This writer is overwhelmingly impressed with both how consistently and how thoroughly Yahweh is in His presentation of truth regarding this matter of wealth, the following information being one more clear example of this. The continually unfolding profound truth we are seeing, and the marvel of it, has always been, and continues to be, personally very encouraging. Often, it has been the indisputable wonder and marvel of His truth, that has kept this writer going. When discouragement and aloneness have come in like a flood, the sureness of Yahweh's word in these matters has upheld me. Though people have failed me, Yahweh's word has never failed. Without question, I have found a well of truth that will not run dry, an unceasing river of living water, even a seamless inner garment of truth.

We have just pointed out that the crown of thorns on Yahshua's head at His crucifixion, represented the cares of this world and riches that would entangle the body of Christ. We have also noted that the legal period of the dead body of Christ in the rich man's tomb was three days and three nights. Let us now look at both of these testimonies in one highly revealing living prophecy.

The head of man primarily looks to two things - authority and knowledge. The head is mentioned, and is the issue, in 1 Corinthians 11 in the line of authority and covering wherein the Father is the head of the Son, the Son is the head of the man, and the man is the head of the woman.

But also most importantly about the head is that it is the "temple" of knowledge. (Satan-representing Sisera's temple was pierced by the tent peg of Jael, defeating the lies and oppression that he represented.) Thus we find an amazing truth about the crown of thorns on Yahshua's head. In order to examine the consequences of those thorns on the body of Christ's head, let us go to another testimony in which part of its representation is already clearly stated in the Scriptures.

By type, as well as the direct statement of Yahshua, clearly we know that Jonah represented Yahshua's fate in which He was to be killed and placed in the grave for three days and three nights. In response to the Pharisees' request for a sign, Yahshua said - "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:39-40).

First, of course, Yahshua was not in the heart of the earth chronologically for "three days and three nights." We have already seen that even as His days were cut short to two, so the body of Christ that fulfills His pattern and example will be cut short to two, or 2,000 years. But it is this comparison of Yahshua with Jonah, and the clear unmistakable relationship of Christ and the body of Christ, that we want to proceed with here in our consideration of riches and their ill consequences.

Not only do we see the unmistakable relationship of Yahshua with Jonah per the days they each spent in "death," but equally similar, even as Yahshua had a crown of thorns about His head, so Jonah had "weeds" that were "wrapped around" his head. "Weeds were wrapped around my head," declared Jonah in his prophecy-filled lamentation (Jonah 2:5). This is an obviously prophetic statement, for in the natural there is no reason for this to have been mentioned. But what does it mean? Certainly there is more to it than just a similarity to Yahshua. Let us get straight to the point.

The crown of thorns about Yahshua's head, and the "weeds" wrapped about Jonah's head, both represent the same thing - the cares of this world that are wrapped about the head of the body of Christ! And now for the important question - What is the outcome of these weeds, these thorns? Just like the weeds in Yahshua's parable, they choke out faith! Furthermore, they choke out truth! Because of Christianity's entanglement in riches, both faith and truth that lead to the fruits of the kingdom, have been choked out! Satan, with all his lies and death, has not been defeated, but rather he has conquered the church in both of these critical areas. While Christianity has gained the wealth of this world, it has cost them their soul, their life, and the victory that is supposed to go with the kingdom. It is riches that have choked out truth, that have choked out faith. But let us see further testimonies of this. And again, we are looking at a seamless garment of truth here.

When one sees a testimony or picture, that testimony or picture or type is only as valid as it is replicable. In other words, if a type cannot be consistently duplicated or repeated in other applications throughout not only the Bible but throughout life itself (for Yahweh is not bound to a Bible), then it is not valid. Thus, if "weeds" were wrapped around Jonah's head in representation of the cares of this world encompassing the head of the body of Christ while they too are in the sea of death, then these "weeds" must have the same representation in other locations in the Bible as well. Otherwise, what we are saying here is a cheap shot, an isolated occurrence, that lacks consistency with the whole. Thus, let us now see what other like or repetitive applications are present in the Bible.

The Hebrew word used here for "weeds," is the word "suph." In this writing, we will examine the four basic times this word is used (which is entry #5488 in Strong's, and more specifically in the NAS Exhaustive Concordance). And again, we must be brief.

We have already seen in Jonah 2:5 the use of this word as being the cares of this world. In two places in Exodus 2:3 and 5, we find "suph" translated as "reeds." Here we read that the baby Moses was placed in a wicker ark (the identical Hebrew word used per Noah's ark) that was covered with tar, and placed "among the reeds by the bank of the Nile." Verse 5 tells us once again that Pharaoh's daughter "saw the ark among the reeds." Let us once again get to the point.

There is no mistaking the fact that the ark that Noah built which was covered in tar, and the vessel identified with the identical word that Moses was in, which was likewise covered in tar, prophetically are one and the same. We know that Noah's ark was indeed a picture of the second Remnant - lifting up its eight occupants alive from this earth by the flood that came at the end of a 120 year probation period. Likewise, the second Remnant will be lifted up alive by the latter rain flood that covers the earth at the end of the 120 Jubilee probation period.

