Galilee of the Gentiles vs. Jerusalem Above

 

 

 

One of the most revealing and confirming truths that Yahweh has uniquely given to the Remnant Bride is the understanding of Bible contradictions.  Clearly, they speak.  In fact, it is inevitable that Bible contradictions are going to speak, whether we understand them or not.  If we do not have the insight to understand their consistent revelatory messages as parables, then they speak of the glaring weakness of the Bible to keep its facts straight. 

 

Either the Bible is the word of God and is accurate in all regards, including the vast host of contradictions that are revealing parables; or it is a myth that, having been written over an expansive period of time and by many writers, is flawed by these “errors.”  (If you have not read The Key To Their Understanding, it is critical that you understand it before reading here.)

 

Let us consider yet another one of these truth-filled parables.  In both Matthew and Mark, clearly, Yahshua’s instruction regarding meeting His disciples following His resurrection required that they go to Galilee.  In Matthew 26:32 and Mark 14:28, the identical message is recorded.  Following the last supper with them and upon proceeding to the Mount of Olives, He instructed:

 

“But after I have been raised [from the dead], I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

 

Likewise, following Yahshua’s resurrection, once again in Matthew and Mark the angel told the women who had gone to the tomb on the third day:

 

“Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you” [Matthew 28:7].

 

“But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you’ “ [Mark 16:7].

 

Then, in response to this repeated command, we read in the closing verses of Matthew their obedience:

 

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated [28:16].

 

There, He instructed them: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (28:19-20).  With these words the book of Matthew ends.

 

Thus we see that the message is fairly consistent in Matthew and Mark—as instructed, the disciples went to Galilee to meet Yahshua.  What do we then find in Luke?

 

First, following the last supper, there was no instruction that He would go ahead of them to Galilee.  Nor was there the like instruction by the angel.  Instead, Galilee was mentioned strictly in the past tense, something clearly behind them, as the angel stated:

 

“He is not here, but He has risen.  Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” [Luke 24:6-7].

 

Furthermore, neither did they go to Galilee; but instead, on the day of His resurrection, while they were in Jerusalem, Yahshua strictly told them:

 

“Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” [Luke 24:46-49].

 

Did He meet with them in Galilee, or for that matter even tell them to go to Galilee?  To the contrary, in Luke He explicitly told them to remain in Jerusalem.  (This account is not addressed in John, and in Acts 1:4 we read where, forty days later, Yahshua gave the same command to His disciples—“Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised ….”)

 

So which account is historically correct: Matthew and Mark, where they were instructed to go to Galilee, and indeed did so; or Luke, where they were instructed to stay in Jerusalem until they received power?  The fact is, correct history is not the compelling issue; but rather, there is a contradiction riddle at hand that is highly revealing and confirming.  The compelling issue is not the true reality of the historical account, but the truth that is in the parable that is for those who need to see and to know and to understand at the right time.

 

What is that truth?  First, as laid out in The Key To Their Understanding, Matthew speaks to the first Remnant, Mark speaks to Christianity, and Luke speaks to the second Remnant.  Quite frequently, Matthew and Mark share a common testimony, in contrast to Luke, as we see evidenced here.  Why is this the case?  Because the first 2,000 years of the church are the two parts that are cut off and die (Zechariah 13:7-9).  Equally, they are the period of the abomination of the desolation of the kingdom of heaven.  (Read The Great Tribulation.)  These two fates have impacted the first Remnant and Christianity, who both occupy this period.  So when testimonies arise addressing these and other like defaults, as we will see clearly evidenced here, Matthew and Mark are together in a like affirming message.  What is that message here?  It all has to do with Galilee.

 

In Isaiah 9:1-2 we read:

 

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.  The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.

 

As we read in Matthew 4:12-17, this passage had its fulfillment in Yahshua’s first coming as He preached in Galilee.  However, very importantly, remember that Yahshua came early, “before the time” that the true fulfilling kingdom could be established on this earth, and all that was to take place breached. 

 

Did the people indeed see a great light at that time?  Oh yes, they did!  But, did that light remain?  Clearly not.  In fact, Yahshua specifically stated, “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.  While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world” (John 9:4-5).

