Think About It – Page 3 – Light from the Word

I, the Lord, Have Spoken

The emphasis in this phrase, “I. the Lord, have spoken” is strong enough for us to consider the veracity of the Bible. In the beginning of all things, while creating the world, It was His spoken word that brought existence to what He commanded be created. And so, it was that the world was created in six days and on the seventh, He rested. He was pleased with all that He had created. He had only to speak and the power of His words brought life and form in everything that He created. At the command of the Lord’s voice all subjected to Him. There was sun light to govern the day and moon to govern the night; Man was created in God’s image; and a beautiful garden was provided for him to live in and tend to. “When the Lord speaks the word that He will speak and the word that He shall speak shall be performed; it shall be no more delayed or prolonged, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and will perform it, says the Lord God.” The spoken word of God is powerful to perform that which He sends it for. Isaiah 55:10-11 says, “For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it”. The Bible says, “He Who promised is reliable and faithful to His word” (Heb. 10:23b). The Lord spoke to Jeremiah and said, “I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it” (Jer. 1:12b). That confirms that the written word of God is alive and powerful to perform His purposes and fulfills His promises.

The voice of the Lord thunders in power and might; it causes the ocean to rise in judgment. When He came down to Mount Sinai it was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like that of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked greatly; as the trumpet blast grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with a voice (Exodus 19:18-19). Then He spoke to the people of Israel in covenant with the nation, by giving them the ten commandments. They were all afraid when they perceived the thunderings and the lightenings, and the noise of the trumpet and the smoking mountain, and as [they] looked they trembled with fear and fell back and stood afar off (Exodus 20:18). Thunderings, lightenings, trumpet sounding, all represented the voice of the Lord in His holiness and power. Nor men, neither animals could stand at the foot of the mountain to face the physical presence of God, because of what nature became after sin entered the world. Sin, without a doubt, changed man and nature, causing them to be afraid of God and be separated from Him. “Hear, oh, hear the roar of His voice and the sound of rumbling that goes out of His mouth! After it His voice roars; He thunders with the voice of His majesty, and He restrains not when His voice is heard. God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend” (Job 37:2-5). The letter to the Hebrews gives us a warning concerning our lack of zeal for the word of God: It says, “Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest, that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience, for the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life and spirit, and of joints and marrow, exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart, and not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:12-13).

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There Walked the Man Who Had Been Dead All Wrapped Up in Burial Cloths

This is a beautiful event in the life of Lazarus, but not only in his, but also, in the lives of all Christians, because it is prophetic in its meaning. It gives us the picture of the hope we have in our Lord and Savior, YAHSHUA Messiah, for it speaks of the Blessed Hope- “the glorious appearing of YAHSHUA Messiah, our great God and Savior, Who gave Himself on our behalf, that He might redeem us from al iniquity and purify for Himself a people eager and enthusiastic about [living a life that is good and filled with] beneficial deeds” (Titus 2:13). When YAHSHUA called Lazarus out of the grave, He was giving a future picture of the time when He will call His saints out of this world through a “cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God.” (I Thess. 4:16). YAHSHUA had to call the dead by name, otherwise, through the resurrection power expressed in YAHSHUA’S command, many would have risen with Lazarus. That coming glorious day was pictured then in the resurrection of Lazarus. “Your dead shall live [O Lord]; the bodies of our dead shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For Your dew [O Lord] is a dew of [sparkling] light; and the earth shall cast forth the dead [to life again; for on the land of the shades of the dead, You will let Your dew fall]” (Isaiah 26:19). Our names will be called on that day, when the trumpet of God will sound its blast.

