Dear Friends,
As we continue this week with the eighth day following the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus, the light of the world, continues to shine the light of his word into the hearts of the people.
Light our hearts on fire, Father. Burn away any root of bitterness or stony cyst, that we may have pure hearts to see clearly and comprehend all that you have to show us, that we may live it and share it with others. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
John 9:1-12
1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
The rabbis taught that it was possible to sin within the womb, based on the story of Jacob and Esau (Gen 25). Apparently the disciples had been taught this. The idea of it being the parents’ fault came from Exodus 20:5, which is almost as much of a stretch as their interpretation of Genesis 25. I find it curious that they leapt to these conclusions but ignored what is clearly spelled out in Deuteronomy 28. Blindness was among the many judgments that would befall Israel if they went after other gods (Deut 28:28). Apparently, Deuteronomy 28:28 meant spiritual blindness as well as physical blindness, or else they would have seen their error. Israel did go after other gods and therefore they had to suffer the consequences, but the curses in Deuteronomy 28 were national judgments. All suffering is the result of sin, but not necessarily the personal sin of the individual who is suffering. Only Jesus can break the cycle of sickness and death caused by sin. This cycle started long ago in Genesis 3 and the blame fell squarely on Satan (Gen 3:14).
That being said, it is human nature to see personal misfortunes as punishments from God, even in Christian cultures. This false belief is far more pronounced in pagan cultures. In India, for example, a common Hindu belief is that charity for the poor is wrong because their karma put them in their situation and they deserve it. When I lived in India, I found some shop owners would not sell me food after they found out I was giving it to street kids.
This misunderstanding must be a very serious matter to God because it was the first thing He chose to explain to us. The very first Book the Holy Spirit penned for the canon of Scripture was Job, circa 2000 BC. Imagine the person you love thinking that you hate her or him and that you are purposely trying to cause her or him pain. You would not like that, and neither does God. Job did not experience his misfortunes because he was bad, but because he was good. (Job 1:8) It was not God who tortured Job, but Satan, although God allowed it. Why did He allow it? Satan alleged that Job did not really love God. Imagine someone telling you that your closest ally, the love of your life, does not really love you; their love for you is a ruse and they are only using you for their own personal gain. That is basically what Satan accused Job of (Job 1:10f). God chose not to let that accusation go unanswered. When God is done, there will be no question about his love for us or our love for Him. Job’s suffering (and ours) is insignificant compared to the suffering of our Saviour, not to mention the glory which shall be revealed in us. John 9:3 is a practical example of Romans 8:18.
4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Jesus says work three times in verse 4, showing how his idea of work and the Pharisees’ idea of work are two different things. The Pharisees were obsessed with works of the law, but Jesus performed works of love (John 1:17). Jesus also makes a reference to the great tribulation period (Matt 24:21), or ‘coming night’.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
While Jesus is away, we are the light of the world (Matt 5:14). Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, the church reflects the light of Christ. Jesus works through his body, the church, and it up to us to be salt and light. Otherwise, Jesus said we are good for nothing (Matt 5:13).
6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
Making clay on the sabbath was a breach of the legal code the Jewish leaders derived from the Torah. Jesus chose to heal in this manner specifically because it was the sabbath (v 14). As the light of the world, Jesus is lighting our way by teaching about the love of God. God’s love is not about keeping a complex code of dos and don’ts as the Pharisees taught. It is about loving others (Matt 25:40).
Instead of using clean spring water to make the clay, Jesus used his spittle. This reminds me of the love of a mother for her child. The things that a mother will do for her child as she cleans up his waste and his vomit, washes his face with her spit and so forth, may seem disgusting to an outside observer, but because of the close bond between the mother and the child, such things are perfectly normal to them. By anointing the eyes of the blind man with clay made from his spittle, Jesus was showing what J Vernon McGee called ‘the mother love of the Father God’ (cf Matt 23:37). In Mark 8, Jesus healed another blind man with spit only. It was not the clay, or the spit, his garment, or anything else that did the healing, but the faith of the person(s) He healed (Luke 8:48 et al). Jesus healed in many different ways to make this clear. When Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus, He used nothing more than his word and Barimaeus’ faith (Mark 10:52).
7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
Several times in John’s Gospel, Jesus points out that He was sent (v 4 et al), which explains why John translates Siloam for us. Like many other things embedded in the Jewish culture, the pool of Siloam pointed to Jesus. (See notes on John 7:37-53.) The pool of Siloam is one of those biblical sites that skeptics used to claim was a myth. Until it was recently found, that is. For more archeological discoveries that stopped the mouths of the skeptics, I recommend Halley’s Bible Handbook, the old version. After washing in the pool of the Sent One, this man who spent his entire life in darkness sees light for the first time, thanks to the light of the world.
