And answering He said, “Elijah comes, and he will restore all things.” Matthew 17:11
How evident it is that we live in a time of many false prophets, just as Jesus foretold his disciples that this time would come; and He coupled it to the admonition to see to it that they [His end-time disciples] are not misled, and consequently could mislead no one. (Mt. 24:4-5) Yet, this is only the beginning of the final part of the days which come in earnest with the Lord’s advent, parousia, at a time that no one will expect. It will be a great tribulation such as not occurred since the beginning of the world, nor ever shall. (Mt. 24:21)
But how does one steer clear of that stern warning to NOT mislead when we have an internet, a world-wide web, that catches the unsuspecting like a spider catches a fly? Can one hear the voice of the Logos, the one who has the words of eternal life (John 6:68) above the din of the contemporary tower of Babel? The traditions of men reign in Christendom as they did in the temple in Judea, and many are the children of the barren woman (Gal. 4:27) so that with but a small group of Elect, [“many are called and few are chosen”] faithful followers of Christ now represent about the same proportion of the larger society as they did in 1st century Judea. Still the dilemma remains: what is a follower to believe? The words of the Logos, He who is alive and sharper than a two-lipped sword [Heb. 4:12], or the words of the prince of the air, who offers such tantalizing benefits with his kingdom?
The self-appointed prophets of Jerusalem would have you believe their lawless interpretations of scripture and believe their visions of peace, and they work to promote the very lawlessness which Paul was concerned about in the nascent church of Christ. What did Jesus Christ say about peace? “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matt. 10:34) Indeed, there has long been a great war in Heaven and on earth, over the body of Moses, the people God is making for Himself. And the wicked and adulterous generation which has continued from the time of Christ’s first advent still seeks for signs. So they look to see if giants are here as at the time of Noah. They study the synagogue of Satan and their plans, rather than looking to the plans of God (Psalm 33:10-12). They do not realize that He is frustrating the plans of the peoples and all is proceeding according to His plan. None of this will help them, for what they need is the truth, the righteousness, and the knowledge of God, that they might not perish. (Hosea 4:1-6)
These ministers of the adversary fulfill the words of the apostle Paul: “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Cor 11:13-14) They do not bear witness to the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ, but fill the heads of listeners with fear. Faithful disciples know that where there is fear, there is not the Spirit of God.
To understand the days of Messiah’s final week of Daniel’s 70 week prophecy the faithful disciple must comprehend the conditions necessary to the establishment of God’s Kingdom, which is intricately interwoven with the reasons for which the Lord created the Heavens and the earth. “Take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.” (Prov. 25:5, cf. Genesis 1:2-3, Job 38-41) This is the mystery at work, which is separating the light from the darkness and will sweep away darkness from the presence of the King. Isn’t it ironic that both worldly people and Christians want wickedness to cease from the earth, and often blame God for not eliminating evil, and yet they do not grant Him the space and time to fulfill the Plan He and His beloved conceived to purify the Heavens and the earth? Worse still, they too rebel against God and refuse to follow in His ways, claiming a pass from Christ Jesus who did it all for them. And so it will be that everyone doing iniquity will be removed that the Kingdom of God may be fully established in righteousness.
“For behold the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze, says YHWH of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says YHWH of hosts. (Mal. 4:1-3) Malachi goes on to remind Israel to remember the law, the Torah of Moses, and that Elijah will come before the great and terrible day of the Lord.
So what are the signs of His coming? Clearly, the coming of Elijah would be a great sign before the great and terrible day of the Lord. Additionally, the apocalyptic sections of Matthew give many signs of His coming, as do the other gospels, the apostolic letters, and of course, the book of Revelation. Other prophets do as well, if one has a mind to look at them. Amos 9 provides insight into the restoration that will precede the appearance of the King of Kings as conquering Messiah. Amos talks about raising up the fallen booth of David, and restoring the captivity of God’s people Israel. Jesus teaches about the coming of Elijah to restore all things to Peter, James and John in the context of a vision of Him transfigured on the mountain with Moses and Elijah to His sides. What is the mystery spoken of here, and how might it be a shadow and type of things we will see before “the great and terrible day of the Lord?” More on this mystery can be found in the scripture section where the spiritual reality of Moses and Elijah will manifest through the work of the two witnesses of Revelation 11, before that great day.
This website will share this treasury of knowledge and wisdom as the Lord permits, acknowledging the profound truth of Colossians 2:3 “In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Thus the sacred secret lies open, He is our treasure, and His is the pure gold we ought purchase. But we will do it not to make fishers of fish, but to make “fishers of men,” teaching how to fish, rather than providing fish.
