Jesus Christ prophesy that the work of the church would cause suchviolent family division and strife?

Notice! “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I come not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

“And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:34-39).

There you have it! Jesus Christ plainly says that those who obey Him will find themselves “at variance against his father” and that families will likely be DIVIDED!

On the other hand, is this what God wants within families in the church? Of course not! Otherwise, why would the Holy Spirit have inspired the apostle Paul to speak so glowingly of the state of marriage; to urge husbands and wives to love and respect one another; to urge parents to bring up their children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord”?

Why is there such strong emphasis on children being obedient to their parents (Ephesians 6:1) and over the appropriate roles of husband and wife?

No, when BOTH parties are converted; when both members of a family are members of God’s true church, then the ideal family situation is that urged by the apostle Paul!

Sadly, this is not always the case. Sometimes, because one member of a family is called of God; his mind is open and he is converted, given God’s Holy Spirit, it only succeeds in alienating him from his carnal-minded family members!

Notice what Christ promised: “And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (Matthew 19:29).

Do you see? Surely the work of the church of whom Jesus Christ is the LIVING HEAD is a work which is characterized by unwanted family division! Jesus said so! He so prophesied!

You cannot find a promise that, when you are converted, it will result in immediate family harmony! Rather, it is more likely to result in the opposite!

However, for those who are greatly blessed to be the exceptions; where whole families are converted and come into God’s church, then such family strife and division need not occur!

But can you, in conscience, claim that one of the outstanding identifying marks of the work of the true church would be “restoring family unity”?

Is that what is really meant by the prophecy concerning Elijah which is to come?

Notice! “God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the FATHERS by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by a Son, whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds [ages]” (Hebrews 1:1, 2).

Who are “the Fathers” toward whom the “hearts of the children” are to be turned by the work of this latter-day Elijah?

Your Bible says they are “the just”! (Luke 1:17).

Notice it again: “And he [John the Baptist] shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the DISOBEDIENT TO THE WISDOM OF THE JUST; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord!”

Notice what John’s father, Zecharias, was inspired to say of John the Baptist: “And thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His way; to giveknowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:76-79).

The ministry of John the Baptist was to ADULTS—a ministry crying out to “prepare the way of the Lord,” and to “REPENT”!

And who was one of those who was deeply moved by the angel’s message concerning John? His own FATHER, Zecharias!

And what did Zecharias say? “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us:

“To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant; The oath which He sware to our father Abraham, That He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life” (Luke 1:68-75).

Read that moving passage again! First, Zecharias says that Abraham is “our father Abraham”! and speaks of the great God who is “to perform the mercy promised to OUR FATHERS and to remember his holy covenant.”

John’s message, when it took root deep within the hearts of mature adults, would cause a great and abiding realization of the enormous debt that sense of gratitude the living generation owed to such great patriarchs as Abraham!

In this way, disobedient and sinning men would find their “hearts turned to the fathers”!

No, the ministry of a modern-day Elijah is far GREATER; far GRANDER, than merely “teaching children how to have fun!”

The ministry of a modern-day Elijah is a ministry of a call upon all mankind to REPENT!

Even as John the Baptist fulfilled, typically, the ministry of Elijah who was to come, so there is to come a prophet who will become known over all the world as the greatest voice calling upon mankind to REPENT OF SIN, and will indeed be “turning the hearts of the children [this modern, sinning generation of adults] to the fathers”!

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by Garner Ted Armstrong [printer-friendly] [pdf format]

From time to time, one or another church organization lays claim to the “144,000” of the book of Revelation, chapter 7. Of course, it is inspiring indeed to believe one has found oneself actually mentioned in the Bible — especially in the context of standing right before the throne of God, having been saved!

But are the 144,000 people John saw in vision the members of a Christian professing organization here on this earth? Are they already in heaven? Just who are they, and how do they fit in the scheme of things in Bible prophecy?

It is indeed strange that people should be puzzled about a scripture so plain as Revelation the 7th chapter! Here is what John said he saw: “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

“And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

“Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

“And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

“Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.

“Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.

“Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.

“Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand” (Revelation 7:1-8).

There is nothing mysterious about who these people are at all, then, is there? You have just read with your own eyes exactly who they are. They are twelve thousand people from each tribe of Israel except Dan who are depicted as having survived the Great Tribulation; having “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” and having received salvation.

Where Are The Twelve Tribes?

The confusion comes from the ignorance of the vast majority of professing Christians who know nothing of the identity and location of the tribes, such as Zebulon, Issachar, Naphtali, Reuben, Manassah, and the like.

Of course, any professing Christian church which makes the claim THEY are the “144,000” of prophecy are making an utterly ludicrous claim, for not a one of them has, among their membership, 36,000 Jews! Why 36,000? Because the tribes of Judah, Levi and Simeon were part of the “House of Judah,” with their capital at Jerusalem, when the northern ten tribes split off, forming the “House of Israel.”

Today, few people recognize ANY of the tribes of Israel except that of Levi, which are generally called “Jewish.” Many of them retain the names, albeit in many different forms, of their eponymous ancestor, Levi. Who has not heard of “Levis,” the copper-studded jeans? Names such as “Levi, Levine, Levy, Levinson, Yvel [Levi spelled backward], Levit, Levitt, Levitson, and the like are all Levites. The Hebrew name for priest is “Cohen.” Many forms of this name are found among “Jewish” people today. George M. Cohan, the famous American composer, was Jewish, probably from the tribe of Levi. Names such as Cohane, Kahane, Cohen, Khune, Khuin, and Cantor (Eddie Cantor was a well-known Jewish singer/actor) are also from the tribe of Levi.

Names such as Gold, Golda, Gelt, Goldson, Golden, Silver, Silverman, da Silva (Portuguese), Perlmutter, Gottleib (God loves), Liebermann, and the like are also Jewish. But there are hundreds of other names from many countries in Europe, especially Poland and Germany, and from Britain, and also among the Arab countries, which are also Jewish, but which are not easily recognizable because of etymological evolution over the centuries.

During the time of Christ, the northern Ten Tribes of Israel did not live in Palestine. Instead, they were called the “dispersed” (diaspora), or the “scattered” ones. One church, completely misunderstanding Christ’s words concerning the “lost sheep of the House of Israel,” assumed those lost sheep to be in the continental United States.

Christ said, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (John 10:16). When a Samaritan woman begged Christ for a healing, Christ insisted, “…I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). This carried a dual connotation. Not only were the Ten Tribes “lost” to history — scattered among many different nations — they were also “lost” spiritually.

Clearly, Jesus Christ said the Jews were the FIRST to be invited to receive Him as their Messiah; their Savior! John wrote, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

“He came unto his own [the Jews. Jesus was a Jew], and his own received him not.

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:10-12).

Christ told His disciples, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

“As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (John 10:14-16). In this prophecy lies a major clue to understanding the puzzle of the 144,000! It will not be until the time of the Day of the Lord and the Second Coming of Christ until ALL of the “lost sheep of the House of Israel” will be “found” both physically and spiritually!

Notice Isaiah’s prophecy: “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse [Christ], which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest [His millennial kingdom] shall be glorious.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time [the first time was from Egypt under Moses] to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands [coastlands] of the sea.

“And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah [two different “houses” or groupings of tribes] from the four corners of the earth.

“The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim” (Isaiah 11:10-13).

This prophecy shows that the House of Israel and the House of Judah will not be reunited until Christ once again stands on this earth! And that reunification is what the seventh chapter of Revelation is all about!

The Ten “Lost” Tribes

Millions of professing, church-going Christians are completely ignorant of the identity of the “House of Israel.” Many who have gone to church all their lives do not have the faintest idea that there are four whole books of the Bible which detail the separate national histories of the House of Israel and the House of Judah.

Following the death of Solomon, Jereboam rent the northern tribes away from Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. Rehoboam had promised the people nothing but brutal autocracy, and the people rebelled, and turned to Jereboam “And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only” (1 Kings 12:20). Thus it was that all those who came to be called “Jews” remained centered around Jerusalem, and the people who were NEVER called Jews; those of Ephraim, Manasseh, Dan, Gad, Asher, Zebulon, Reuben and many more, formed the “Kingdom of Israel,” with a capital at Samaria.

The first place in the Bible where the term “Jew” is ever used is found in 2 Kings 16:6. Notice it, in context: “In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.

“Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.

“But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel [who had long before gone into idolatry], yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.

“And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

“Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.

“At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians [allies with Israel!] came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day” (2 Kings 16:1-6).

