Dear Friends,

Greetings in Christ!

In this post, we will look at what transpired in the upper room, where the disciples were while they were waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit. Give us understanding, Father, as we read thy word, in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Acts 1:15-26
15  And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
16  Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. [Cf II Pet 1:21]
17  For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.
18  Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
19  And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.

To reconcile the accounts of Judas’ death (ie did he ‘fall headlong’ or ‘hang himself’ as Matt 27:5 says), one need only consider that if a hangman’s rope is too long, the head pops off. The length generally used in modern times was 6 feet. That was long enough to break the neck so the individual was not left dancing in the air until he expired, and short enough to keep the head attached. It looks like Judas took a flying leap headlong with a rope around his neck, and his head was pulled off. That is one possibility, anyway. Another possibility is that Peter was simply wrong. It does not say anywhere in the Bible that Peter spoke ex cathedra. (Nor did he ever ask anyone to kiss his ring.) The Bible is always true, so while it is true that Peter said that, he could have made a mistake like any other preacher, especially considering the fact that they were still waiting for the Holy Spirit. 

As far as the question of whether the Pharisees bought the field called Aceldama (Matt 27:7) or whether Judas did, in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Alfred Edersheim said the Pharisees used a legal loophole that allowed them to accept the field from Judas in his name, but not the blood money itself. (1) Edersheim was a Jewish scholar who studied Torah and the Talmud before converting to Christianity.

20  For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.

Peter is often faulted for ostensibly plowing ahead without the leading of the Holy Spirit here, but he had a scriptural basis for his actions. (Ps 69:25; 109:8) 

21  Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
22  Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.
23  And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.

There appears to be a flaw in their logic. Although we may have a truncated version of the events, I cannot help but wonder, what if God had someone else in mind other than these two? You may have heard it said that it is a bad idea to ‘put God in a box’. It looks like that is what they were doing. (Cf 1 Sam 16:6-12) Many believe Paul was the one God chose to replace Judas.

24  And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,
25  That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.
26  And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Acts 1:15-26

As mentioned in the Introduction notes, Matthias was martyred for the faith. Therefore, we should not be too quick to judge the actions of the disciples to replace Judas Iscariot. Their decision was based on the word of God and prayer. The chapter ends with the disciples praying to hear God’s answer. We will see this pattern continue in the Book of Acts. The early church followed the word of God and was steeped in prayer. (Acts 2:42-47; 3:1; 6:4; 7:55-60; 8:14-17; 9:11; 10:1-4, 9; 12:1-11; 13:1-3; 14:23; 16:13, 25ff; 20:36; 21:5; 27:35; 28:8; et al) According to Professor Edwin Orr, throughout history every revival there has ever been since Acts 2 had its roots in prayer. When Christians look to the word of God and pray, the Holy Spirit responds and things happen. When Christians neglect the word of God and prayer, they become cold and indifferent. To be led of the Spirit, we need to be in the word of God and prayer. 

There is another aspect of Peter’s actions that is often overlooked — at least he was taking action. If you want to be used of God, you need to do something. Even if it does not work out, at least you are doing something. It has been said that you cannot steer a car that is parked. For God to use you, you have to be in motion. If you are not doing something, the Holy Spirit cannot guide you — because you are parked. This principle applies to everything, not just ‘Christian’ work. Solomon wrote, For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; That means if you want your dreams to come true, you have to get busy. Or as one preacher said, If a farmer prays for a bumper crop, he better be saying that prayer with a hoe in his hand.

According to historian Sydney E Ahlstrom, one of the strongest influences on the church in America was the “Puritan reformation” in England that spilled over into the colonies. Among the beliefs of the Puritans was the importance of hard work and action, not just for the clergy but the laity as well. (Matt 5:13, 16; I Pet 1:9) The Puritans believed Christians should be outgoing and engaging. (John 17:15) They believed all work — not just ‘Christian’ work — glorified God. This was a reversal of the monastic ideas about godliness that predated the Reformation. (2) Peter grew restless waiting around in the upper room for the Holy Spirit to come. Peter was a man of action. He always wanted to do something. That is a good example for us all. While the Puritans had their faults, the same as Peter and the rest of us, they had their merits as well, not the least of which was their part in the creation of the KJV. 