It had been four days since Lazarus had died and buried. Martha, without hesitation, at the command to take away the stone that close the entrance of the cave where Lazarus was buried, exclaimed, “But Lord, by this time he throws off an offensive odor, for he has been dead four days!” YAHSHUA then said to her, “Did I not tell you and promise you that if you would believe on Me, you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:39-40). YAHSHUA’S affirmation and question move our hearts today to ponder on the meaning of His words. Believe in God is a verb that causes Him to reward us with a life of peace and in the future, eternal salvation. Believe is imbedded in faith and hope that moves mountains in our daily living; is the word that opens our eyes to see the glory of God been manifested while here on earth. Moses pleaded with God, “Show me your glory.” God’s action toward his request was, “I will make all My goodness pass before you…” (Exodus 33:18-19a). The glory of God is His goodness; Every day His glory is manifested to us in many ways we do not recognize. That day for Martha and those present who did not believe in YAHSHUA’S resurrection power, saw the glory of God shone through Him. The glory of God broke open Lazarus’ tomb and brought him out of the dead into the living. Every eye present saw it and marveled at His power, but still remained incredulous, with blindness that kept them in darkness. God’s goodness shone clearly also in YAHSHUA’S prayer before He brought Lazarus forth from the dead. He prayed to His Father, saying, “Yes, I know you always hear and listen to Me, but I have said this on account of and or the benefit of the people standing around, so that they may believe that You did send Me. When He had said this, He shouted with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! And out walked the man who had been dead, his hands and feet wrapped in burial cloths, and with a napkin bound around his face. YAHSHUA said to them, Free him of the burial wrapping and let him go” (John 11:42-44). This is a beautiful picture of when we will be undressed of our mortal body to the immortal one. Paul said, “For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable, and this mortal [part of us] must put on immortality; and when this perishable puts on the imperishable and this that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the Scripture that says, Death is swallowed up in and unto victory; O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (I Cor. 15:53-55).

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And He Looked at the Storm

It happened after the multiplication of five loaves of bread and two fish to feed the crowd of 5,000 men, not including women and children (Matt 14:21), when YAHSHUA dismissed the disciples to go into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowd (vs.22). YAHSHUA, after He dismissed the multitudes, went up into the hills by Himself to pray, as He used to do. When it was evening, He was still there alone (vs.23). YAHSHUA’S day had been busy feeding the crowd, and needed to be refreshed by the Father. Not concerned with time, evening came, and He was still there alone, praying. Meanwhile, a storm caught the disciples by surprise. The boat was by that time out on the sea, many furlongs [one-eighth of a mile] distant from the land. Their boat was beaten and tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them. In the fourth watch [between 3:00-6:00 a.m.] YAHSHUA came to them walking on the sea (vs.25). The disciples were in the storm for a while before the Lord appeared to them. Not that He didn’t know about it, but for some reason it happened that way. To me, was a matter of faith and trust for the disciples and through it, for them to see the glory of God. After all, the disciples witnessed miracles, and more miracles performed by Messiah YAHSHUA. He, being connected with nature, knew exactly what was going on. He was not delayed, as He is never late for anything.

In the fourth watch He decided to come to the disciples. In an amazing way, YAHSHUA showed His disciples once again Who He was. Creator of the earth, and of all that has been created, He walked over the waters as if walking on ground. The storm continued but it didn’t affect Him. For there stood One Who had the power to hush it. All creations submit to His voice, their Creator. The disciples had no idea. The storm was blinding them from recognizing Who that was walking on water. Distant from land many furlongs the disciples were beaten and tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them (Matt.14:24). Without YAHSHUA with them, they feared the fury of the storm. When He appeared in the distance, in their fear, they failed to recognize Him. They feared even more when they saw Him. As a matter of fact, they were terrified and screamed with fright, thinking He to be a ghost. (Vs.26).