It would ASTONISH millions of “Christians” to learn that “The JEWS WERE AT WAR AGAINST ISRAEL!” They simply could not comprehend it, for they have never understood that the two terms are not the same!

By analogy, all Texans (natural born, legal citizens, of course) are AMERICANS, but NOT all Americans are TEXANS! All Jews are ISRAELITES, but not all Israelites are JEWS!

Jacob is the ancestor of all twelve tribes (thirteen in all, for Joseph had two sons; Ephraim and Manasseh). His name was changed to “Israel,” meaning “One who overcomes; one who prevails with God.”

For the startling truth about the real identity of the United States, Britain, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and other countries, call or write immediately for your copy of my important book Europe and America In Prophecy. The entire text is also published on our web site at “https://www.garnertedarmstrong.org/.”

Once you understand that Britain is the “Ephraim” of the “Lost Ten Tribes,” you will come to understand why Isaiah’s prophecy that Judah (modern-day “Israel” in Palestine; the Jews) and Ephraim will no longer “vex” one another when Christ returns.

Why No Christian Church Can Be The 144,000

While Simeon and Levi had no inheritance in the land, and were scattered among all the other tribes, those who remained in the province of Judaea, under the “House of Judah” with capital in Jerusalem, were always called “Jews.” “Shimon Peres,” a current political figure in Israel is very likely a Simeonite, for he has that family name.

There is no “Christian” church which can claim to have baptized, or taken into their membership THIRTY-SIX THOUSAND JEWS! And 12,000 from Judah, 12,000 from Levi, and 12,000 from Simeon adds up to 36,000 Jews!

Read again the first eight verses of Revelation 7. Now, notice what follows: “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations [which INCLUDES all the nations of Israel and Judah], and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

“And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

“And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

“Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

“And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

“And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9-14).

When the archangel asked John who they were, John didn’t know. He said, “Sir, thou knowest.” The archangel then told John precisely who they were!

So where is the puzzle? Where is the problem? The answer is plainly before us. ALL of these people; the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel, and the vast, countless multitude, are SURVIVORS OF THE TRIBULATION! They were not murdered. They have not been dead, and then resurrected. They are alive because they were “sealed of God”; given God’s supernatural protection. Yet, they did not escape all hardship. They had to endure the horrors of the Tribulation.

It is because of their sufferings during the tribulation that their stiff necks and hard hearts have finally been softened; they have finally repented of all their sins, and turned to God with all their hearts!

Because of that fact; that they have “washed their robes” (metaphor for repentance and baptism) and “made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (seemingly a contradiction in terms, but metaphor for spiritual cleanliness) they are therefore “…before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

“For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Revelation 7:15-17).

Now, turn to and read the prophecy of Ezekiel about the “valley of dried bones.”

“The `Dry Bones’ and the `Two Sticks'”

Millions of professing church-going Christians know NOTHING about the resurrection of the dead! Their pastors, who are either ignorant, deceived, or both, do not preach the truth about the resurrection. They will studiously avoid reading and expounding the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians during a funeral service.

Therefore, millions of church-going people believe, NOT in the resurrection of the body at the coming of Christ, but in the “immortality of the soul.” They suppose they will go immediately to heaven in a disembodied “soul,” like a “wraith” of some sort. But that is pure fiction, borrowed from pagan Greek philosophers, and is never taught in scripture.

There are no phrases in the Bible such as “immortal soul,” or “immortality of the soul.” Nor is there a single phrase such as “We will go to heaven when we die.” Instead, Paul wrote, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

“But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1 Corinthians 15:19-23). For a thorough study of the Biblical TRUTH about the resurrection, call or write for my booklet, When I Die, What Happens Next?

Now, notice Ezekiel’s vision: “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

“And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

“And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

“Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD [one is reminded here of the old “Negro spiritual” of decades ago; “Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones”].

“Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

“And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

“So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

“And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

“Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

“So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

“Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

“Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

“And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

“And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD” (Ezekiel 37:1-14).

Obviously, then, this prophecy concerns the second resurrection of the dead! Why? For the simple reason that this entire passage is describing bones, sinew, skin and FLESH; it is describing the “whole House of Israel” being brought back to life PHYSICALLY.

If you have not yet heard my sermon tapes called “Resurrection I and II,” please write or call for them. Briefly, notice that there is the FIRST resurrection of the “dead IN CHRIST” at the moment of the return of Jesus Christ to this earth “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1 Corinthians 15:23). Paul also wrote, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

“Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:50-52). He told the Thessalonians “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep [continually, the Bible speaks of death as a profound sleep!], that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [Greek: “precede”] them which are asleep.

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-16).

Now, notice that the vast majority of the dead, who were unconverted, and who were NOT among the “dead in Christ” do not come out of their graves until AFTER the millennial reign of Christ: “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished…” (Revelation 20:5). This statement, inserted parenthetically in a discussion of the “first” resurrection, introduces the subject of the “resurrection to JUDGEMENT” which is covered in the latter part of Revelation 20. It is THEN that the “valley of dry bones” prophecy comes to pass; when the “whole House of Israel” is brought back from the dead.

These are the millions of dead from Hitler’s concentration camps. They are the dead from Warsaw, from Buchenwald, Maidenak, Belsen, Auschwitz, and dozens of others. They are the dead of Norway, Finland, Denmark, Britain, France, Belgium, Australia; the dead from the United States during the American revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, and World Wars I and II! They are the dead from Korea and Vietnam!

This mighty host represents ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL who have died down through all history, not knowing the truth of God; never having been called of God; never having received Christ as Savior! There are MILLIONS and MILLIONS of them — as the prophecy says, “a mighty army.”

Now, notice how the prophecy in Ezekiel also deals with the LIVING survivors of Israel: “The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:

“And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

“And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these?

“Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

“And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.

“And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen [NOT out of their graves — these are the LIVING survivors], whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

“And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:

“Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

“And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

“And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.

“Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them [note that well: there are no more children to be born during the “Great White Throne Judgement” period (Isaiah 65:20)], and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

“My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

“And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore” (Ezekiel 37:15-28).

When the first resurrection occurs, DAVID will be raised from his grave to become the KING OVER THE TWELVE TRIBES!

Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning David’s resurrection ties in perfectly with the prophecy of the 144,000, for it is speaking of the regathering of the living refugees; the SURVIVORS OF THE TRIBULATION from all over the world. Here, the Great Tribulation prophesied by Christ (Matthew 24:21, 22) is called the “time of Jacob’s trouble.”

“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it [they must go THROUGH it. They are not saved FROM the tribulation, but saved “out of it”],

“For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds [physical Israel is pictured as being IN CAPTIVITY during the Tribulation], and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

“But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

“Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

“For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished” (Jeremiah 30:7-11).

Zephaniah prophesied also of Israel’s regathering: “Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.

“At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD” (Zephaniah 3:19, 20). They have been captives; slaves for several years, brutally trodden down by heartless conquerors! These are the living survivors of the Tribulation to come upon all the modern nations of Israel. This does NOT mean solely the nation in Palestine mistakenly called “Israel,” but it means ALL the tribes.

When Are The 144,000 “Sealed”?

The time setting of the sealing, or the divine protection of the 144,000 is obvious from the prophecies of Jesus Christ and His Revelation to John.

Notice the sequence of events Christ said would take place leading to the Great Tribulation: “Take heed that no man deceive you.

“For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ [they say “Jesus is the Christ”]; and shall deceive many.

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

“All these are the beginning of sorrows [troubles; tribulation]” (Matthew 24:4-8).

Now, notice the sequence of events revealed by the famous “four horsemen of the apocalypse” in Revelation 6:1-17 “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

“And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow [Christ is never depicted with a bow; this is a symbol of the false Christ, not of the real Jesus Christ]; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer”

“And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

“And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth [meaning WAR!], and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

“And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine [obviously referring to terrible FAMINE].

“And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

“And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth [“Pestilence,” the result of famine; disease, starvation, and death by attacks from wild or rabid animals].

“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls [Greek: Psuche meaning “lives”] of them that were slain [“Souls” are not “slain.” Humans are] for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held [these are martyrs for Christ]:

“And they cried with a loud voice [As Abel’s blood `cried out from the ground,’Genesis 4:10], saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

“And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

“And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

“And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

“And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

“For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Revelation 6:1-17).

Notice how the sequence of events Christ described are in the same order as the “seals” of Revelation 6:

1st SEAL
Matthew 24:4, 5 – False Christs and false prophets
Revelation 6:2 – A White Horse, symbolizing the AntiChrist masquerading as Christ.