To sum up, in Acts 1 while the disciples were waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit, we see the importance of looking to the word of God and prayer (cf Acts 6:4), as well as activity (Luke 19:13). The disciples already had a measure of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22; cf Luke 24:45), but in Acts 2 we will see Peter on fire with the power of the Holy Spirit when the waiting is over and the promise is fulfilled. Ie, when Peter is baptized with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:5)

Father, help us to know when to pray, when to wait on You, and when to act. Please give each of us a vision concerning how we can be salt and light and best serve You as we wait for your Son to come back for us. Make it clear and unmistakable; empower us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and lead the way, for without You we can do nothing. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Prophecy Update: I was recently praying about some health problems that have been dogging me, such as a sore muscle on the right side of my lower back, high blood pressure, and low stamina. As I was praying about whether I should see a doctor or follow James 5:14 at church, I felt the Lord was telling me to ask for prayer from my old prayer group in India. Shortly after I asked one of them to bring my request before the group, I got the idea to try taking hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). I had some handy which I bought in Belize, so as a loading dose I took 800 mg along with 250 mg of zinc. The back pain was gone when I woke up the next day. By that night, my back felt normal again. I checked my blood pressure two days later, and it was back to normal. Bleeding and clotting in my right nostril (a symptom of high blood pressure) finally stopped after having lived with it for more than a year. When I went jogging, I felt like myself again. I had enough HCQ to continue taking 400 mg along with 200 mg of zinc for 6 more days. (I usually take 50 mg of zinc daily along with other nutraceuticals.) 

Was it my friends’ prayers that healed me? Or was it the HCQ and zinc? Both? All I know is when I brought it to the prayer group, I got better — for free, without insurance. I think the Holy Spirit answered my friends’ prayers by giving me a word of knowledge, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit (I Cor 12:8), telling me to take the HCQ and zinc. In any case, God gets the glory. I believe God is always the healer, whatever the method. 

Nevertheless, this experience got me thinking about HCQ. The pharmacist (chemist) who checked my blood pressure recommended I continue taking HCQ. He said that HCQ is a “miracle drug that has all kinds of benefits.” I’m not in Belize anymore, so this meant I needed a prescription. At the clinic, the receptionist and the nurse were nice, but when the PA saw me, he flatly and smugly refused to write a prescription. He wanted to talk about pharmaceuticals to address symptoms I no longer had since taking HCQ. That led me to take another look at a book I read by RFK Jr, and review the section on HCQ. These are just a few of the many passages I had highlighted:

 “Among the features pharma companies most detest is low cost, and HCQ is about $10 per course. Compare that to more than $3000 per course for Dr Fauci’s beloved remdesivir.” (3)

 “A physician from Zambia reported to Dr Harvey Risch that in some villages and cities, organized groups of buyers emptied drugstores of HCQ and then burned the medication in bonfires outside the towns. South Africa destroyed two tons of life-saving hydroxychloroquine in late 2020, supposedly due to a violation of an important regulation. The US government in 2021 ordered the destruction of more than a thousand pounds of HCQ, because it was improperly imported. “The Feds are insisting that all of it be destroyed, and not be used to save a single life anywhere in the world,” said a lawyer seeking to resist the senseless order.” (4)

 “After widespread use of the drug for 65 years, without warning, the FDA somehow felt the need to send out an alert on June 15, 2020 that HCQ is dangerous, and that it required a level of monitoring that is only available at hospitals.” (5)

 “All through 2020, Bill Gates and Fauci lashed out at HCQ every chance they got.” (6)

 “Long use has established HCQ’s safety and efficacy such that most African countries authorize HCQ as an over-the-counter medication. Africans call the drug “Sunday-Sunday” because millions of them take it religiously, once a week, as a malaria prophylaxis. It is probably not a coincidence that these nations enjoyed some of the world’s lowest mortality rates from COVID. … Many people in Africa and India take it for a lifetime.” (7)

 “In fact, Dr Fauci always had a stable of horses in the game. One of them is remdesivir, even after the WHO’s randomized placebo trial showed remdesivir ineffective against COVID. Furthermore, remdesivir has a catastrophic safety profile.” (8)

 “Professor Risch believes that Dr Fauci knowingly lied about the drug hydroxychloroquine and used his influence to get the FDA to suppress it because he and other bureaucrats are “in bed with other forces that are causing them to make decisions that are not based on the science [and are] killing Americans.
 “Moreover, Dr Risch specifically claims that Fauci and the FDA have caused “the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans who could have been saved by” HCQ.” (9)

