Dear Friends,
Last week Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. After the wedding, He took a short break in Capernaum, where He based his ministry. He then proceeded to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover.
Give us understanding Father, as we read thy word, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
John 2:12-17
12 After this he [Jesus] went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.
13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
Jesus was the only Person to ever keep the law perfectly. The Torah required Jewish males to attend three feasts each year in Jerusalem: Passover, Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles. (Deut 16:16) The Pharisees accused Jesus of transgressing the tradition of the elders, but Jesus turned the tables on them and asked why they dishonored the word of God. (Mark 7) He said Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Having fulfilled the law in his life, his death, and his resurrection, Jesus then set us free from the curse of the law by giving us the new covenant of grace. (Gal 3:13f)
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
Jesus was anything but the frail pacifist that He is often made out to be. As a carpenter, He undoubtedly had rough hands and a strong body. Not only did He take charge and drive out the temple priests’ peddlers and money changers, He did it using a whip. He was gentle when He needed to be (2 Cor 10:1; Gal 5:22), but He was also fearless and tougher than nails when the situation called for it. This side of Him was only seen when He was dealing with the professional clergy who had become religious racketeers.
16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
The priests who ran the temple had quite a racket. When people came to worship, they would inspect their sacrifices and inevitably find a blemish. The worshiper would be told he was not allowed to offer his sacrifice based on Malachi 1:8 and several other passages. Not to worry though, the temple had pre-approved livestock available for purchase. One small detail: they could not accept the Roman coin the worshiper had. Again, not to worry, just go see the money changers and exchange your coin for the temple shekel (for a nominal fee, ie an inflated exchange rate). These practices would have made people resent their worship, when it was supposed to be a sacred act that blessed them (cf 1 Sam 2:17). Jesus’ response to this was prophesied by the prophet Malachi: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. (Mal 3:3) Another aspect of Jesus’ actions is seen in a Passover tradition that is still observed today. Before the Passover Seder can be observed, all chametz (leavened products) must be removed from the home. Leaven, in the Bible, is always a type of sin. Leaven puffs up (cf 1 Cor 4:6, 18f; 5:2; 8:1; 13:4; Col 2:18). A game is made of it and the children search for anything that has to go. Likewise, Jesus removed the chametz from his Father’s house in preparation for the Passover.
17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
John 2:12-17
The first Passover was a striking picture of our deliverance from the New World Order (ie the great tribulation period). The ten plagues that Moses unleashed on Egypt prefigured the plages that will take place during the great tribulation period. With all that is taking place in the world today, I am becoming ever more mindful of our need to prepare for Jesus’ return. Jesus commands us to watch, and pray always that we will be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass. (Luke 21:36) I’m afraid there are going to be a lot of ‘churchgoers’ who have head-knowledge of the gospel, who are going to be in for a rude awakening when the rapture hits. (Matt 7:21) We are saved by faith and not works; the Bible therefore tells us to examine ourselves, whether we in the faith (2 Cor 13:5).
In the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet was shown what the priests were doing in the temple behind closed doors. Ezekiel saw the priests worshiping idols and engaging in pagan practices in secret. They thought the LORD did not see their abominable behavior. There is a very important spiritual lesson here for us to consider. The Bible says our bodies are temples of the living God. (2 Cor 6:16) Are the meditations of your heart acceptable to God? Or do you keep idols hidden in your temple? Is your heart a place where Jesus feels comfortable? Or does He smell a stench coming out of the closet? The purpose of these weekly notes is to strengthen you, not condemn you, but I wouldn’t want to give someone who is comfortable with their sin a false sense of security either. Jesus said we must be born again (John 3:3-7). Born-again Christians are grieved when they sin, and they confess it (to God). Born-again Christians ask Jesus to help them forsake their sin, so they can grow in grace:
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
2 Peter 1:5-10
Father, please help us cleanse our temples, to purge the leaven out of our hearts and minds, that we may be ready for your Son when you send Him for us. Help us to love one another the way your Son commands us to, that we may make our calling and election sure. Please reveal anything in us that is displeasing to You, and help us to confess and forsake it. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Prophecy Update: I sometimes wonder what Christians who live in certain countries must think when they hear Americans fussing over whether we will be able to fix the problems with our elections. In places where going to jail for being a Christian is just a ‘normal’ part of life, what must we sound like? What about countries where Christians know they will be executed if they are found out? Would it maybe be a good thing for the church in America if persecution were to come to here? What about the rest of the world? We just might find out soon enough. We really have no idea what is coming in 2021, but here are a couple of things to consider: 1.) One of the most concerning things about the Dana Coverstone dreams was the part about an invasion from China. A video of a lecture from a top Chinese professor who also serves the CCP recently surfaced, in which he candidly stated what those of us who have been paying attention already knew: China has been controlling the US for decades. (That is, until the Trump administration.) Even in the 90s, it was known that China was funneling millions to the Clintons for quid pro quos. (*) Other politicians with ties to Chinese spies include senators and congressmen, not to mention the presumptive president-elect. This, of course, makes the election outcome that much more crucial. On Monday night, the State of Texas filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court against four key battleground states. The case was docketed on Tuesday. In their suit, Texas is asking the Supreme Court to nullify the electors from the four states because of misconduct. All together, these states account for 62 electoral votes, which is enough to change the outcome of the election. Eighteen states and 106 members of Congress have filed briefs with the Court in support of Texas, while twenty states have filed briefs in opposition to Texas. Talking heads accross the political spectrum are saying the Supreme Court will likely reject the case, but actual lawyers at the ACLJ say they expect an opinion from the Court by Sunday, given that the Electoral College meets on Monday. [**] Should the Supreme Court accept the case and rule in favor of Texas, Trump would have two clear paths to victory. The first path would be by the Republican majorities in the four states’ legislative assemblies choosing new electors. The other path would be a failed election short of 270 electoral votes, in which case the House of Representatives would elect the president en bloc, since there are more states with Republican majorities. 2.) Another concerning thing about the dreams was the part about hyperinflation. This article on Zerohedge lists several charts that indicate hyperinflation may be coming soon. Each of the charts in the article shows a drastic and steady shift beginning in March when the COVID news hit.
