ADDENDUM

 

From time to time I receive a question or comments from someone that evokes a response worthy of sharing with others.  Following is such an example.  The reason for adding this here is (1) because the information is worthy of other’s access; but also, (2) the material concerning Lebanon and its associated words came out just before the men arrived here for Passover.  Thus, I assign this to the Passover time.  Do you know what Lebanon, Laban, bricks, the tower of Babel, and leprosy all have in common?  You will be quite surprised at the answer.

I hope you appreciate the truth here.  Carl’s e-mail was sent in response to All’s Well That Ends Well.

Dear Gary,

I had a look at your article on Africa which I found very interesting. There is however something I would like to mention about the Nile River. I see that you take the Nile as a river of death. I had the impression that the Nile was a life-giver as opposed to the river Jordan.
Why I have this impression is, because the Jordan originates in the Lebanon(white or pure, as was Adam in the beginning) mountains and becomes a raging torrent on it's way to the DEAD sea, as is the case with Adam's offspring and passing the cities of Sodom and Gomorra, Yahshua is baptized (which means to take out of or come out of) and thus taken out of this river on it's way to death. The stream is taking all who don't or won't or can't see, to death. The Ark of the Covenant never touched the water of the Jordan.

The Nile on the other hand flows from the desert (or deserted) area to the only life giving delta in that area and that area is situated directly to the west of the Dead sea. Does this open something for you? Can this have some meaning for us? What do you think? The reeds in the Nile where Moses was hidden and the banks of the Nile also have some significance. Reeds mean priests and what are banks?

Blessings

Carl

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Dear Carl,

 

Thank you for writing.  Your questions and comments bring up some interesting information, but also some puzzling questions.

 

First, let’s look a little more at the Nile.  The Nile as a testimony of death is seen insomuch that it was the place in which all the male babies were commanded by Pharaoh to be thrown, which of course meant their death.  We find that Moses in an ark and Noah in an ark were the identical pictures – each overcoming death.  In the case for both vessels, the same Hebrew word was used – “tebah.”  In The Love of Money, I state – “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.”  So even as the flood was death, so also was the Nile.

 

Regarding the reeds you mentioned, please refer to the following writing that specifically addresses them.  As you will see, they actually represent the cares of this world, evidenced in several ways, including Jonah when reeds were wrapped around his head while in the belly of the great fish.  Once again, this is a negative connotation and cannot mean priests.  Here is the link –

http://www.remnantbride.com/love_of_money/money.04.html .

 

I have not considered the matter of banks.  I do know however that the 2,000 swine went down the “steep bank” to their death.

 

The matters you pointed out concerning the Jordan, specifically its destination at the Dead Sea, provoke some very inquiring questions.  In the following writing, it is pointed out that the Jordan is a clear representation or testimony of the veil that separated the holy of holies and the holy place.  This writing is at –

http://www.remnantbride.com/ascending/ascending.10.html . 

 

This testimony of the Jordan as the veil also brings up the matter of Yahshua’s flesh being the veil that was rent.  Hebrews 10:20 tells us that Yahshua’s flesh, the veil, was rent in order for us to enter into the holy of holies – “Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh” (19-20).  And in type, we see this testimony of the veil insomuch that when the sons of Israel crossed into the promised land, the Jordan was equally rent, all the way to Adam – the waters piled up at Adam (Joshua 3:16).  While spiritually by faith in the blood of Yahshua one does enter into a relationship with Yahweh, there has to be more.  Though belief in Yahshua changes one’s spiritual state and destiny, it has yet to change anyone’s personal face to face abiding presence with Him.

 

It is evident that one does not pass through death to enter into the promised land.  Death was the purpose of the preceding wilderness journey (Numbers 14:29, Deuteronomy 2:14), not the Jordan.  It is erroneous to think that we die and go to heaven, the promised land.  Paul said on two occasions (1 Corinthians 11:30, 15:51), and it is supported throughout the Old Testament, that one sleeps when they die.  Zechariah 13:7-8 clearly states that during the first two parts, or 2,000 years, of the kingdom, men are in fact cut off from the kingdom by death.  It is therefore evident that the way to the entrance of the promised land is to in fact overcome and defeat death.  The ones who entered the promised land were those who had overcome the death of the wilderness, the very picture of the body of Christ that dies for forty Jubilees.  In like regard, Elijah is a picture of the second Remnant, and he too crossed the Jordan, entered into the intercessoral holy of holies, and ascended alive. 

 

How then could the Jordan represent Yahshua’s flesh, the veil?  We know that when His own body was struck, immediately thereafter came the former rain.  Now His spiritual body must be struck, the body of Christ, and as a result come the latter rain.  As you will see, these two rains are what bring one into the promised land.  This twice striking of the Jordan as Yahshua’s flesh was afforded important testimony when Elijah and Elisha each struck the Jordan, obviously picturing the latter rain (Elijah) and the former rain (Elisha).  What I am going to say in this next paragraph is very important and a lot will be said, so be sure and read it very carefully and thoughtfully.