I share all this because, although Covid is behind us, their schemes are certainly not. You may recall the voices in 2020 saying that what was happening was only a ‘test run’. In a recent news piece, tech titan and Jeffrey Epstein BFF Bill Gates declared that electronic tattoos will replace our smart phones, credit cards, and be “better” than current health-monitoring wearables. I first posted that Gates was talking about these plans on endofdays.press on 04/03/2020. It was quickly labeled a conspiracy theory. Although the link in my original post is now dead in an attempt to memory hole what Gates was saying at the time, it can still be found here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20200402004202/https://biohackinfo.com/news-bill-gates-id2020-vaccine-implant-covid-19-digital-certificates/

The article referenced implantable capsules (RFID chips?), digital vaccine certificates, quantum dot technology, and smart tattoos, all of which I have written about on this blog. Well, so much for it all being a ‘conspiracy theory’ as Gates’ recent comments can now be found in several articles, including here:

Exactly what the mark of the beast will look like is anyone’s guess, but one item in particular that has my attention is quantum dot technology: 

If we forget what they did to us in 2020, they will most certainly be all the more emboldened for their next attempt. Yet God will guide us through whatever schemes they are plotting, just as He did in 2020. What should have been the standard of care in 2020 — early treatment with HCQ and zinc — is only one side of the coin. What they did to us with the so-called vaccines is the other side. On a flight to Israel a couple of years ago, I spoke to a scientist who said she was involved with research evaluating heart problems that people in Israel who had been vaccinated were having. When I asked her if she took the Covid shot, she looked down and said yes. She said, “I wish I hadn’t, but I wanted to be free.” Never forget what they did to us. Always remember what the Bible says this is all leading to. I believe the Holy Spirit is saying it is a good idea to get your hands on some HCQ to be ready for whatever they may be planning next. That might not be easy if you live in America, but not impossible. Dr Stella MD dot com may be a place to begin looking:

Magog Update: One of the puzzling points in the Magog prophecy of Ezekiel 38, 39 is how Israel burns the weapons of their attackers for seven years. (Ez 39:9) I used to think that Israel somehow confiscated the nuclear material of their enemies and used it for nuclear energy. Now I see another possibility. This article shows the PKK burning AK-47s and other rifles:

I do not think it is too much of a stretch that Israel could spend seven years doing the same, considering all the rifles and other weapons that would be left after the battle. Another recent news item that got my attention was the Israeli prayer group at the Al-Aqsa mosque led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Although the office of the prime minister denies it, many feel this was a step toward annexing a portion of the Temple Mount. This, of course, could lead to the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. The Temple does not necessarily need to be built where the Dome of the Rock is. There are several theories about where the Temple was. Lambert Dolphin, for example, proposed four different locations where the Temple may have been:

For me, the Dome of the Rock is one of the least likely locations for various reasons, one of them being Ezekiel 42:20:

He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.
Ezekiel 42:20

The length of the wall, each side measuring 500 reeds, is longer than the current walls surrounding the old city of Jerusalem by about 1.5 miles. The walls Ezekiel saw were square, which the walls around the old city are not, but it gives an idea of the scale. It looks as if a new addition may be added between the new Temple and the Dome of the Rock. Still another theory is that Herod’s Temple was to the south of the Temple Mount in the City of David. Time will tell, but things are definitely heating up over there. 

In closing, the new world order is hard at work trying to censor information they do not like. A new bill has been proposed that could lead to the blocking of websites that the new world order finds objectionable:

I have been blocked from WordPress on my laptop since 2024. Recently, the same thing happened with Substack. (I still have limited access on my phone.) Both WordPress and Substack deny blocking me, which is plausible, but if you ever find my websites are gone, stay diligent to keep your eye on the situation in Israel and all the other things pointing to our Lord’s soon return. Stay focused on the word of God and prayer. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

1 As cited in McGee, ACTS Chapters 1-14, pp 22, 23.
2 Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People, pp 116-119.
3 RFK Jr, The Real Anthony Fauci, p 24.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid, p 25.
6 Ibid, p 28.
7 Ibid, pp 20, 21.
8 Ibid, p 36.
9 Ibid, p 37.