There have been a couple of rulings in recent weeks from the Supreme Court upholding freedom of religion in California and New York, but business owners are still getting arrested and fined for COVID violations. In some countries, things are worse. In Hong Kong, things are a lot worse. The protests there were effectively shut down by COVID and now the CCP is making the protesters pay for their rebellion. There are lots of things to be concerned about in the world these days—and most of them are connected to the plandemic—but actually suffering from COVID itself is not one of them, so don’t let them scare you. According to their own numbers, the stories about overwhelmed hospitals are hoaxes — panic-porn. Period. Furthermore, in most hospitals there are good doctors who give people the proper treatments and they fully recover. It’s only in a few specific hospitals that effective therapeutics are forbidden but instead people are unnecessarily intubated and killed, all because of politically-motivated policies and financial incentives. This has all been thoroughly documented in Undercover Epicenter Nurse by Erin Marie Olszewski. And yet there seems to be no end in sight concerning the COVID hysteria and the much-hyped vaccines. According to top scientist Dr Michael Yeadon, the mRNA vaccine can sterilize young women who take it. The Pfizer vaccine caused lymphadenopathy in nearly 5% of the young people in the trial. Who knows what else it might do? Operation Warp Speed does not allow enough time to tell, but in a creepy article, CNN says we should “not at all be surprised” if people start dying after receiving the Pfizer vaccine. What I wrote about last year in our Isaiah study concerning the death cult is manifesting itself; not only with the vaccines, but the lockdowns are causing suicide rates to skyrocket because of depression. The death-cult lockdowns are particularly devastating to Africa. The never-before-used mRNA ‘vaccine’ (that tinkers with the human genome and the delicate proteome homeostasis of the body’s cellular chemistry) is like a training bra for the mark of the beast. They know that if they can get you to wear a petri dish on your face and accept multiple doses of God-knows-what to be injected into your temple, they can get you to accept anything. But if you are still considering taking the vaccine, watch this first. Even on Foxnews, a top microbiologist said the ‘vaccine’ will ‘send you to your doom’. In conclusion, as I said above, we really have no idea what is coming in 2021. What if things go from bad to worse? How will you respond if the Lord calls you to be a Corrie ten Boom, a Nee T’o-sheng, a Richard Wurmbrand, or an Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? How much of your Bible have you memorized? Are you prepared to suffer the consequences of refusing the vaccines? I would like to tell you we are all about to be raptured and there is nothing to worry about, but that would not be honest of me or fair to you. No man knows the day or the hour. We must prepare ourselves should the Lord tarry. Remember this: Should persecution come to your country, the Lord will be with you and give you the strength you need. Corrie ten Boom traveled and spoke extensively after WWII. This is an excerpt from a letter she wrote, describing what she told a group of believers in an African country she visited that was experiencing heavy persecution:
“When I was a little girl,” I said, “I went to my father and said, “Daddy, I am afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a martyr for Jesus Christ.” “Tell me,” said Father, “When you take a train trip to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before?” “No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train.” “That is right,” my father said, “and so it is with God’s strength. Our Father in Heaven knows when you will need the strength to be a martyr for Jesus Christ. He will supply all you need—just in time…”. — Corrie ten Boom, 1974
As an adult Corrie ten Boom suffered persecution during the Nazi occupation of Holland. Just as her father told her when she was a child, Jesus strengthened her when she needed it and she and passed her test with flying colors in Ravensbruk concentration camp. Many were saved through her ministry to the other prisoners. Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. Even in sorrow we can rejoice; even in poverty, we can make others rich; even when we have nothing, we possess all things. Even in our darkest valleys we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
(*) Dr Roger Cantfield and Richard A Delgaudio, China Doll, Clinton, Gore, and the Selling of the US Presidency (Washington, DC: United States Intelligence Council, 2000), pp 85-120
[**] Update 12/11/20 7:00 PM: The Epoch Times has reported that the Supreme Court has rejected Texas’s bid to challenge the 2020 election results in four battleground states.