 

We see the like testimonies of these two rains in the two strikings of the rock at Meribah where the water came forth.  As stated in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, the rock was Yahshua.  The first rock to be struck was the direct striking of Him.  Today, though He is not here personally, His presence is here through His body (the body of Christ), and it is His body that is the second rock that must of necessity be struck.  Striking the Jordan by Elijah and Elisha, and on two occasions striking the rock at Meribah, look to the same thing.  And even as Yahshua’s flesh was in fact rent by the spear that entered into His side and out came blood and water, so today once again the veil/flesh of the body of Christ must now be rent by piercing its side and taking out a Bride.  Likewise, as the Jordan was rent per the sons of Israel and out came a Bride, so the two-part rending of the Jordan by Elijah and Elisha afforded a two-part Bride testimony.  (And might I say here, this second rending of the veil of the body of Christ does not nullify the veil of Yahshua’s own flesh, any more than one taking up one’s own cross nullifies the cross of Yahshua; in fact, the latter serves to verify and perpetuate the former.)

 

But what puzzled me most concerning the Jordan was that I had never considered the prophetic significance that it flows into the Dead Sea.  This at first did not make any prophetic sense, but then I was reminded that men died following the former rain of Pentecost; thus, it is evident that the Dead Sea is a picture of that ensuing death.  Even as Yahshua told Peter in John 21:19, so likewise has gone the body of Christ – “Now this (Yahshua said to Peter), signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.  And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’”  As Yahshua went to death, so Peter followed Him to death; and as Yahshua went to death, so the body of Christ has followed Him to death. 

 

In like revealing comparison, we see that the former rain indeed produced the first bird work of Leviticus 14:1-9, and ever since the church has gone to death.  This is equally seen in the first striking of the rock at Meribah – it too was followed by the wilderness period of death.  What we need now is the latter rain, the second striking of the rock that is followed by the second bird work of ascending alive, or likewise entering into the promised land.

 

Additionally, Sodom and Gomorrah were not near the Jordan, but as discovered by Ron Wyatt, are at the southern end of the Dead Sea (http://www.wyattmuseum.com/cities-of-the-plain.htm).  Clearly, as we have seen in these writings, Sodom is a picture of Christianity, and was appropriately located here by the Dead Sea.  Also, the word “baptize” means “to dip, to immerse, or to make fully wet.”  I have never heard or read it to mean “to come out of.”  But obviously it was most significant that both John and Yahshua were baptizing in the Jordan.

 

As for another subject, you stated that the Jordan originates in the Lebanon mountains.  Actually, three rivers provide the headwaters of the Jordan the Hasbani in Lebanon, the Banias in the Golan Heights, and the Dan in Israel, which has twice the water flow of either of the other two rivers.  Much of Lebanon is actually drained to the Mediterranean by the Leontes River.  Thus, it is only partially true that Lebanon is the headwaters of the Jordan, for it is only a small part.  Furthermore, the largest contributor to the Jordan is the Yarmuk River of Syria and Jordan, south of the Sea of Galilee, which has over three times the flow of the Hasbani from Lebanon.

 

In addition to this, please allow me to share some interesting truth with you concerning Lebanon.  I think you will find this quite revealing and intriguing.

 

Lebanon comes from the Hebrew word – “laben.”  This word might sound familiar to you Laban was the father-in-law of Jacob.  Both Laban and Lebanon come from the Hebrew word “laben” (all of which of course mean “white”), and in the case of Laban, there is only one vowel point difference from its root word.  What do we know about Laban?  For one, he was a deceiver royale.  But even so, it was from Laban that Jacob received his two brides – Leah and Rachel.

 

Let’s look further at the use of this word.  You would not know the following without studying the Hebrew word itself.  When Moses came to Egypt to deliver the sons of Israel, you will recall that Pharaoh made them make the same amount of bricks, but they had to start gathering their own straw as well.  It is quite interesting that they were in fact using this straw to make “labans.”  The word here for “brick” is “laban.”  So, the affliction of the sons of Israel in their bondage was that they had to make “labans,” along with gathering straw.

 

And this is not the only place where these “labans,” or bricks, were made.  We find that the tower of Babel was equally made of “labans” burned by fire, with tar used for mortar.  Thus we see that the tower of Babel that reached into heaven was fired “laban,” united with tar. 

 

Where else do we find “laban”?  In Leviticus 13 we find this word used sixteen times as the key indicator of leprosy – the sore or hair became white, or “laban.”  Thus we see that the attesting sign of leprosy was this matter of the sore being “laban.”