Thus, even as Noah was lifted up out of this world, so we see in further revealing testimony regarding Moses, that as a like second Remnant deliverer, he too was lifted up out of the Nile river of death in which grew the "reeds," or "weeds," of the cares of this world. Thus we find a second consistent and even highly revealing message regarding "suph." It is the cares of this world in the sea or river of death. (This writer cannot help but find a bit of humor, whether intentional or not by Yahweh, that these riches spoken of here were "the riches by the bank of the Nile." Now we know the name of the bank that housed these riches - The Bank of the Nile, or The Bank of Death.)

The next time we see the use of the word, "suph," is disguised by its translation. When the deliverer, Moses, led the sons of Israel out of Egypt, because of their disobedience and lack of faith, they had to spend the next forty years in the wilderness until they all died (everyone over nineteen). This is of course prophetic of the "church in the wilderness," as Stephen called it (lit. of Acts 7:38), or the 2,000 year period of the church we call Christianity.

Clearly, the Israelites' entrance into the wilderness was marked by when, after coming out of Egypt, they crossed the Red Sea; or was it called the Red Sea? This is the term we all use to describe this body of water; but closer examination reveals that it was the Sea of "Suph," or the Sea of Reeds!

The testimony is rather obvious, and once again consistent. The period of the sons of Israel that represented the time of breach Christianity, was entered by passing through the Sea of Riches. We can thus see Yahweh's testimony here that riches marked the entrance, the beginning, of Christianity's forty Jubilee tenure in the wilderness. Riches were thus the doorway to the church's wilderness period.

Now for the final use of this word, "suph," bearing the meaning of riches, which is found in Isaiah 19:6. Quite appropriately, this is the oracle of Yahweh to Egypt, or this world (even The Bank of the Nile). Yahweh declared to Egypt - "The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up; the reeds and rushes (suph) will rot away."

If you will read all of these related verses here in Isaiah 19, you will find that they have a distinct flavor of that which is written in Revelation 18:4-20 regarding the fall of mystery Babylon with all of her wealth; in fact they are distinctly similar in message. In both cases, that which man has relied upon in the way of material pleasure and wealth, will all come down in a moment. The "rushes," the "reeds," the "weeds" of riches will rot away suddenly!

In the writing titled Lay Your Head On The Stone, we point out that one will either judge oneself, or judgment will come upon them. It is our choice. This will most certainly be true with riches as well. Either we as a Remnant will judge ourselves regarding riches, or we will remain in this earth with the rest of the world and be judged. It is our choice. We can either judge ourselves regarding riches, or we can remain in mystery Babylon and fall in one hour. The choice is ours.

Some have asked about Revelation 13:17, where we read that it will be those who have the mark of the beast who will be able to buy or sell; but those who do not have the mark will not "be able to buy or to sell." Let us ask a question - If one gives up all that they have for the kingdom, what then do they have in order to be able to buy or sell, to carry on commerce? Now we find the true meaning of this passage that has been so entirely twisted and distorted by Satan as to become something dramatic and grandiose, provoking fear, and entirely misleading. He is really a very ingenious devil. By distracting men with the false idea that the "mark of the beast" is a barcode imprinted on someone's hand, one can thus retain the mark while thinking himself free of it. But not so! This world is his, and as long as he can keep kingdom men in this economic system, they remain under his governmental control, possessing the "mark of the beast" - the moneychangers in Yahweh's temple.

Peter and John could not buy or sell; they did not even have the coins to help the beggar. "Silver and gold have I none," said first Remnant Peter. But, what they had was far greater! Prophetically, they had the ability to restore the kingdom rights that were pictured in the lame man's feet. This is the right and power that the second Remnant has. Also, the kingdom rights of priesthood were equally revealed when Peter took specifically his right hand, or the side for anointing into priesthood (Leviticus 8:23), or cleansing a healed leper(Leviticus 14:14), or the right side of the boat where the 153 fish were caught (John 21:6). But, this right and power is only possible for the one who can join with Peter and John and say - "Silver and gold have I none." (This is a rich and profound prophetic account in Acts 3, and will be examined in a closing section.)

Thus we see the Spirit's consistent testimony regarding the "weeds" and reeds" of this world. These are the weeds that entangle the head, even the mind, of the body of Christ that is in the belly of the great fish. They are the cares of riches that are outside the ark of Moses and grow in the Nile of death. They are even the Sea of Riches that usher Christianity into the forty Jubilee wilderness period. And finally, they are the "rushes" that will rot away; or as Yahshua said, will rust; and necessitate that we judge them before they judge us. These are the testimonies of the "suph" of riches, and as you see, the message is most telling and entirely consistent.

Simplifying what we have learned here, we can thus say:

• Christianity is Jonah in the belly of the great fish in the depths of the great sea of death, with its head wrapped about by the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things.

Continue to page 5 of The Love of Money for ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA

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