2nd SEAL
Matthew 24:6, 7 – Wars and rumors of wars
Revelation 6:4 – A Red Horse, symbolizing war!

3rd SEAL
Matthew 24:7 – Famines
Revelation 6:5, 6 – A Black Horse; tiny amounts of staples measured, symbolizing famine.

4th SEAL
Matthew 24:7 – Pestilence
Revelation 6:8 – A Pale Horse, signifying disease, starvation and death.

5th SEAL
Matthew 24:9 – Martyrdom of Saints.
Revelation 6:9-11 – Fifth seal: murdered people crying out for justice and vengeance.

The fifth seal reveals God’s murdered saints crying out for justice. They are told they must “rest yet a little season” until their fellowservants should be killed as they were! This is the religious persecution phase of the Great Tribulation. The book of Revelation is divided up into seven SEALS, of which the seventh is comprised of seven “Trumpet Plagues,” the last three of which are called the “three woes,” the last one of which is divided up into the “seven last plagues.”

THREE groups of sevens. The final group of seven comprises the “Day of the Lord,” called “God’s WRATH” which is to come on this earth just prior to the second coming of Christ!

Notice that there are saints; God’s converted people who are members of His true church STILL ON THIS EARTH at the time of the opening of the fifth seal! But the opening of the FIRST SEAL is the beginning of the Great Tribulation!

Will True Christians Be Martyred Again?

Jesus Christ said that BEFORE the worst part of the Tribulation, there would be an end-time martyrdom of saints! After detailing all the “wars and commotions,” the famines, pestilences and earthquakes, Christ said, “But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.

“And it shall turn to you for a testimony [they will be given an opportunity to TESTIFY about WHY they believe what they do; about the WORK they have been doing].

“Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:

“For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

“And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.

“But there shall not an hair of your head perish” (Luke 21:12-18). Obviously, SOME of Christ’s true servants WILL BE KILLED BEFORE THE WORST OF THE TRIBULATION!

Christ Himself said so!

Now, think! What does this do to the concept of “spiritual escapism”? Sadly, there are many who believe in the false doctrine of the “rapture,” the concept based upon the “immortality of the soul” that Christians will be “snatched up” from the earth BEFORE the Tribulation, and taken to heaven.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Notice the many proofs: “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

“Until the Ancient of days came [this condition; the martyrdom of SAINTS; God’s true servants, is to prevail right up UNTIL the second coming of Christ!], and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom” (Daniel 7:21, 22).

Notice again, “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb [he masquerades as Christ], and he spake as a dragon [but he speaks as Satan!].

“And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him [he is able to use the power of the STATE; the MILITARY power of the Beast!], and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed [STATE worship; just as the Nazi’s adored and worshiped Adolf Hitler during and before World War II!].

“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

“And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (Revelation 13:11-15). There it is again! This is the MARTYRDOM OF SAINTS, which is to occur as a PART of the GREAT TRIBULATION, which occurs BEFORE the heavenly signs

Remember, it is DURING the “heavenly signs” that the 144,000 are SEALED!

It is the awesome, shocking, frightening SIGNS which STOP the horrible wars and murder; which HALT all human activity before man would utterly obliterate himself from this planet! It is BECAUSE OF THOSE SIGNS which these 144,000, and the great countless multitude see with their own eyes, that they suddenly REALIZE, to the depths of their souls, that GOD IS REAL! He is UP THERE! He is INTERVENING in human affairs!

It is only when they SEE with their own startled eyes this great truth, that they fall to their knees, and cry out to God in heartbroken repentance! They have been IN the Great Tribulation!

They have been taken captive, as SLAVES! They have LOST EVERYTHING of their physical possessions! Just like the millions of captive Jews herded into the slaughter camps, these people have seen mothers and fathers, sons and daughters murdered and raped! They have somehow survived the hideous torments of utter privation and degradation! Many are starving! Many are disease-ridden!

It is only when the great HEAVENLY SIGNS occur that they are sealed of God; given His Divine PROTECTION so that they SURVIVE THE TRIBULATION ALIVE!!

Now, notice the time sequence, and never forget it!

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:29, 30).

WHEN do the heavenly signs appear? IMMEDIATELY AFTER the tribulation! Christ SAID so!

And WHEN are the 144,000 given God’s spirit, and supernaturally protected? WHEN THE HEAVENLY SIGNS APPEAR!

Now, notice further: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come” (Joel 2:31). Any seventh grader can understand these simple words! BEFORE and AFTER!!

It is AFTER the Tribulation, but BEFORE the Day of the Lord that the great heavenly signs appear! And it is the heavenly signs themselves which SHOCK into repentance the 144,000, and which cause the warring nations to HALT their insane wars before all mankind would disappear in a nuclear, chemical and biological holocaust!

Now, WHO ARE the 144,000? They are 12,000 living, human beings from each of the twelve tribes of Israel except Dan! They will have been subject to the horrors of WORLD WAR III; will have seen their nations DEFEATED in a horrible war! They will have become refugees, captives, slaves! They will have suffered terrible hunger, sickness, privation, and almost unendurable hardship! They will have seen loved ones and relatives KILLED!

But they will have HEARD A WITNESS! For years and years, they heard; they read, they viewed on television the TRUTH OF GOD! But they ignored it. They did not repent! They just weren’t interested. Now, suddenly, the very things they had heard so many times are HAPPENING, right before their startled eyes! They are a part of the ultimate FRUIT of God’s work of witness and warning; the “Work of the WATCHMAN” which will not be born UNTIL THE HEAVENLY SIGNS!

Notice, “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

“And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:

“And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

“These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

“And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God” (Revelation 14:1-5).

Notice they are called the “FIRSTFRUITS” unto God! Thus, they are in the same category of those who are to be changed instantaneously at the second coming of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:50-52)!

The metaphor of not being “defiled with women” and being “virgins” is speaking SPIRITUALLY. It certainly does not imply a host of 13 or 15-year-old girls! Notice it goes on to say “these were redeemed from among men” Because they have RESISTED the great false whore of Revelation 17; because they have not committed spiritual fornication with the great harlot churches of this world, they are called spiritual virgins!

This beautiful prophecy shows the 144,000 standing on that translucent “sea of glass” before the very throne of God, having been BORN OF GOD; CHANGED from human to spirit! They are SAVED! They are redeemed from the earth! They have “come OUT OF” the Great Tribulation and been instantaneously changed at the time of the second coming of Christ!

God gives them His supernatural protection from the impending trumpet plagues and the seven last plagues which are to fall upon the sinning, warring nations of this earth!

Now you know the TRUTH about the 144,000!

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It would have been cruel to have told them. How much zeal would you and I have for the work of God—the work of witness and warning for our fellowman of impending tribulation, of the heavenly signs, and of the Day of the Lord—if we thought none of it would take place for another 2000 years?

How much enthusiasm would we put into a perceived political or social cause if we thought it would not be realized until twenty generations later? How dedicated, how committed, how determined would you be, if you thought you were working for a new world order that would not materialize until 2000 years after you were dead?

The disciples of Jesus Christ, still tingling with wonderment and astonishment over Christ’s many miraculous appearances following His resurrection, asked Him a question which bears careful scrutiny and understanding.

As He stood before them, He commanded them to “wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water: but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence” (Acts 1:4,5).

It is likely they didn’t understand this statement any more than they had many of His enigmatic pronouncements, for they were still carnal. Willing, enthusiastic, but carnal, lacking deep, spiritual perception.

The proof of their lack of understanding follows quickly.

“When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, ‘Lord wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”‘ (Acts 1:6).

Their question deserves close scrutiny. They did not ask whether He would come to rule the world, which was the very thing He had continually emphasized. They asked nothing about Rome, or Dacia, or Carthage, or Bithynia, or Cappodocia, or Greece. They asked nothing about India, or Britannica, or Germanica.

There was no conception in their minds of a world-ruling Kingdom of God!

No, their minds conceived only of an Israelitish kingdom, restored to its borders of greatest advancement under David and Solomon! They specified “the kingdom,” meaning the national entity of Israel the way it had been hundreds of years previously, with borders from modern-day Iraq to Egypt.

They asked if He would restore “the kingdom” to Israel!

It was their land, their lives, their families, and their immediate environment and social conditions about which they were concerned. Their question addressed only their own immediate future, as viewed from a purely nationalistic and patriotic point of view.

His answer was the kindest response He could have given them.

“And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:7,8).