In Luke 13:4, Jesus refers to the tower in Siloam, which fell on eighteen people and killed them. Just like the blind man in our story, Jesus uses the catastrophe of the tower in Siloam to point out that the disaster was not a result of personal sin. Nevertheless, just as the pool of Siloam was a blessing, the tower in Siloam was a curse. Jesus said, And whosoever shall fall on this stone [Jesus] shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. For a Christian, being broken is a good thing. It is better to come to Jesus and be broken than to reject Him and be ground to powder. Just as sunlight melts ice but hardens clay, the light of Jesus will either soften hearts or harden them, depending on whether one is willing to humble himself and receive Him.
8 ¶ The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
9 Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.
Whenever you experience a miracle and tell others, there are always those who will immediately contradict and blaspheme. No, they will say; it was not a miracle. There is a simple explanation for what happened, or in this case, ‘it’s not the same man’. Next week, his parents will confirm that he is indeed he that sat and begged and that he was indeed born blind.
10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.
12 Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.
John 9:1-12
As we have been going through John, we have seen that each of Jesus’ miracles are object lessons. This one is no different. Not only was the clay a teaching tool, but by sending the beggar to wash in the pool of the Sent One, Jesus is teaching us that the washing of water by the word (Eph 5:26) will give us understanding, discernment, and insight. It is one thing to see physically, but to see spiritually, one must bathe in the word:
…..I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.
…..O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
…..Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
…..I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.
…..I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
Psalm 119:96-100
If you read the word by faith and pray for the Holy Spirit to give you understanding, God will open your eyes and show you more than you ever imagined (Dan 2:22; 1 Cor 2:10; Pr 25:2; Col 2:3). The opposite is true for those who worship idols:
…..Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
…..They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
…..[…]
…..They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
Psalm 115:4, 5, 8
If you worship the God who sees (Gen 16:13), then you will see too. If you worship a blind idol, then you will be blind too. Now more than ever, we need ‘situational awareness’. That is to say, we need to understand the times we live in and view the events of our day through the lens of Scripture. Only then can we truly ‘see’ what is happening. Just as Jesus gave sight to the blind man who washed in the pool of Siloam, He will give sight to the Christian who washes in the water of the word. Jesus is the light of the world. Only He can light our way. But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. (Pr 4:18)
…..But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
…..But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit [cf John 6:63]: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1 Corinthians 2:9, 10
Prophecy Update: As Ben Stein pointed out earlier this week in his eloquent farewell letter, Goodbye America, the powers that be are doing everything they can to deceive us. In point of fact, understanding of the times is now essentially a matter of life and death. Consider:
1. Dr Kary Mullis, the inventor of PCR test, warned against using it to diagnose an illness. He was also a big critic of Fauci. Dr Mullis ‘coincidentally’ died right before the plandemic began. You can hear Dr Mullis explain the problems with the PCR test and why he hated Fauci in his own words here. Incidentally, Bill Gates and George Soros just teamed up to purchase a $41 million COVID testing company in the UK.
2. Dr Robert Malone, one of the scientists who invented mRNA ‘vaccines’ (more accurately called gene therapy) recently pointed out that the most ‘vaccinated’ countries are the same ones surging with COVID cases.
3. Dr Malone has been a critic of mRNA ‘vaccine’ mandates. They have therefore been quietly removing his presence from the Internet.
4. Multiple videos are circulating on the Internet of people being turned into magnets from the jab. This phenomenon is caused by an adjuvant known as graphene oxide, which aggressively delivers the spike protein to every cell in the body. This toxic substance becomes magnetic when it reaches body temperature.
5. Isolating people with lockdowns is very unhealthy and causes what is known as cabin fever. During the first round of lockdowns, a record number of Americans died of drug overdoses. In the UK, five times the normal amount of children committed suicide. Throughout history, quarantines were only used for the sick.
6. According to a study by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc, fewer than 1% of adverse reactions are recorded on the VAERS database. Therefore, the sky-high fatality rate, now over 12,000, is only around 1% (or less) of the actual number. The CDC recently said the spike in deaths recorded in their reporting system is a “mistake” without explanation and proceeded to delete thousands of reported deaths.
7. People who share their adverse reactions or the loss of their family members on social media are immediately blocked.
8. The truth is that the Wuhan virus is a bioweapon that was created and patented before the plandemic ever began. The jabs are the second phase of this worldwide biological attack, which is in truth part of a depopulation program. The deaths are going to keep skyrocketing, and you can bet the CDC will continue to gaslight us. When it becomes impossible to deny, they will blame it on new ‘variants’, but that will be a lie. Liars lie. Coronaviruses have had variants from time immemorial. It is called the common cold. That is why vaccines won’t work. When I was a kid everyone knew that, but now they just lie. Fauci is lying about not funding gain-of-function research. He has been caught admitting it on video. The shots are killing people and it is going to get a lot worse.
If you see and understand this, then blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. If you are a Christian and you have already taken the jab, don’t lose hope. It is not the mark of the beast as some have said (although it is definitely another step in that direction). The jab will not cause you to lose your salvation but you might lose your life if you continue with the shots. Look into ways to boost your immune system and detoxify your body. Pray for God to remove what was in the jab from your body and trust the Lord. Above all else, trust the Lord. He is able.