From a distance came the comforting words, Take courage! I AM! Stop being afraid! I AM WHO I Am and WHAT I AM, and I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE. This was the answer God gave to Moses, many years ago, when He called him to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He asked God, what answer I would give to the Israelites when they asked, the question, What is His name? And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM AND WHAT I AM, AND I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE; and you shall say this to the Israelites, I AM has sent me to you! (Exodus 3:13-14). There, stood I AM to save them again, and this time, from the storm. The disciples should have known the tittle I AM that referred to God. There, stood the incarnate God, ready to save them as in the days of old. Peter, their spokesman, didn’t hesitate to be the first to answer. Seeing the Lord walking on the water, he wanted to try for himself, voided of faith, he said, “If it is You, command me to come to You on the water. YAHSHUA said, Come! So, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward YAHSHUA. But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Instantly YAHSHUA REACHED OUT His hand and caught and held him, saying to him O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat knelt and worshiped Him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God!” (Matt. 14:26-33).

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God Disarmed the Principalities and Powers That Were Raged Against Us

(Col. 2:15)

This spiritual warfare started in heaven, when the devil rebelled against God. He wanted to be like God in his prideful ways for having received a high honor of a cherub. The Bible describes him as “the anointed cherub that covers with overshadowing… You were upon the holy mountain of God; you were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the carnelian, topaz, jasper, chrysolite, beryl, onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and your settings and your sockets and engravings were wrought in gold. On the day that you were created they were prepared” (Ezekiel 28:13,14). This is quite a description of Satan! He had the highest position of all angels. He became proud and wanted to be like God, as a result, he was thrown out of heaven. From that time, he was called Satan, the devil. A destroyer, an accuser, a liar, a thief, a tormenter that’s what he is and more. YAHSHUA said, “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance” (John 10: 11).

What was really happening at the time YAHSHUA was crucified? Reading Genesis 3: 15 we see that YAHSHUA was fulfilling the prophecy of redemption for humankind. It reads, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel”. Satan’s head was bruised and treaded underfoot while YAHSHUA was being sacrificed. The Bible says, that “when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to the Law, to purchase the freedom of those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us” (Gal. 4:4-5). YAHSHUA, while on the cross, won the victory over Satan, and humankind was reconciled to God. In the suffering of the Son of God, while carrying our sins and diseases, we were reconciled with the Father and healed from diseases and Satan lost the battle. We see that in His death, even nature revolted, when the earth shook and the rocks were split (Matt.27:51a) showing the tremendous connection it has with its Creator. It spoke loudly and clearly, but just a few understood it, as in the centurion and his soldiers.

It was all invisible to the human eye what was happening. But at that time the spiritual war raged to free mankind from the power of Satan and nature felt it. For it also suffers corruption, as a consequence of man’s sin. In Romans 8:19-23 Paul gives a picture of nature in its longing for their redemption. He said, “For even creation waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God’s sons to be made known; for the creation was subjected to frailty, not because of some intentional fault on its part, by the will of Him Who so subjected it- with the hope that nature itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption [and gain an entrance] into the glorious freedom of God’s children. We know that the whole creation has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now”. There at Calvary, at the death of YAHSHUA, their Creator, they understood that they too were being liberated from decay through the reconciliation between man and God.

There, on the cross, “YAHSHUA disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross]” (Col. 2:15). Before then, men’s spiritual situation was that they were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of their flesh. God brought to life together with [Christ] having forgiven us all our transgressions (Col. 2:13). We were slaves to sin and condemned through eternity. But our Lord, YAHSHUA in His loving-kindness took upon Himself the punishment that due us and set us free, disarming the principalities and the powers, which were holding us prisoners to them. Principalities and powers, in this case, correspond to spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places; evil spirits that oppose everything and everyone. In Ephesians 6 Paul tells us to put on the armor of God to be able successfully to stand up against all strategies and the deceits of the devil; “for we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, but against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly sphere” (vs. 12). The works of darkness are powerless, because YAHSHUA nailed them to the cross. Before the blood of YAHSHUA they cringe with fear. They well know about their end publicly expressed and acted against them there on the cross.