Even this they did not understand fully, and would not understand it until the power of which Christ spoke was given to them.

Power on Pentecost

Christ promised it would happen on the Day of Pentecost.

Pentecost means “fiftieth.” It is so named because it was the only one of God’s seven annual holy days that was counted from one point in time to another. They were to count from the “morrow after the Sabbath” during the Days of Unleavened Bread a total of seven Sabbaths. The following day, which would have been the “morrow after the seventh Sabbath” (Leviticus 23:15,16), would be the first day of the week, or the day the pagan Romans called “Sunday,” or the day of solis invictus.

Not only did Christ and His disciples observe God’s weekly and annual Sabbaths, but Christ chose this specific holy day, the day formerly called the “Feast of Weeks,” as the birthday of the Christian church.

The typology is perfect. The word Pentecost is derived from the Greek name for the day. But the original festival was called the “Feast of the Firstfruits.” Because it was counted each year, from the morrow after the weekly Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread, seven full weeks (each ending with the Sabbath) plus one day, it was also called the “Feast of Weeks.”

During the Days of Unleavened Bread, the high priest cut one armload of barley from a field in a harvest ceremony of thanksgiving. It was called “a sheaf of the firstfruits” (Leviticus 23: 10). He would then wave the sheaf toward heaven (verse 11) as an offering to God. This armload of barley was the “first of the firstfruits,” or the very first cutting of the early spring harvest.

The wave sheaf symbolized the resurrected Christ, risen, but not yet ascended to heaven. Christ was resurrected on a late Sabbath afternoon.

Early on the following day, our “Sunday,” He said to Mary, who was so happy to see Him alive she wanted to hug Him, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father and your Father; and to My God, and your God” (John 20:17).

Later that same evening (John 20:19,20), He materialized before them, and allowed Himself to be touched. He ascended to God the Father on the first day of the week, but He had walked out of His tomb on a late Sabbath afternoon.

Christ is the First of the firstfruits of salvation. He is the “Captain” and the “Author” of salvation. The “firstfruits” consist of all of those called the “dead in Christ” who will come up in the first resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:50-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

So it was that Christ first ascended to His Father in heaven on the first day of the week following His resurrection, and then sent the Holy Spirit to His disciples exactly seven Sabbaths and one day later, or the fiftieth day following His acceptance by God.

It was shortly before the great events of the Day of Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks (or Firstfruits), that Christ uttered the statement you read earlier.

What Pentecost Was and Was Not

The second chapter of Acts bears very careful, studious reading. The disciples were assembled together in one place “when the Day of Pentecost was fully come” (Acts 2:1). Suddenly, without any warning, a roaring sound of a rushing, mighty wind, like that of a hurricane or tornado, filled the room.

This sound did not come from human throats. It was not made from moans, screeches, wails, groans, cries, yells, or singing of a group of hoarse-voiced, perspiring, gyrating people who were “calling down the Spirit” or other such nonsense derived from the minds of humans who equate God’s Spirit with human feelings and emotions.

No, it was a miraculous sound, and it came from heaven (Acts 2:2).

Immediately, another miracle! Flickering flames of fire descended, materializing in the room. A blazing corona of fire settled on the head of each one of the twelve! The brightly-burning flames were obviously fire, yet not a hair was singed!

The English expression “cloven tongues” in the King James Version is a terrible error. The correct English translation of the original Greek reads: “tongues of fire equally divided among them.”

The English word tongue means either the organ of speech or the language spoken. By analogy, the term tongue of fire is sometimes used to convey the movement of flames. “Flickering flames of fire, divided equally among them” was the sense of the thought being conveyed.

Then, one by one, they began to speak! They were not all speaking at once. This was not a babbling, hysterical scene of chaos: “For God is not the Author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” (1 Corinthians 14:33); and, “The spirits [spiritual gifts, such as speaking in foreign languages] of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32). This was not an emotional, uncontrollable series of utterances that burst forth from the apostles. Rather, it was a rational, orderly, powerful series of orations, delivered with conviction and passion, from intelligent, thoughtful minds to intelligent, thoughtful people!

Talk about an attention-getting phenomenon! First, the audience of perhaps a few dozen saw and heard flames of fire and a roaring wind. Then, as excited people ran into the streets to shout to others, “the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language” (Acts 2:6).

This was perfectly intelligible speech. They heard and understood what was being said. Yet, there were, at a minimum, sixteen different languages and dialects represented in the crowd. This phenomenal miracle was both in the speaking and in the hearing. It was not gibberish, or some wild-eyed, emotional outburst of garbled sounds, tongue-bitings, and suspected Portuguese epithets, like the completely false, emotional state of mindlessness some call “tongues” today! No, those in the audience said, “We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:11).

Suddenly, each of the twelve was given spiritual understanding. It was as if their minds were opened, and what had been muddled and mysterious was clear.

Peter’s remarks were heard in at least sixteen dialects. You and I can understand what he said by reading it in English. He spoke of the risen Christ, of His impending kingdom, in which He would sit on the throne of David (verses 29,30).

At the conclusion of his brief sermon, he commanded, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

Here, on this day, it began.

Birth of God’s New Testament Work

Now, they were beginning the work of God, of witness as well as

warning, which, although unknown to them, would span a period of time for the next two thousand years!

Even now, they had no conception of that fact. They did not know, could not know, as Christ said, that they would, in some cases, be murdered (Acts 12:1,2); that others would die of old age (John 21:22,23); that their bones would molder in their graves as the centuries slowly passed.

No, even on this momentous day, since they had heard the ringing promise, “He shall so come, even as ye have seen Him go into heaven,” they believed Christ could return at any moment!

Certainly, they believed He would come in their lifetimes!

Paul wrote to people he knew in the Corinthian church, “Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep [die; meaning you and I, WE, in this living generation, will not all die], but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead [they, not “us”] shall be raised incorruptible, and WE shall be changed!” (1 Corinthians 15:51,52).

Though Paul came along many years after Pentecost, even he, like all the other apostles, continued to believe Christ would return to rule the world in his lifetime (1 Thessalonians 4:15).

How did it all begin?

What were the original disciples thinking when they first saw and heard Jesus Christ?

We Have Found the Messiah!

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was a disciple of John the Baptist. The brothers were firm believers in the future destiny of their country—that “Messiah” would come and restore their national greatness, kick out the oppressive religious fanatics like the Pharisees and Sadducees, overthrow the corrupt Herodian regime, and expel the Roman occupation army. They lived in the “here and now.” To you and me, from our historical perspective, they lived “then and there,” way, way back in some musty age of history. We think of “olden times,” or “Bible days.” We generally have no conception of the immediate reality of the lives of those young men.

The disciples of John no doubt thought he might be the “prophet” who was to come, the Messiah. They thought it was likely that John was destined to overthrow the Herodians, raise an army, overthrow the occupying forces of Rome, and restore the kingdom.

Yet, when John was asked by representatives of the Pharisees if he, John, was “Elijah,” or “that prophet,” Andrew heard John say clearly, “I am not.”

Demanding to know by what authority he was baptizing repentant sinners, the Pharisees were told, “I baptize with water: but there standeth One among you, Whom ye know not; He it is, Who coming after me is preferred before me, Whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose” (John 1:26,27).

The very next day, John saw Jesus walking toward him, and immediately knew He was the Messiah. He said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is He of Whom I said, After me cometh a Man which is preferred before me: for He was before me. And I knew Him not: but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him. And I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon Whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God” (John 1:29-34).

Andrew was there. He heard and saw it all.

He must have been profoundly affected by John’s announcement about Jesus; profoundly curious about the Man. We know nothing further of the events of that day, when John first realized that Jesus was the Messiah. But the next day, as John stood with Andrew and another disciples, Jesus walked by, and John said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35,36).

Andrew and his friend heard what John said, and immediately turned to follow Jesus. Noting they were tagging along, Jesus stopped and asked, “What are you looking for?”

Andrew said, “Master [“Teacher,” or “Rabbi”], where do you live?”

Jesus told them to come and see, and so they continued along, until they came to Jesus’ house. This may have been in Nazareth or Capernaum. John was baptizing either in the Jordan, where it flowed out of the Sea of Galilee, or a short distance further south. They were walking, remember, and it was about ninety miles to Jerusalem. Peter, Andrew, and Phillip lived in Bethsaida, which was northwest of the Sea of Galilee.

Andrew, after having walked with Jesus to His home, and then spending the remainder of the day with Him, went to Bethsaida and found his brother. He said, “We have found the Messiah!” (John 1:38-41).

