Messiah Visitation Part 5

Transcript from show #294. 

(Please note that the transcripts are written pretty well as they were delivered on air).

Radio Show...

This program continues on various series of different topics on theology such as end times, prophecies, daily living, etc. as the subject matter comes up.

The e-book on end times and Revelation, answering the questions “where are we in the events of the end times?” and “Are we now in the tribulation?” is available on this web site, which you can find throughout the pages. 


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Opening Narrative

So we continue to look at historical events that were going on in the time leading up to, during the Messiah's Visitation to this earth and just afterwards.

In the last two programs we looked at the timing between 300 B.C. and 300 A.D. as a quick overview of the political activities taking place, and the 400 years between the Old and the New Testaments.

Then we looked at some of the philosophies that existed at that time, with the added example of Paul's visit to Athens where he confronted many staunch idolaters of such philosophies that existed in the time of Christ's visit.

Then we carried on after Jesus' death and resurrection, and went into the first few chapters of the book of Acts that included the great miracle of the lame man for which Peter and John were arrested but later on let go by. And we saw that dome 5,000 people believed on Jesus Christ at that very moment.

And we saw that thereafter miracles, signs and wonders took place as the apostles worked among the people in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

So we pick up from where we left off last week, right after this opening music, prayer and worship time...

(Opening Music interlude on the live radio show)

Let us pray...
The Lord's Prayer...
Praise God Doxology...
Worship Music...

Narrative #1

So just to review the rest of what we covered up to now that we saw...

Remember the context of all of this is taking place just after the Lord ascended back into heaven, during the times of Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great, Augustus Caesar, Julius Caesar and all of the Roman government cohort that existed at that time.

Then we read about many signs and wonders, as well as imprisonment of certain apostles who preached Jesus, then how the believers put systems into place to take care of the widows...

and within that same year of 33 A.D., we also read about the multiplication of the believers, and then in chapter 7, we hear about the terrible martyrdom of a wonderful Christian named Steven where Paul who was then called Saul had officiated.

Then we also heard about many other great stories of the saints preaching and spreading the Gospel, and in chapter 9 the great conversion of Saul into the Paul we know so much about today, who's letters have become prominent in the way Christians should live their lives.

And that left us at chapter 12 of the book of Acts which is when we hear of Herod again and where we are picking up today to continue on the historical events of the time just after Yeshuah had completed His mission of redemption for mankind by his death on the cross and the resurrection from the grave, then His ascension back to the glory that He had prior to coming to this earth, sitting at the right hand of God the Father...

If you missed that program last week I would strongly encourage you to go to the web site and listen to it because there is a lot of activities that took place to where we are now.

And just before I go there, I want to make a correction that may be some of you noticed... in speaking of the “bema seat of judgment” that was probably where the trial of Peter and John's healing of the lame man took place, I somehow said “burma” instead of “bema” -- no idea how I got to mis-speak this but there it was when I listened to the radio show last Sunday. So the bema seat is the Greek word used for the “judgment seat”, where public trials would take place.

I just wanted to correct that in case some of you noticed it.

So let's pick up where we left off last week and look at chapter 12 of the book of Acts which is when we hear of Herod again...

And it's not pretty... this is where Herod kills James and imprisons Peter. Now we are in 44 A.D., so this would be Herod Agrippa I.

Let's read from verse 1 in Acts chapter 12:
1.Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex (to oppress, to afflict) certain (anyone) of the church.

2.And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

3.And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) So this was at the time of the feast of unleavened bread.

(So, this feast is in the first month, of the Jewish calendar, one day after Passover, when it goes on for seven days without eating leavened bread. This would be around March-April.)

v.4.And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

Now just a quick mention about the word “Easter” used here. I checked it out some time ago because I wondered why the King James Bible would use the word “Easter”. Interestingly, it is used only once, but in the Geneva Bible which much of the King James came from it does say Passover. And this alone would make an interesting Bible Study—but for another time.

Ok, so we know we are in March/April of the year 44 A.D.

Let's continue at verse 5 of chapter 12 of the book of Acts:

5.Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

And I must stop here too and talk about this important thought to notice:

Since the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and after the great day of Pentecost that the believers experienced back in 33 A.D., we see a noteworthy occurence.

When Jesus was alive and particularly just before His death, we see the Lord in prayer a lot on His own. We also note just before His death -- remember in the Garden of Gethsemane -- the disciples were sleeping while Jesus prayed. He asked them twice to stay up and pray with Him but, they kept falling asleep.

Then after the resurrection, we see them praying everywhere, we hear of the many assemblies for prayer. We see it in the Upper Room just before the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them. We see them going house to house praying, they prayed when Peter was in prison, which we see in this chapter in verses 5 to 19. They prayed in prison, they prayed among unbelievers, and so on... they began a life of potent prayer.

This should be also our life since we've been born-again, born from above. Prayer accomplishes much. We are instructed in the bible to pray, to god, talk to Him at any time, place, occasion, knowing that He hears us.

(Music interlude on the live radio show)

(Station ID)

Narrative #2

Alright, so let's continue here and read from verse 5 to 19:

5.Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

6.And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

7.And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

8.And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

9.And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.

So, here Peter couldn't believe this was real... he thought he was dreaming.

10.When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.

11.And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

12.And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.

13.And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda.

14.And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate.

Now she couldn't believe what she was hearing... I mean, Peter was in jail under guards...she was so besides herself that she forgot to open the door and ran toward the other to tell them Peter was at the door.

15.And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.

16.But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.

17.But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.

18.Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter.

19.And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode.