Under the section entitled “Scripture” we will post writings on different themes of prophecy, helping the voices of the prophets to come alive, in order to make heard the “spirit of Christ” which spoke through them (1 Pe 1:10). And key characteristics of scripture will be shared that students of the word may gain fundamental insights into how to better re-read what the prophets and apostles have written. For example, postings in the scripture section will share how scripture is fractal, namely how the whole is contained in various parts; and how scripture repeats certain sequences and themes, and how it also repeats some with variations, much like a Beethoven symphony will work and re-work a fundamental musical theme. You will also find other structural elements of Hebraic poetry, to explore the way in which God speaks by way of the spirit of the Logos through the prophets in human language. As God’s thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9), and as high above our thoughts as the heavens are above the earth. Therefore, it is essential that we come to understand the depth of Hebraic poetry, with the use of metonyms to stand in for different realities, and couplets which reveal the inner detail of matters, and the relationship of spiritual and physical, with one or the other occurring first, just as the spiritual Heaven of heavens existed before our cosmos, so do events in this world show what has already happened. As Qohelth wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:15: “That which is has been already, and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.” By this divine dictum we plumb the depths of the reason our universe has been created the way it is. So history portrays the movement back to the days God longs for, the primal unity of Heaven, where love and righteousness ruled, before iniquity was uncovered in an anointed cherub (Ezek. 28). In this way we understand the history of Israel to be a shadow of the spiritual future history we are now encountering as the end time House of Israel.
Additionally, it will become apparent that the scriptures are much like the genome, which has 98% of its information stored in holographic form, the reason for the so-called “junk DNA,” to construct the holograms. In like manner, the bulk of scriptural knowledge and wisdom is stored within the mind of Christ, and accessible by those who are blessed with reception of the paraclete. Another favorite method of the Logos to transmit spiritual knowledge using physical words is to create metonymns that have physical significance or are based on an historical reality, but actually stand for a spiritual reality. Our hope is that in sharing some of the discoveries here, the reader will become skilled at God’s use of metonyms, His penchant for using dual referents for communication of a spiritual reality, and the many textual layers of meaning that can be found in a single passage. Like skins of an onion, these layers can be peeled up to reveal deeper realities under the surface. There are other aspects of scripture to be mentioned, but they will be shared in the postings as they are relevant.
The music section is self-explanatory and within it we will share music inspired from songs in scripture, using the text of the Bible for lyrics. MP3 files should make this music available for your prayer and worship. Additionally, we may include some writings that are instrumental [no pun intended] in recovering some of the sound of the booth of David, the ancient and future worship of Israel, e.g. the work of Suzanne Haik-Vantoura, who decoded the cheironomy signs [hand signs] in the Masoretic text to score the musical settings embedded in scripture.
Another section, “The Affairs of the Days,” will be based on hypertextuality of scripture with the events of history and of contemporary events. Rather than forcing a coherence between biblical symbols and historical happenings by making material correspondences after the manner of literal interpretation, we will look at the spiritual realities under the surface and find coherence in the metaphoric and metonymic correspondences that more naturally flow from the spiritual reading of the text. After the manner of I and II Chronicles, Debaray Ha-Yomim Ha-Yom, The Affairs of the Days of the Day, we will read beneath the affairs of the day and endeavor to bring out “signs of the times” in ways that fit with God’s message and not with traditions of men. There we will see how the physical gives us a shadow of spiritual realities and the battle of powers and principalities. But we must learn to read the shadow, much as Jesus told the Pharisees they needed to be able to read the signs of the times, as they simply could with red skies predicting weather. As in that example, context will be an overriding concern to discern the “signs of the times.”
To repeat what was said above, we consider this our treasure, and that is the reason we have made that the WordPress title of our site. Christ Jesus is our treasure, and every word and every song, and every discussion of the changing contours of the world should point to Him and His saving power and action through His plan of deliverance. It is not through detailed study of the world or the archons [world leaders] that the people of God can find deliverance from sin and death — though we will not shy away from modest discussion of disturbing trends and associations. It is by following (John 10) the Good Shepherd, keeping His commandments, obeying the gospel, for judgment begins with the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17). Above all, Love for God and Man, coded in the Law, is what He taught, a sacrificial love that remembers that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom, but only by laying down our pride and arrogance, and even our fleshly life for our brothers if we are called to do so, can we pick up the life of spirit that knows no end. It is to this end and these ends that we dedicate this website.