Peter went with Andrew, and both arrived at Jesus’ house.

“And when Jesus beheld him [Simon Peter], He said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas [Kephus], which is by interpretation, A stone” (John 1:42).

How electrifying it must have been for these two. Andrew had clearly heard John identify Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” had talked with Him for hours. Completely convinced, he went to get Peter, who Jesus obviously recognized and immediately dubbed “a stone.”

From the beginning, Peter and Andrew must have been in awe of Jesus; of His personal dynamism, His assurance, His manner of speaking which cut right through to the heart of things. As the days and weeks passed, they were to see miracle after miracle. Each time, it must have reinforced their belief that Jesus would soon stage a triumphal march on Jerusalem; that He would soon move to overthrow the corrupt government of the Herodians.

Miraculous Events Were All the Proof They Needed

Obviously, Jesus knew Simon, whom He dubbed “Cephus,” or “a stone.” After all, Jesus had lived and worked around Nazareth, Capernaum, and the shores of the Sea of Galilee since His boyhood.

Jesus was one of at least seven brothers and sisters. His brothers were James, Joses, Simon, and Judas, and He had at least two sisters (Matthew 13:55-57).

The first miracle witnessed by His disciples occurred at a family occasion in Cana, a city not far from Capernaum, in Galilee. Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding and the feast.

Jewish weddings were elaborate affairs. Somehow, the “master of the feast,” or the caterer, who was responsible for the food and drink, miscalculated how many people would appear.

“And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman [or, “Lady”—a polite term, but obviously used in gentle rejoinder—not “mother”], what have I to do with thee? [or, “what am I going to do with you?”] mine hour is not yet come” (John 2:4).

Obviously, Jesus was gently chiding His mother for turning to Him for help, knowing that she was asking Him for a miracle. This tells us she was fully confident He would be able to perform it. His rejoinder was intended as a polite rebuke, knowing such an event would set tongues to wagging.

Undeterred, Mary said to the servants, “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it!” (verse 5).

Much is told to us in those words. First, it is obvious Mary had a large dimension in the proceedings. She was not a casual guest, but involved with the table fare. Second, she was over the servants. It is strongly indicated that this was a family wedding, either one of Jesus’ sisters, or, perhaps, one of His brothers. No other explanation is plausible.

“And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece” (John 2:6).

The English “firkin” was a quarter of a barrel. A barrel contained from thirty-one to forty-two liquid gallons. If we use an average of thirty-six gallons, then a quarter of thirty-six is nine gallons. Since the Bible says each stone waterpot contained “two or three” firkins, even if we choose the smaller amount, each stone waterpot would have contained eighteen gallons. Six times eighteen equals one hundred and eight gallons. This is the smallest possible amount of water contained in the stone pots!

One hundred and eight gallons indicates a very large group of people were present.

“Jesus said unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And He saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear to the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine [Greek: oinos, meaning fermented wine—see Revelation 17:2, where the identical word is used], and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now” (John 2:7-10).

As an aside, there is no question whatsoever that this was real wine. The Greek word admits no other meaning, as proved by the many places where oinos appears in the New Testament. The statement by the governor of the feast proves it was wine the guests were drinking. The practice of setting out good wine at the beginning and substituting it for poorer wine later was perhaps deceptive, but proves that only after imbibing a glass, or two or three, of good wine, would a person’s taste be dulled sufficiently that he could not discern the difference.

One must wonder what the effect was upon Jesus’ disciples, and upon the servants who saw the water miraculously turn to red wine, carried it to the governor in smaller vessels, and heard his comments. Many is the servant who may have helped himself to a small sip in wonderment.

This was a fabulous miracle, performed by Jesus Christ at the request of His mother and right before the startled eyes of His disciples and a large number of servants. No doubt, it was the subject of excited conversation that ultimately reached the ears of every person at the feast, and continued for weeks and months afterward.

“This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory; and His disciples believed on Him” (John 2:11).

A short time later, another fabulous miracle occurred.

“After this [the miracle of turning water into wine] He went down to Capernaum, He, and His mother, and His brethren, and His disciples: and they continued there not many days” (John 2:12).

They did not camp out in a public park, nor sleep in the streets, or ask to use a man’s stable. We pick up the account of another great miracle by turning to Mark’s account: “And again He entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that He was in the house” (Mark 2:1). This expression can as easily be rendered “at home.”

A large crowd gathered, filling the house, and standing jammed in the doorway. Four men appeared, carrying a friend on a stretcher, trying to approach Jesus. “And when they could not come nigh unto Him for the press, they uncovered the roof where He was; and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee” (Mark 2:2-5).

The homes during Jesus’ day were built, oftentimes, around an interior common room, or courtyard. The roof may have been of stone, like slate, resting on cross members. Several things are worth noting.

First, no mention is made of this house belonging to anyone else. Jesus was “in the house,” or “at home.” No outcry was made by anyone when dust and debris began to filter down from above, or when the first shaft of sunlight penetrated the room, indicating someone was on the roof, beginning to dismantle it.

Jesus was in charge. Probably, He saw what the men were doing, and patiently tolerated it, admiring their example of perseverance and faith, knowing the man’s friends would replace the roofing materials exactly as they had found them.

This group of people could have numbered anywhere from forty or fifty to one hundred or more, and included, not only Jesus’ disciples, but some of the scribes, who began reasoning among themselves, “Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?

“And immediately when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, He said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether it is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (He saith to the sick of the palsy), I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

“And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed [including His disciples, who saw and heard it all], and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion [or, “We never saw anything like this before”]. And He went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto Him, and He taught them” (Mark 2:6-13).

Probably, Jesus left the house because the crush of the crowd was too large. Eventually, He was surrounded by thousands of people who had come from the ten towns of the “Decapolis,” from Capernaum, Bethsaida, and other towns, somewhere along the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee, which today is called the Golan Heights.

Notice what happened next:

“And He began again to teach by the seaside: and there was gathered unto Him a great multitude, so that He entered into a ship and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.” This had the effect of a large outdoor amphitheater. Sound travels extremely well over water. With Jesus on a boat some short distance from shore, and thousands of people sitting and standing on the sharply rising shoreline, all could hear every word He said.

“And He taught them many things by parables…” (Mark 4:1,2). A number of parables followed, including the parable of the sower and the seed. Matthew’s account of His explanation of the parables is very instructive. The disciples asked, “Why speakest unto them in parables [riddles, puzzles]?”

“He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given … therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias [Isaiah], which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Matthew 13:10-15).

This is an astonishing statement.

Millions assume Jesus tried to convert every person He met. They believe He spoke in parables to make His meaning plain; that He was engaged in evangelism, trying to get the people saved! Christ said the opposite!

It was not permitted for the crowds to understand! He deliberately concealed the meaning of His words from them! Read it in your own Bible.

The statement had an electrifying effect on the disciples, for it showed once again that Jesus considered them to be the privileged few. Only they could understand, once they had asked Him in private what He meant. (Read it in Matthew 13:16 -34.)

They had seen Him perform miracles. They had seen how the crowds flocked to Him. But they had also seen how He singled them out for special, inside knowledge and understanding.

Shortly after this event, Herod murdered John the Baptist. John’s disciples buried his headless body, then came and told Jesus what had happened (Matthew 14:10-12).

“When Jesus heard of it, He departed thence [probably from Capernaum; possibly Nazareth] by ship [across the Sea of Galilee) into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed Him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude [about five thousand men, women, and children], and was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their sick” (Matthew 14:13,14).

The primary reason this large crowd gathered was precisely for that purpose. The news had spread far and wide about Jesus’ miraculous healing powers. Each event no doubt grew with the telling. We have no knowledge of how many were healed, but it may well have numbered into the hundreds.

“And when it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past [this is a wilderness, and it’s been a long hard day]; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. And they say unto Him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me. And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed [prayed, asked God’s blessing], and brake, and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude” (Matthew 14:15-19).

This was an astonishing miracle. The disciples must have been exclaiming among themselves, wide-eyed with incredulity; gathering around to peer into the basket from which Jesus seemed to be taking an endless supply of bread and dried, or smoked, fish! The crowd likewise was no doubt incredulous, amazed, excited!

“And they did all eat, and were filled: and they [the disciples] took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children” (Matthew 14:20,21).

The thousands there were astounded, elated! It is doubtless the vast majority of them believed Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah!