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Healing Was Included in YAHSHUA’S Atonement

When YAHSHUA completed His work of atonement to save the world, He said, “It is finished!” What did He mean by that? We were redeemed from hell and healed from diseases. The Prophet Isaiah says: For many the Servant of God became an object of horror; many were astonished at Him; His face and His whole appearance were marred more than any man’s and His form beyond that of the sons of men… He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men. A Man of sorrows and pains and acquainted with grief and sickness, and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him; surely, He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows and pains, yet we considered Him stricken, smitten and afflicted by God; but He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain peace and well-being for us was upon Him and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole (Isaiah 52:13; 53:3-5). And Psalm 22 Continues: My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from the words of my groaning?… Many [foes like] bulls have surrounded me, strong bulls of Bashan have hedged me in. Against me they opened their mouths wide, like a ravening and roaring lion; I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is softened [with anguish] and melted down within me; my strength is dried up like a fragment of clay pottery; my tongue cleaves to my jaws and You have brought me into the dust of death (Ps. 22: 1,12-15). Here, He describes the horror of His sufferings; that was when the Romans broke His body by scourging Him without mercy. That was for our healing, my friend. These prophetic utterances were fulfilled and registered in the New Testament by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and Acts.

Matthew writes: Then the governor’s soldiers took YAHSHUA into the palace, and they gathered the whole battalion about Him. And they stripped off His clothes and put a scarlet robe upon Him. And weaving a crown of thorns they put it on His head and put a reed in His right hand. And kneeling before Him, they made sport of Him, saying, Hail king of the Jews! Mark says: And they struck His head with a staff make of a reed and spat on Him and kept bowing their knees in homage to Him. And when they had finished making sports of Him, they led Him out to crucify Him (Mark 15:19-20). Luke describes YAHSHUA’S agony in the Gethsemane Garden saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done. And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him in spirit. And being in agony [of mind], and prayed more earnestly and intently, and His sweat became like great clots of blood dropping down upon the ground. (Luke 22:42-44). After being scourged severely, without strength left, they made Him to carry our cross. Six hours hung on the cross, He suffered the worst pain, the separation from His Father, when our sins were put on Him. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me”? He suffered the pain of hell. His sacrifice was completed when He affirmed,” It is finished!” Salvation for the world, and also physical healing. We Praise You, YAHSHUA! Thank you for our healings. We have learned to accept His sacrifice for our salvation, but we struggle receiving the gift of healing. The fact is, the healing was part of His atonement. He gave us faith, and hope, which we must mingle together to receive our healing. Hope is empty without faith. Faith is the “spark plug” of hope. Faith and hope were in the words uttered by Him on the cross- IT IS FINISHED! The Word of God will not return to Him void of accomplishing that for which He sent. When we pray His words back to Him, He will answer us, no matter how long it will take. In Isaiah 55:10 He said: For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give see to the Sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

If then the Bible says, By His stripes we are healed and made whole (Isaiah 53: 5), What do you think it means? Why is that that we can’t grasp His word to believe with hope and faith for it to be accomplished in us? Psalm 91 says, You shall tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot (Ps. 91:13); YAHSHUA gave to the seventy disciples authority and power to trample upon serpent and scorpions and over all the power that the enemy possesses and nothing shall in any way harm you (Luke 10:19). These are our enemies!

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Our Ways Are Not God’s Ways – God’s Thoughts Are Not Our Thoughts

(Isaiah 55: 8- 11)

Abraham was seventy-five years old when God called him to leave his country, relatives and his father’s house to a land He was going to show him. He promised to make a great nation from him and bless him with riches. Seventy-five in those days was still a young age, relatively speaking, for his father had died at the age of 205. He had no children at that time, for his wife was barren. When the Lord appeared to Abraham in a vision a second time, he said to the Lord God, What can You give me, since I am going on childless and he who shall be the owner and heir of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? Look, You have given me no child; and born in my house is my heir. Abraham in his human nature is puzzled, not understanding God’s time line for the fulfillment of His promise. Sixteen years later, God came to Abraham again and this time he made a covenant between Him and Abraham. This covenant was that Abraham shall be the father of many nations; he probably wondered when, since sixteen years had passed since God had called him out of his land to a new land He was going to give him but his wife still was barren.