 

Thus far the testimony concerning “laban” is not looking too good.  Jacob received his two brides through and manipulated by deceptive Laban.  The affliction of the sons of Israel in their bondage in Egypt was that they had to make “labans,” as well as gather straw for them.  And even Babylon’s tower was constructed of “labans.”  And even more disturbing is the fact that the sign of leprosy was that the sore or hair became “laban.”  So, we now have to wonder how positive a testimony we have here with Lebanon.  Let us consider a few examples that support this doubt.

 

Lebanon marked the northern most border of the land of Israel.  It was known for its cedar and stone, both of which were used to make Solomon’s temple.  And it was often used as a spiritual testimony as well – of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 17:3), of spiritual transformation (Isaiah 29:17), of spiritual restoration (Hosea 14:5-7).  But this growth and restoration did not come without a price or ill consequences, and the restoration thereof was in fact needed because Lebanon went astray.  I will be brief, but there are a few verses that we have to cite in order to see this departure.

 

In Psalm 104:16-17 we read“The cedars of Lebanon which He planted, where the birds build their nests.”  Where else do we see the testimony of birds nesting in a tree?  In Yahshua’s parable of the mustard seed in Matthew 13:31-32 concerning the corruption of the kingdom of heaven.  Birds speak of false teachings and demon spirits, and these birds gather in the cedars of Lebanon, the cedars of “white.”

 

Furthermore, we read in Psalm 29:5 “Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.”  And in Judges 9:15 and Isaiah 40:16 we see testified that He will indeed burn those cedars.  And worthy of quoting here, we read from Zechariah 11:1-3:

 

Open your doors, O Lebanon,

That a fire may feed on your cedars.

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,

Because the glorious trees have been destroyed;

Wail, O oaks of Bashan,

For the impenetrable forest has come down.

There is a sound of the shepherd’s wail,

For their glory is ruined;

There is a sound of the young lions’ roar,

For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.

 

And in Ezekiel 31:3 we read:

 

“Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon

With beautiful branches and forest shade,

And very high;

And its top was among the clouds.”

 

You will also note that, as pointed out earlier, the tower of Babel was equally “a tower whose top (reached) into heaven” (Genesis 11:4).  Both of these speak of a work that is earth based, yet reaches up to God.

 

In the verses following what we read here in Ezekiel 31:3, several other revealing testimonies are presented.  One, that Assyria, this cedar in Lebanon, is compared with the garden of God and its beautiful trees.  And in verse 6, once again we find that “All the birds of the heavens nested in its boughs.”

 

But, in verse 10 we read that “its heart is haughty in its loftiness,” and as a result “they have all been given over to death” (vs. 14).

 

Now, having seen all of this concerning Lebanon, let us make one final brief notation, this concerning the use of the Hebrew root word – “laben.”  Used sparingly like salt, there are two or three cases where “laben” is used as a testimony of purification.  In Psalm 51:7 we read – “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”  The word “whiter” is the Hebrew word “laben.”

 

So what can all of this mean?  This Hebrew word that means white, though quite sparingly seen as purification, far more prevalently is seen just the contrary leprosy, bricks made in bondage and those that formed the tower of Babel.  Laben himself was a deceiver and manipulator.  Lebanon will indeed become righteousness, yet only after being chopped down and burned for their haughtiness.  And with the fall of these cedars, “There is a sound of the shepherd’s wail, for their glory is ruined.”  Even so, the two brides of Jacob were obtained from Laban.  Again, what can all of this mean?  What is being said in this testimony concerning “white,” which is generally thought of as being pure?  And what is this strange testimony of bricks in Egypt and the tower of Babel being called “white”?

 

This is a testimony of the kingdom of God given to man while in this earthly flesh and producing a work that is leprous.  It is the efforts of earthly man to reach God, and is indeed a tower of Babel.  It is man in bondage to this earth, to Egypt, laboring to produce the kingdom while gathering his own straw.  It is indeed the garden of God, restored by Yahshua as a Nazirite and given to earthly man.  It is the body of Christ, which places men under the mark of the beast seven in order to get not just one bride, but two – the two-part Remnant Bride.  It is indeed Lebanon with its high and lofty cedars in which the birds of the air come and nest and corrupt the kingdom; and because of kingdom man’s own haughtiness, due in large to the vast success of Christianity and their sense that they are the impenetrable forest and that nothing could happen to them, men have continued to die for 2,000 years, necessitating that this shortfall work must come to an end.  And when Lebanon falls, the pastors/shepherds will wail.

 

Thus you can see that even though Lebanon means “white,” the testimonies of this word are not near so impressive per righteousness, as they are of the sorrowful corruption of the kingdom.  But yes, after they are burned, even as it is equally written in Zechariah 13:7-9, only two chapters following the previously quoted passage Lebanon/Christianity will be purified by fire and made truly white.

 

I know this is an extensive response to your questions and comments, but what you wrote was quite provocative.  I hope this helps.

 

Blessings,

 

Gary

 

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