Messiah Here and Now

The stirring prophecies of Isaiah, of Jeremiah and Ezekiel no doubt came to mind. They were living in the here and now! Right here, on these desolate, grassy slopes overlooking Galilee, they had seen the miracle of the “cornucopian basket.” They had joyously taken into their arms their crippled children, now whole of limb; their retarded, or demon-possessed, now sound of mind; their blind, now seeing; their deaf, now hearing!

Here and there, some may have quoted Isaiah: “He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young … Awake! Awake! Put on thy strength, O Zion, put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city…” (Isaiah 40:11).

Perhaps some remembered Zechariah saying, “Thus saith the Eternal of hosts, My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad: and the Eternal shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem” (Zechariah 1:17).

Here and there, they began to talk, to exclaim, to excitedly compare their experiences. Perhaps a large group of leading men approached Him with their suggestions. The Bible says, “Then those men [thousands of them!], when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that Prophet [the Messiah] that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force, to make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone” (John 6:14,15).

This was nothing short of a proposal of a massive uprising, an impromptu march on Jerusalem! They knew they could accumulate additional thousands of people on the way. Food and water? No problem! Didn’t they now have twelve times as much left over in scraps than the amount with which they had begun? Couldn’t Jesus produce more miraculous food at any moment?

So exuberant were they that, when Jesus demurred, they attempted to hoist Him on their shoulders—take him forcibly—and begin a march on the capital!

No doubt His terse instructions to the disciples helped Him disengage from the mob.

When the crowd finally dispersed, disappointed, yet not in despair, the disciples descended to the shore, got in a small ship, and headed across the Sea of Galilee to the north, toward Capernaum, where Jesus’ house was. They knew He would return there eventually, when He was sure of no further pursuit.

Then came another fabulous miracle!

A stiff wind arose, whipping the winds against them, rendering their sail useless. They began rowing. “So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship” (John 6:19).

At first, the disciples believed they were seeing a spirit, an apparition. They were terrified (Matthew 14:26). Jesus called out to them and told them not to be afraid, saying, “It is I.”

Peter, always the disciple with bombast, said, “Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water. And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid: and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me!

“And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship [including the ship’s crew and all the disciples] came and worshipped Him, saying, Of a truth Thou art the Son of God!” (Matthew 14:27-33).

How would you and I feel, if we had experienced the same things? These men didn’t just “believe,” or hold to be philosophically or intellectually true that Jesus was the Son of God. They knew He was! There is a great difference!

They were living in the here and now. It was their country, their downtrodden citizenry, their homes, jobs, and families. The corrupt, rotten government of their day richly deserved to be replaced with the prophesied Messiah of Scripture! The occupational Roman legions, with their thousands of brutal, illiterate conscripts from all over the empire, deserved to be expelled!

Here was the Messiah! Here was the very Son of God!

They believed He was going to set up His kingdom in the very near future.

But When?

Each time a major event involving the authorities or large crowds occurred, the disciples fairly tingled with anticipation.

Would it be this Passover, when thousands of pilgrims from all over the “diaspora” (the dispersed Jews) would be in Jerusalem for the holy days? Would it be on the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Trumpets, or the Feast of Tabernacles?

A few days before His final Passover in the flesh, Jesus and His disciples neared Jerusalem. Two events occurred which strongly encouraged his disciples; events which to them must have meant He would use this coming feast in Jerusalem as the proper time for a coup d’etat, and overthrow the corrupt religious and political leaders.

Matthew knew why Jesus sent some of his men ahead to find a colt that had never been ridden. He wrote, “All this was done, that it might be fulfilled, which was written by the prophet saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold THY KING cometh unto thee, sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass” (Matthew 21:4,5).

Matthew was there, and he remembered the event clearly when he wrote his journal about twenty-four years later.

“And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them. And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set Him thereon. And a very great multitude [thousands!] spread their garments in the way: others cut down branches from the trees and strawed them in the way” (Matthew 21:6-8).

Imagine! A joyous, shouting, clapping, cheering crowd was insuring that not a single hoof of the colt could touch the ground! Several loud chants were taken up. “Hosanna to the Son of David!” The prophecies they thought were being fulfilled had to do with the reestablishment of the Davidic kingdom! The prophecy on every person’s lips was a prophecy of Zechariah, which said, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly [a common man—a man of the people], and riding upon an ass [as distinct from a prancing white horse], and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zechariah 9:9).

This was it! The crowds were sure of it! This was PROPHECY BEING FULFILLED RIGHT BEFORE THEIR EYES!

This was a great national event taking place—the triumphant arrival in Jerusalem of the new King of Israel!

Gleefully, they took up the cloaks and garments upon which the colt had trodden, passed them over the heads of the people crowding the narrow, steep path up to the city, and hastened to lay them down again in front of the colt.

“Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Eternal!” they shouted. “Hosanna [praise! joy! blessing!] in the highest! And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying Who is this?” (Matthew 21:9,10).

“What is happening? Who are these people? Who is this man around which they are making such a noise?”

Matthew continued, “And the multitude said, This is Jesus the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee!” (verse 11).

The next act of Jesus confirmed, absolutely, in the minds of the vast crowd, and in the minds of His disciples, that this was the moment! This was the time for which they had prayed; had eagerly expected!

“And Jesus went into the temple of God [this was exactly where they would have expected Him to go!], and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves! And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple: and He healed them” (verses 12-14).

The authorities were shocked, angry. All that day Jesus healed and spoke to the crowd. No doubt, thousands pressed forward, eager to hear every word. They applauded every miracle and excitedly questioned those joyously showing off their blind who now saw, their deaf who now heard, and their maimed and injured who were made whole.

In haughty anger, representatives of the chief priests arrogantly demanded of Him, as if expecting Him to halt the joyous display, and as if saying the shouts of the crowd were blasphemous,

“Hearest Thou what these say?”

Jesus answered, “Yea: have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou has perfected praise?”

Later, Christ left the temple, left the city, and walked back to Bethany! The disciples were no doubt both elated and a little chagrined. Why had He not continued on to Herod’s palace? Why had He not taken the crowd to Pilate’s residence, or to the home of the High Priest? Why had He contented Himself with healing, speaking, and contending with the priests in the temple?

During the next several days, as reported in Matthew 22-24, Jesus continually taught in the temple, and was repeatedly confronted by angry priests. They plotted to kill Him, but “When they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitude, because they took Him for a prophet.”

It was not until Jesus told His disciples to prepare for the Passover that they must have assumed He was waiting for that great event to complete His takeover—His assumption of the throne.

Notice: “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and His disciples came to Him for to shew Him the buildings of the temple [being hill-country people, they were overawed by the huge columns, the size and magnificent scale of the buildings]. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:1,2).

This was it! Now, He was speaking of violence! Of great destruction!

No doubt, having seen Him throw out the moneychangers; having seen Him stride up to their tables, and overturn them, scattering the coins in all directions; having seen Him make a whip of cords, and drive the cattle out of the temple, they thought He felt the temple so soiled, so defiled, that He would dismantle it, replacing it with something better!

But they were still puzzled, disappointed. How could they know when He would do all this? How could they avoid one disappointment after another? When were they to expect they could take part in the government?

“And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be?”

Yes, WHEN? That was their big question, one that had gnawed at them for a long time.

“And what shall be the sign of Thy coming [revealing, unveiling, arriving] and of the end of the world [consummation of the age]?” (Matthew 24:3).

They had no concept of a kingdom of any greater scope than that of the days of David and Solomon, as proved by their question after His resurrection. The “consummation of the age” of which they spoke meant, to them, the end of the despicable Herodians and Romans, the end of the hypocritical leadership of the corrupt religious leaders. It meant the beginning of a new age, a new government, a new era for Israel, for Jerusalem.

Then followed His famous “Olivet” prophecy, and His enigmatic statements, “Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh,” and “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day or the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:44; 25:13).

When Peter Tried To Kill the High Priest

Peter must have been chagrined, disappointed, frustrated, and humiliated. Jesus had begun speaking of terrible things—of being taken, killed! First, at that lengthy supper, He had said someone was going to betray Him!

“And they [all the disciples] were exceeding sorrowful [they were really emotional, outraged, indignant, shocked!], and began every one of them to say unto Him, Lord, is it I?” (Matthew 26:22).

In other words, they were saying, “Lord, surely You don’t think I could ever do such a thing?”

After Jesus showed John it was Judas who would betray Him, two things happened to Peter which must have thrown him into inner turmoil. First, Jesus reacted to a “strife among them, which among them should be accounted the greatest” (Luke 22:24). This was at the “Last Supper.” Not yet converted, but carnal, these young men failed to truly understand the great heaviness under which Jesus was laboring. They had not yet understood His enigmatic statements about His impending betrayal, death, and resurrection.