When God came to Abraham the last time before his wife conceived, he was at the age one hundred and his wife at ninety years old. God’s promise of a son became a matter of laughter to both of them. But God assured them that time that He was going surely to return to them when the season had come round, and behold, Sarah his wife was going to have a son. The reality to them was that they were now old, well advanced in years; it had ceased to be with Sarah as with women. Therefore Sarah laughed to herself, saying, After I have become aged shall I have pleasure and delight, my lord being old? The Lord saw and heard Sarah and said, Is anything too hard or too wonderful for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season comes around, I will return to you and Sarah shall have borne a son (Gen.17,18:10-14). God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; our ways are not His ways!

The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for her as He had promised (Gen. 21:1). Abraham was one hundred and Sarah ninety years old; but what is it to the Lord, since He is the Creator of life, and He is not in a frame of human time? He opened the womb of Sarah and what seemed impossible to them and their family, and a matter of laughter, became an expression of God’s power and faithfulness, for there is nothing hard for Him. His thoughts are not our thoughts; our ways are not His ways. He could have called someone younger according to our thoughts and reasoning; or He could have given Abraham a son earlier, but how would they have known the depth of God’s power and wisdom in the fulfilling of His promise to them? In our weakness God’s strength is manifested. Abraham had to go through a few experiences in life before he would see the reality of the promises. First he had to believe in the only true God, since he had come from a family of idol worshippers; second, he had to have faith to take the first step in obedience to God. Faith and obedience were then credited to him, for doing the impossible as far as to obey God in sacrificing his only son as God had asked of him to do. He had waited for that son twenty-five years. Now the Lord wanted to take him back. The depth of his faith went beyond the visible reality; in his faith he obeyed, believing God was going to give him his son back after he had killed him, as we read in Hebrews 11:17-18: By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test, had already brought Isaac for an offering; he who had gladly received all welcomed [God’s] promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom it was said, through Isaac shall your descendant be reckoned, for he reasoned that God was able to raise [him] up even from among the dead. Indeed in the sense that Isaac was figuratively dead, he did receive him back from the dead. “God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; our ways are not God’s ways”!

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A Journey through the Desert of Life

For you did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are You works, and that my inner self knows right well; My frame was not hidden from You when I was bring formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them… (Ps. 139: 14-16).

The beautiful creation of man expresses the depth of the wisdom of our God! Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable are His judgments! And how untraceable are His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has understood is thoughts, or who has been His counselor? … For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever! Amen. (Rom. 11:33- 34,36).

When God created man, He created him in His image, like no other creature he had created. Some special to consider and feel honored by. He gave man a beautiful garden to take care and live in. The earth was filled with beauty, as life was sinless and perfect. “It was good!” So, God said. Emerged in the wisdom of God in everything created, the world made its turns, bringing new days with the brightness of the sun which nourished and beautified all. A smile confirmed peace and joy all enjoyed. The Garden of Edem was the ornament of all lands and still is, because it is the Lord’s land. The fragrances the garden sent out were the fragrances of purity. Man needed nothing more to have his life complete and fulfilled, as God visited him and fellowshipped with him in the cool of the day.

