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.
E-Mail your comments or ask to be notified
of future publications