Then, after telling them that true greatness is service, He said, Ye are they which have continued with Me in my temptations [trials] and I appoint unto you a kingdom, as My Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:23-30).

There! He had said it! They were to be elevated to the rank of kings; to inherit, each one of them, their own thrones. They must have been truly elated, excited!

But then Peter was shocked and ashamed, for Jesus turned to him and said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desire to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”

Peter’s ears must have been burning. He immediately made a protestation of great loyalty! He responded, “Lord, I am ready to go with Thee, both into prison, and to death!” (Luke 22:31-33).

This response must be understood in the light of all that had taken place so far. Peter didn’t really think this would end in prison and death. Had not Jesus just said they would inherit thrones? His statement was a bold, perhaps exaggerated one.

Then came a terrible experience for Peter, in front of the others: Jesus said to him, “I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day [it was deep in the nighttime], before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest Me.”

One can only guess at the humiliation and shock Peter felt.

Moments later, he tried to save the day. Jesus was saying that the time was here, now, when “he that hath a purse, let him take it [metal coins], and likewise his scrip [paper money]: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And He was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning Me have an end.” (Luke 22:36,37; see also Isaiah 53:12).

He was plainly saying the time is here, now! He was telling His disciples to purchase weapons!

They didn’t understand that He was referring to Isaiah’s prophecy that Christ would be “reckoned among the transgressors,” or called a “common criminal” by the Jews and Romans.

Peter reached for his sword. Another disciple reached for his. Apparently, only two of them were armed. “And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And He said unto them, It is enough” (Luke 22:38). They must have been puzzled over Him saying only two were enough! Yet, perhaps they thought His miraculous power would combine with only two swords?

Then came His agony in the garden, His three long prayers, and their sleepiness.

This was followed by the arrival of a large, armed gang, led by Judas, who came with some of the priests, a “multitude” of them, with armed temple guards.

Judas kissed Jesus to identify Him to those who followed, and “When they which were about Him [His disciples] saw what would follow [they could read the vicious mood of the mob], they said unto Him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?”

Before Jesus had a chance to answer, Peter whipped out his sword, and tried to kill Malcom, a servant of the high priest, who was standing closest to Jesus! He slashed at Malcom’s head! Malcom dodged, and the glittering sword glanced off his head slicing his ear neatly off (Luke 22:47-50).

Peter had to show Jesus his loyalty! No way he would betray Him! Had not he just told Him he, Peter, would go to jail with Him; die with Him, if necessary? Then, he had been hugely embarrassed when Jesus said Peter would deny he even knew Jesus!

Here was a chance to vindicate himself—to start the revolution! Had not Jesus said things had come to “an end,” and told them to purchase weapons?

But, shockingly, Peter was sharply rebuked by Jesus, who told him to put up his sword. He said, “All they that take [up] the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” (Matthew 26:52-54).

Peter’s final humiliation was too great to bear. He faded into the background, and eventually followed the noisy mob at a great distance, safe in the darkness (Matthew 26:58).

Peter’s thoughts must have been bitter. Each time, back there at the feeding of the four thousand, and the five thousand; at Galilee, when he had walked on water; at Lazarus’ tomb, when Jesus had raised the dead; at Jerusalem, when thousands had not let the colt’s hoof so much as touch the road, and when they cheered, “Jerusalem, behold your King!” Each time, like when Jesus had cleaned out the temple, Peter thought, “This is it!” This is the beginning of the revolution!

But he had been rebuffed. He seethed with shame, anger, disbelief, resentment. Later that morning, he did deny he even knew Jesus three times! When he heard the cock crowing, he went out and wept bitterly.

But his tears turned to joy when, only three nights and three days later, Mary Magdalene and Mary, Jesus’ mother, came running to tell the disciples Jesus was alive!

Then followed His many miraculous appearances!

Peter watched as Jesus materialized in front of their startled eyes; commanded “doubting Thomas” to put his hand into Jesus’ side and into His wrists, where the gaping wounds bespoke His agonizing death.

Then came Peter’s final encounter with Jesus before the day of His ascension into heaven. Let me tell you about it from the final pages of my novelization of Peter’s three and one half years with Jesus, called Peter’s Story (no longer in print):

Excerpts From Peter’s Story

With the men in place and the nets readied, they left the shore that late afternoon, intending to fish all night if need be, for the family needed the revenue from a good catch.

As the faint rays of early light painted the distant shore, they were working close to the north beach, casting and hauling again and again, tired from the night’s work, and they hadn’t caught a single fish.

With the growing light they saw a man standing on the beach.

The slightest sounds carried an incredible distance in this early dawn, with the sea as smooth as glass, no thermals yet disturbing its surface.

“Children, have you anything to eat?” the man called out to them.

“No,” several of them called back, supposing it was an early morning purchaser trying to buy fish, which was not uncommon.

“Then cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some,” he said.

Puzzled, they wondered if the man had seen any fish rise, feeding. They were casting on the left side, away from the shore. Could he possibly have seen some fish feeding from that distance? They gathered in the net and cast it out the right side.

Peter ran aft, passing Andrew, who ducked under him to crisscross their lines and close the mouth of the net, and then four of them hauled away on the lines. They were using a cast net with its small floats and weights, and it took dexterity and skill to close it at the right time. As they began to haul the net, they saw the flash and dull, silvery sheen of many struggling fish! The net was sluggish and incredibly heavy, and it took all their strength to haul it close to the boat. And there, struggling, shimmering, was a huge school of fish! The fish were large, larger than they were accustomed to catching, and the sodden weight of the mass of fish was too much for them to haul across the thwart and into the boat.

John was peering intently at the man on the shore, following their struggles, and Peter looked over at him, giving his line to Andrew.

“Peter, it’s the Lord!” John said.

Peter gasped and, turning for his light, inner clothing (for he had been fishing naked, not wanting to ruin his clothes), he quickly put them on, cinched up the cord about his waist and, running along the boat, hit the water in a flat dive and began rapidly swimming toward shore.

The others grabbed the painter and hauled the little dinghy close to the larger boat and, snubbing the net lines around the cleats, piled into the dinghy and began to row ashore. The whole process took only minutes, but Peter was already only a distant splashing dot in the water, swimming with powerful strokes toward the land.

Peter felt weeds scrape his feet, and then sand. Gaining his feet, he hurled himself through the shallows, splashing out onto the beach, his brown beard dripping water and his feet becoming encrusted with the sand and small pebbles of the shore, running wetly toward the Man John had said was the Lord!

It was He!

There were livid marks there, on the face, and all about the scalp and cheeks, and the livid hues of deep wounds could still be seen on the hands. He was looking steadily at Peter with an enigmatic smile; Peter was trying to find words to say, choking with shock, wonder, surprise. His mind reeled with the miraculous fact that this really was Jesus—Jesus Christ of Nazareth! He had appeared before, several times, and here He was again, clear up here in Galilee! As Peter was about to speak, he heard the others scraping the keel of the dinghy onto the pebbly beach and the splashing and thump of their oars as they ran it ashore.

Peter followed the Lord’s glance and saw that they had been unable to bring the net aboard the dinghy, preferring to tow it along behind them, for it was so heavy. Jesus gestured toward them, and Peter ran to help. It took all of them to drag the net ashore, where the fish were slithering about, flopping and struggling, and making the net move like some living thing.

Hauling the boat even further, they opened the net, spilling out the fish and heaving them into the boat, counting as they did. Seventy-eight, seventy-nine, went the count, until they had counted one hundred and fifty-three! All of them large, the greatest catch Peter could ever remember! Why, salted, smoked or sold fresh, this would prove a real windfall to their families! Any one of those fish would make a good meal for two people!

Strangely, Peter noticed that Jesus already had a fire going, a grill laid out over coals resting on smooth rocks, and there was a fish already broiling over the coals, and bread! Where did it come from? Peter was afraid to ask, moving as if in a dream, wondering, and with scalp tingling, his pulse pounding.

Peter and Andrew deftly slit open and cleaned three of the largest fish, and before long they were sizzling pleasantly over the fire, the odor of hot, fresh bread mingling with the smoke, making Peter’s mouth water. Their conversation was strained, perfunctory. The weather, the boat, the lake, the catch—many exclamations about the size and number of the fish—yet none of the disciples dared ask directly, “Lord, is it really You?” even though every one of them wanted to.