As we can see, the penalty for losing a prisoner was extremely severe in the Roman Empire. It was punishable upon the guards by their very own death. And Herod at this time took off from Jerusalem for his other capital city in Caesarea.

V.20.And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their friend, desired (they asked for) peace; because their country was nourished by the king's country. Now just for information, a chamberlain was a senior royal official in charge of managing a royal household.

There, for some unknown reason Herod was not happy with the local people. This was a very bad situation for them, because they depended entirely on the food supplies coming out of the Galilee. Realizing their predicament, the residents had befriended the King's chamberlain in order to approach the King for restoration.

Then, the next event that takes place leads to the death of Herod Aggrippa I.

v.21.And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.

22.And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.

(In other words, Herod made such a speech at that time that the people said his was the voice of a god and not of a man).

23.And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

In other words he died right there and then.

And then the Bible says that the word of God grew and multiplied.

v. 24.But the word of God grew and multiplied.

25.And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

And then we get to chapter 13 of the book of Acts where we hear about Paul's first missionary journey.

Remember Paul who used to be Saul, a hater of the followers of Christ had experienced a supernatural encounter with the resurrected Christ on his way to Damascus, some 9 years before in 35 A.D., 2 years after Jesus' death. We read that in chapter 9 of the book of Acts... which you can read after the program.

Now we are in 44 A.D. after the death of Herod Aggrippa I, the last Jewish king of Judea. We saw earlier that he was a grandson of Herod the Great. He was apparently an astute politician – as worldly politicians go.

He was succeeded by his son Herod Aggrippa II who was the last known king from the Herodian dynasty.

Just think of this... Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe, and all the people in it, came to this earth right smack in the middle of this period of the Roman Empire. For what? To save them all from the Fall of Mankind... awesome!

Matthew 1:23, quoting from Isaiah 7:14, reads: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."

John 1:29, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Colossians 1:14-17, “

14.In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

15.Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

16.For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17.And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

(Music Interlude)

Narrative #3

Then in Acts 13, verse 1, we hear the name Herod for the last time.

It reads:

v.1.“Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen (Mana-ain), which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.”

Some wonder what is meant by this Manaen which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch... Here's the explanation we read in the Liberty Bible Commentary: “The designation for Manaen 'brought up with Herod' means that he was a 'foster brother'. This term was generally used of children who were brought up in the royal court, and later the phrase was retained as an actual title.” And the name Manaen is Greek for “Comforter”.

So he obviously became a believer at some point and joined the church at Antioch.

Then we read about Paul and Barnabas in Cyprus...

Let's look at that from v. 2, in Acts chapter 13:

2.As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

3.And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

So here we see them again praying... plus they are fasting! We see them doing that a lot – praying and fasting... That's how they got so much results. We ought to take notice of this and do the same if we want to see more answers in our lives.

4.So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

5.And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.

Salamis was the eastern port of Cyprus and was its largest city. It is said that there were several synagogues there because of the large Jewish population.

v.6.And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:

Isn't that typical of Satan to steal the name of the Lord... here applying it to himself as the son of Jesus! Wow. Amazing.

v.7.Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

Now the word for prudent here is not really as we know it today. The Greek is actually “a smart” man, wise or learned. And “desired” is actually “to inquire about”.

8.But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.

So this is the same sorcerer mentioned above, this name Elymas is Aramaic and means “Son of Salvation”, whereas Bar-Jesus is the Jewish or Abrahamic translation. Remember the name “Jesus” means “Jehovah is salvation"

He would have been a magician or astrologer, an advisor part of the political entourage of the governor Sergius Paulus. Remember Jesus = "Jehovah is salvation"

v.9.Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him.

Again we see the name translated to the Greek of the location as Paul, from the Jewish name Saul, to fit the local Roman area.

v.10.And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?.

Wow, he sure didn't mince his words!

v.11.And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

12.Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

So this politician believed on the Lord because of this great miracle he had just witnessed. Signs and wonders, remember?

13.Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.

Now we are not told why John Mark departed from them. There are various speculations, but one thing we read about later in Acts chapter 15 is that Paul was not happy with his action, so much so that he refused to let him come with him onto another trip. The contention was so sharp between them that they departed separately one from the other where Barnabas took John Mark and Paul chose Silas. (Acts 15, verses 36-40).

(Music Interlude)

Closing Narrative…

And I've run out of time... we'll pickup from here in the next radio program... this is too good...

Before I dismiss the service today, I want to read to you the Blessing that was read to the people of God in Numbers 6:24-26 which is the benediction from God to you today:

“The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."

I hope and pray that you will come back next Sunday at SpiritFM.ca, 7 am and 7 pm pacific time. And if you want to hear the service again at any time, you can go to my website at TimingRevelation.com, and click on the Radio Shows navigational tab along the left side. The replays are available there for five weeks, then they are transcribed into articles as new radio shows are put up.

I encourage you to go to your Bible and read further on the scriptures that were given throughout the program today. And if you like these programs and you've been blessed, call or write the station and let them know... if you said the prayer and have accepted the Lord or you've been healed or touched in some way by the Holy Spirit, write to me on the contact form of this web site...

...and this web site is also where you will find the Free Offer of the “Christian Growth and Maturity Chart” that I talked to you about in the last weeks... you will see the graphic on any page called “Get your free CGM Chart”, click on it and it will take you to a page that will tell you about it and how you can subscribe to my newsletter to get your free copy of the Chart sent to you.

Until next week, Maranatha, the Lord is coming, very soon. Goodbye and Blessing.

Click here to hear "Send the Light"

/DMH

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Blessings,

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