The world enjoyed that period of time, short or long, I do not know, although, we wished that time would have lasted forever, as the pages of history would have had a different story to tell. We do not have understanding of what happened in that garden, but we have the promise that all will be changed someday. Meanwhile, life portrays that of Adam and Eve in their disobedience to God. The journey through this world became filled with challenges. We are born to die; the future is dark and uncertain in many ways, as dark as that day when Adam and Eve opened the door to sin, then sin entered into the world, bringing man the reality of his consequential destiny. The everyday choices we make in our journey will certainly dictate our day. Adam’s new journey started on cursed ground, on roads of thorns and with the sweat of his face he labored to provide food for the family and of course, life was not the same; death was now part of his life. Out of the dust he was formed, to that end he will return. It is rather depressing when we reason life this way: a beautiful beginning with a tragic end. New lives are sprouted every moment into the world, bringing happiness, a smile that will take a long time to fade. The future of everyone is written in the book of God. His Words determine the destiny of all lives. A journey is seen from the distance, with clear choices to make. Choices of all kinds, good or bad. As an example, Adam and Eve’s fall to sin changed the world, for sin continued spreading to all generations. When Cain, their first son, was born, he already had in his DNA the root of iniquity; His life was unique and strange. Becoming a vagabond, his life’s journey was rough and unpleasant, for he lived under God’s judgment.

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The Revelation Concerning the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ

It is a most solemn fact that Religious Christendom, by accepting that the Savior’s resurrection took place early on the Sunday morning after His death at 3 P.M. on the Friday, makes each of the Three specific statements on the subject uttered by our Lord Himself appear grossly inaccurate. It is, therefore, a singular joy and a cause for much thanksgiving to be able to dispel the cloud of suspicion which has gathered around these Three statements by virtue of Christendom’s willingness to accept and act upon a theory which does despite to each one of them. Every true Christian knows that our Lord could not err in any statement He made; but for eighteen centuries no one has been able to prove to the world from the Scriptures that each of His Three predictions was literally fulfilled. Rather have His statements been explained away than explained, and this often by those to whom the process must have caused much misgiving.

Statement 1: Matthew 16: 21…

“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto His disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised again the third day.”

The expression “raised again the third day” appears no less than ten times, in one form or another, as follows: Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mark 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 46; I Corinth. 15:4. This is by far the most frequent term used in reference to the time the Lord would be raised from the dead.

Statement 2: Mark 8:31

“And He began to teach them, that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

This statement “after three days” occurs only once in the Authorized Version but the Revised Version renders Mark 9:31 and 10:34 as “after three days”. It is also quoted in this form by the Jews to Pilate when the asked for a guard for the sepulchre. (See Matt. 27:63 and Luke 24:21.)

Statement 3: Matt. 12:40

“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

The statement is only recorded once in the Gospels.

Statement 3 is the most important of all because our Lord prefaced it with the words, “There shall no sign be given … but the sign of the prophet Jonas”. If, therefore, our Lord was not in the literal sense “three days and three nights” in death, then His one sign to this “evil and adulterous generation” failed. To declare such a thing would be blasphemy. To evade the issue by accepting the notion that the expression used by our Lord was a Jewish idiom that need not be treated literally is a most dangerous slight upon Him which, if taken to its final analysis, would allow His critics all the leeway they wish when belittling His statements on other subjects. To be a true prediction, our Lord’s session in death must have covered all or part of “three days” and all or part of “three nights”; and exactly the same terms would have applied to Jonah’s session in “the whale’s belly”.

Obviously, our Lord intended these three statements covering the time of His resurrection to be complementary one to the other. They are not purposeless and each one accomplishes a different object. We will take them in turn.

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God’s Trumpet and the Last Trumpet of Revelation

The Jewish Feast of Trumpets has nothing to do with the new covenant of blood YAHSHUA established for all who will believe in Him- His church, comprised of Jews and Gentiles. From God’s command to blow trumpets, it derived its name. The word teruah in Hebrew has its meaning in English a shout or a blowing. The significance of the blowing of trumpets in the Jewish tradition is:

Time to move on

Time to gather the people and call an assembly

To mark a sacrifice on a feast day

Warning of war or danger

To praise

To declare a procession or feast

To proclaim a king

Assemble the troops for battle

To declare victory.