Jesus was tending the fire and turning the fish.

In due time He brought bread to the others, where they were seated about on the beach near some large rocks and logs, and said, “Come, break your fast.”

They ate in silence, casting furtive glances toward Jesus now and again, watching Him eat and staring at the livid wounds.

As they were gathering up the scraps and throwing them into the fire, stirring it up to burn the leavings, Peter was stunned when Jesus straightened, looked right at him and asked, “Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jona, do you like Me more than these others?”

“Yes Lord. You know I like You,” Peter said, hugely embarrassed.

“Simon, son of Jona, do you love Me?” Jesus asked the second time, using a stronger Greek word that meant more than “like,” but which meant deep love.

Now Peter thought he knew what was coming. Here they were, standing about over a fire! The last time he had been standing over a fire and had seen Jesus was when they were buffeting Him, slapping Him around, spitting on Him and cursing Him, and while he, Peter, had cursed soundly, denied Him to that chambermaid.

Three times he had repeated that denial.

Now Jesus was asking whether he, Peter, “loved” Him.

Of course he loved Him. But it embarrassed him to think such terms, though it seemed to come easy to John.

Now here he was, staring at Jesus over a fire, and Jesus had said, twice, “Then feed My sheep.”

Peter knew He meant those who were following along with them, the other disciples, and the mysterious “other sheep” of whom Jesus had spoken so long ago.

Peter’s scalp prickled with apprehension, and he dug his toes in the sand, looking down, as the inexorable third question came.

“Simon Peter, do you deeply love Me?” Jesus asked.

“Lord, You know that I do love You,” Peter answered again.

“Then feed My sheep! Peter, when you were young,” Jesus continued in a sober tone, “you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished. But when you are old you will have to stretch forth your hands and another will dress you and take you where you wish they wouldn’t. Follow Me.”

“And what shall this one do?” Peter asked, thinking about John, who had leaned on Jesus’ breast at that last supper together.

“If I decide that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”

Peter raised his big head, feeling the morning breeze gently moving his beard and causing Jesus’ robe to flap slightly against His legs, with their livid, purpled scars. He looked at the disfigured face, remembering. He saw the jagged wounds in the hands and feet, and looked at the deep scars across the nose and eyes that made Him look differently, almost like an older, wasted man who would be a gardener or a graveskeeper.

He seemed to hear the dull smacking sound of that cutting whip that lashed at Jesus as he had stayed outside, by that fire. He remembered bitterly his denials of Jesus and how he had wept afterward.

He gazed at this Jesus—this Christ, this Man who was God—who had been scourged, crucified and killed, and who had walked out of a tomb through solid stone!

He thought back to the time when he had seen Him fall under the weight of that big stake, and how Peter had raged within himself when he saw the Roman soldier reverse his spear and jam it up into this same Jesus’ side.

And there was the very wound, visible now and then as the freshening breeze opened Jesus’ garment a little.

He remembered Jesus’ blunt, work-roughened hands touching a little child’s sightless eyes, and the sound of His voice when He prayed. He remembered the tone of command at Lazarus’ tomb, and the way He had wept at Mary’s and Martha’s disbelief. He thought back to the vision on Hermon, and the times up on the Sidonian seacoast, and at Sychem, and over in the Decapolis and down in Judea.

It all came flooding back now, the whole three and a half tumultuous, triumphant, disappointing, exciting, frustrating years. Jesus asleep, and arising out of His robes to go away and pray. The sound of His voice singing around their camps, and how the others would fall silent, enraptured to hear His strong baritone singing David’s great psalms and the songs of the common folk; how Peter would see tears glistening in the eyes around the fire as He sang of their people, their families and their Galilee.

He thought of the times when He had turned stormy at the disciples for suggesting some mischief, like calling down fire on the Samaritans, or at Peter for grabbing Him and shaking Him for saying He would be arrested and taken; the way He had walked in and taken Peter’s mother-in-law’s hand when she was sick with a fever, and how the fever had left her immediately, and she got up to help Beth with the meal. How He had been so preoccupied and had tried so desperately to communicate what He must have been feeling on that last supper they had together just before His arrest, wanting them to understand, to share.

Peter looked at Jesus, remembering.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the very Son of the living God, was standing here before him, standing on the sands of the sea where it had all begun, where He had come walking up and told Peter, “Follow Me, and I’ll make you a fisher of men!”

And to think I can’t even catch a fish without Him! Peter thought ruefully, remembering the whole night’s hard work and Jesus telling him where to throw the net.

He understood the big catch now, understood he couldn’t do anything without Jesus standing right there to guide him, it seemed.

Jesus had said, “You follow Me.”

Peter lifted his eyes to the shimmering sea, the pale shore lost in the distance, to the hills of Galilee. He smelled the morning breeze and looked at the little clouds forming, marching slowly across the sky. He knew now that the road would be long and tough.

He knew now that Jesus wanted him to go back down there to Jerusalem and wait for a great miracle from on high. He knew now, without the remotest shadow of a doubt, that he would catch those men, that he would feed those sheep.

He found his vision swimming. Jesus stood waiting, a faint smile, a knowing look of compassion on His cruelly marked face.

He stood like a proud warrior, wearing His scars of battle like medals, like honors. He was Jesus Christ. Jesus of Nazareth, the Jesus who was the very Son of the living God, and He was telling Peter to feed His sheep, to follow Him wherever He would go and whatever He would do.

Peter looked down, and the tears splashed over his beard.

He raised his big head, brushing a hand across his eyes and feeling the breeze in his hair and his clothing, looked at Jesus across the small fire. He would do it. He would go. He would feed those sheep.

“I’ll follow You, Lord,” he said, his voice breaking.

With that he turned, unfastened his belt and took his Roman sword from his waist. He took it by the haft and, striding to the water’s edge, hurled it as far as he could. The sun sent winking lights from its sharply honed blade as it spun around and around and splashed into the water.

Peter tossed the horsehide scabbard onto the fire.

He walked to Jesus, gently put an arm around His shoulders and said, “I’ll follow You, Lord, wherever You go.”

The two of them turned and walked slowly down the beach together. The others stood silent and watched.

Suddenly, Peter was walking alone!

He turned, came back to the fire and said gruffly, “Let’s go home and pack. We’re going back to Jerusalem.”

Finally, They Knew

It was in Jerusalem, just before Pentecost, that Peter and the others saw Jesus assumed up into the clouds, taken out of their sight.

They had asked, “Lord, wilt Thou AT THIS TIME [finally! at last!] restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).

But once again, they were told there was more preparatory work to do. They were ordered, “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me [about Me, for Me, on My behalf] both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

It was not until he was of great age, and knew he would soon be arrested and martyred, that Peter ever came to accept the fact that Jesus Christ would not return in his lifetime. He wrote, “I think it is fitting, as long as I am in this tabernacle [the temporary tabernacle of his fleshly body], to stir you up by putting you in remembrance: Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shown me” (2 Peter 1:13,14).

This lengthy statement led to Peter speaking about how deceivers and false prophets would scoff, and say, “Everything goes in cycles—everything continues just as it always was” (2 Peter 3:4) and to counter with, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8).

Finally, Peter knew.

Finally, He knew Christ would not come in his immediate lifetime. But he knew something else. He knew that, so far as Peter’s conscious thought was concerned; so far as the new, hidden man of the spirit was concerned; so far as the “new creature in Christ” that had been formed within Peter’s earthly tabernacle was concerned, the Kingdom of God was but a blinking of an eyelash, a “twinkling of an eye” away. He knew the Kingdom of God, with Jesus Christ sitting triumphantly upon His throne, ruling the world WOULD COME in Peter’s conscious lifetime! (1 Corinthians 15:50-52).

Peter, James, Andrew, John, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanite, Philip, “little James”—these young men did not exist as stooped, wizened old men with white beards. No, they were the young revolutionaries, who believed Jesus Christ would establish His righteous, fair, merciful, bountiful, peaceful GOVERNMENT in their immediate lifetimes!

They couldn’t know how long it would be, for it would have been cruel to have told them.

But you and I, believe it or not, are living in the time THEY thought was theirs! You and I, believe it or not, are living in the age when JESUS CHRIST IS GOING TO RETURN IN THE LIFETIME OF THISGENERATION!

Will it be before the turn of the century? Just afterward? Prior to 2009 or 2014? We cannot know the day, or the hour, but Christ’s promises, and His prophecies, tell us the time is near.

WATCH YE THEREFORE, for you know not in what hour the Lord will come!

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