 

Is Yahshua in the world anymore?  No, He is not.  He left shortly following His resurrection.  Therefore, the Light has not been in the world and darkness has been on the earth ever since, even as He stated and as clearly evidenced by the state of the world and the church.  Though they indeed saw a great light, that light would not truly dawn for another 2,000 years.  Therefore, only now at His second coming can that promise in Isaiah 9 find its complete fulfillment.  Remember, it was breached!

 

One of the indications of the timing of this fulfillment is the statement in Isaiah 9:1—“by the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan.”  What does this mean?  What is “by the way of the sea,” and what lies “on the other side of the Jordan”? 

 

First, evidenced by the 2,000 swine who all went to this very same sea of death (Mark 5:13), along with Zechariah 13:7-9 wherein we read that the first two parts, or 2,000 years, of the church are cut off and die, we see here that this “way of the sea” is indeed the period of the church that had to first transpire before the Light could come and remain.

 

This timing is further confirmed in that, as addressed in Shelah and Clay of Spittle, page 3, “the other side of the Jordan” is the period following this 2,000 year breach of the great and terrible wilderness—the promised land, the Millennial reign.  Crossing the Jordan into the promised land brings man into the third part of the church (Zechariah 13:7-9), the seventh day sabbath rest, even the other side of Matthew and Mark.

 

How long has the time of the Gentiles been in effect?  For 6,000 years.  This is why the nations had the right to kill the Son of God and have destroyed His kingdom for 2,000 years.  They have had the legal right to rule this world.  So, when Yahshua came to Galilee of the Gentiles, the fact attested within that statement was that the Gentiles, the nations, still ruled.

 

And most revealing and confirming is this subject parable’s contrast of Galilee of the Gentiles and Jerusalem.  What do we see evidenced?  When Yahshua stated in Matthew and Mark that He would, and did, meet the disciples in Galilee of the Gentiles, it testifies that the period of the first Remnant and Christianity is the period of the Gentiles, the nations, which is indeed true.  In clear contrast and affording great hope, what then does it mean when in second Remnant Luke He did not meet them there, nor did He instruct them to go there, nor did the angel do so?  It means that in the time of the second Remnant, the time of the nations is no more.  What time is it then?  As indicated in the contrast with Matthew and Mark, it is time to remain in Jerusalem, new Jerusalem—creating the new heavens and new earth!  Thus we see:

 

First Remnant Matthew and Christianity Mark: Galilee of the Gentiles, the time of the nations

 

Second Remnant Luke: Jerusalem, or new Jerusalem, the new heavens and new earth

 

As set forth in Shelah and Clay of Spittle, page 4, we have noted that at Passover, 2004, we entered into the Millennial reign.  In other words, we are now on the other side of the Jordan and in the promised land third part.  In this regard, including the fact that 1994 was the 120th Jubilee from Adam’s fall, the end of the time of the nations is at hand.  And, if we are correct in what we are now seeing, given that 2008 is the 50th Jubilee from the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, this is hopefully the year that we will see the legal end of the time of the nations and Yahweh will perform His much needed flip.  (Read Our Hope in 2008.)  This is the flip whereby the nations will no longer have the legal right to rule over the kingdom of heaven, but the kingdom of heaven will once again have the right to rule over the nations.  Or as it is stated regarding Jubilee, “each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family” (Leviticus 25:10).  As testified in Luke, Galilee of the Gentiles will indeed be in the past tense—something relegated to the 2,000-year breach.

 

What will His return mean for the nations?  Will it mean wrath for them, as many apocalyptic teachers hawk?  Not at all.  Continuing to read in Isaiah 9, verses 3-4, we find that the nations will rejoice and prosper:

 

You shall multiply the nation, you shall increase their gladness; they will be glad in Your presence as with the gladness of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.  For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.

 

Obviously, this promise was breached as well, as Yahshua did not bring gladness to the nations.  That promise was yet to be fulfilled, and will be fulfilled at His second coming.

 

Yahshua will not come as the Prince of Wrath, but because of the Elijah work (Malachi 4:5-6) will come as the fulfilling Prince of Peace.  Even as He taught while here on earth, He will bless the nations who have cursed Him (Luke 6:28).  They have been dearthed under Satan, and when the true Light comes, they will see their sorrowful state and greatly rejoice.

 

We take hope in this most timely revelation and understanding.

 

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