We see here the blowing of trumpets as God commanded Israel, has great significance for that nation in the formation of their tradition, in setting them apart from other nations, as a guide and many other reasons. The blowing of trumpets does not necessarily serve the church of the New Testament, as it embraces all nations with different traditions and life-styles. It connected the nation of Israel to God’s command as in the practice of a feast, although the meaning of gathering the people for an assembly, is relevant to the church, because God’s calling His bride to assemble to heaven will be through the sound of His trumpet, according to the words of Paul, which read, For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God… (I Thess. 4:16). The trumpet mentioned here clearly shows a difference from the trumpets of Revelation 8-9, whose purposes are for judgments. These seven trumpets are angelic trumpets and not defined as God’s trumpet. For those who believe that the last trumpet mentioned by Paul has to do with the last trumpet in Revelation, remember one thing: that seventh and last trumpet is not the trumpet of God. Not one of the seven trumpets in Revelation is defined as the trumpet of God. In God’s coming judgment there will be seven angels, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls each carrying that which was determined to fulfill God’s judgments on the wicked. One more thing, the last trumpet of Revelation is not the same last trumpet Paul mentioned in I Corinthians, since the book of Revelation had not yet been written. Someone has said that Paul was drawing his tradition from the Old Testament in referring to the summoning the congregation of Israel to set out (Numbers 10:2-5) Paul called it the last trumpet to show the completion of God’s redemption embed in the number seven.

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Let Not the Iniquity of My Father’s Be Remembered by the Lord

Iniquity is a word with grave meaning and consequences. It spreads its roots to generations without end. A weakness we carry on our genes from the time of conception. It became active when our forefathers Adam and Eve first sinned. I do not mean that they sinned because they were unrighteous, but because Eve was deceived. Sinned for the first time, they did not stop there. It seemed that that was an open door for the root of all kinds of sin to take place in their soul. We do sin with our soul: the mind, the emotion and the will. The body is controlled by the dictates of the soul, and it acts upon the demand of the soul. It seems that it is in the level of the soul that we receive the curse of the sin of iniquity at conception. The Psalmist said, My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret, intricately and curiously wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them (Ps.139:15-16), a psalm of David. When the sperm touches the egg successfully, then life is created. All that we will be is in that sperm. It is the “unformed substance.” “It runs in the family,” whatever weakness a person has. The sin of iniquity is one that carries the curse from generation to generation. It holds us prisoners to its consequences, which will be for sure in our life time, so it seems.

What was happening when YAHSHUA was going through the atonement for our sins, including our diseases? The Prophet Isaiah, many years before YAHSHUA’S time on earth, prophesized this: Surely, He has carried our griefs (sicknesses, weakness and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains, yet, we considered Him stricken, smitten and afflicted by God. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities, the chastisement [needed to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole (Isa.53: 4-5). “He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities.” Let’s talk about the word bruise. The Webster dictionary describes as to break, to shatter, to crush with or as with mortar and pestle, to hurt the feelings; a bruise cause discoloration of the skin caused by a blow. The word bruise has a strong connotation and varied results, depending if physical or emotional. When YAHSHUA was bruised for our guilt and iniquities, He suffered deeply into His soul. It was as a mortar crushing into His emotion and heart. A pain that carries a heavy load of emotional feelings, as He took upon Himself the guilt and iniquity of the entire world. That, my friend was not easy for the Son of God to carry. We were once and for all free from the consequences of the sin of iniquity and guilt, but not until we accept and surrender our lives to His control. He did all to save us from the power of the sins of iniquity, although we still have to face it in the form of temptation. That brings to mind Paul’s struggles with it when he expressed himself concerning it saying, For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it, for I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am doing. Now, if I do what I do not desire to do it is no longer I doing it, but the sin which dwells within me; so, I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me, and I am subject to its insistent demands, for I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self, but I discern in my bodily members a different law of my mind and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs. O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from this body of death? O thank God! Through YAHSHUA Messiah! So, then indeed I of myself with the mind and heart serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin (Rom. 7:18-21;23-25). We must overcome this spiritual battle raging against us every day, if we are truly born-again; if we are born of the spirit.

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