I WILL GO DOWN NOW, AND SEE

06-20-21 This message may be viewed live streaming video at youtube.com and tabernacleofmoses.org today Sunday at 11:00 am, and repeated 24/7 thereafter. The video, audio, and study notes are archived.

 

(Gen 18:20,21) And the LORD [Heb: Jehovah] said, Because the cry [Heb: shriek] [Dict: a loud, piercing cry or sound, syn: scream] of Sodom [1] and Gomorrah [2] is great [3], and because their sin is very grievous [4]; I will go down now, and see whether they have done [Heb: accomplished] altogether according to the cry of it [i.e., sin is a tear, a disruption, a separation in an otherwise orderly universe], which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

1.    Sodom = Heb: to scorch; burnt, (a volcanic district) near the Dead Sea. [symbol of false doctrine]

a.     (1 Tim 4:1,2) Now the [Holy] Spirit speaketh expressly [Gk: out spokenly: distinctly], that in the latter times [i.e., now] some shall depart [Gk: remove, revolt, desert: fall way, withdraw (their) self] from the faith [of belief in God and Jesus Christ], giving heed to [Gk: paying attention to] [being distracted and influenced by] seducing spirits [Gk: demons] [unclean spirits, fallen angels, devils], and doctrines of devils [i.e., ungodly (evil) thoughts]; Speaking lies in hypocrisy [Gk: acting under a feigned part; fig. deceitfully]; having their conscience [Gk: perceptions, moral consciousness /// (ability) to see completely, understanding] [i.e., deliberations of right or wrong] seared with a hot iron [Gk: branded (“cauterized”), rendered unsensitive];

2.    Gomorrah = Heb: a (ruined) heap /// gather grain: bind sheaves, make merchandise of. [symbolic of false works; Gomorrah is a manifestation of false doctrines]

3.    great = Dict: of much more than ordinary size, extent, volume, etc. [e.g., great tribulation]

4.    grevious = Heb: heavy, (in a bad sense) burdensome, severe, weighty. [x “very” = extreme]

 

MEASURING FOR THE RAPTURE

(Rev 11:1) And there was given me [the Apostle John] a reed [of discernment: originally soft, pliable, forgiving (Grace)] like unto a rod [discernment transformed: now stiffened, hardened, judgmental (Law)]: and the angel stood [1], saying, Rise [Gk: (through the idea of collecting one’s faculties); to waken, rouse from sleep], and measure [ascertain, determine, recognize, distinguish, discern] [2,3] the temple of God [“ye are the temple of God” 1 Cor 3:16], and the altar [of incense (Heb: perfume)] [prayers], and them [the saved persons] that worship therein [i.e., “measure” the saved peoples].

1.       (Dan 12:1) And at that time [i.e., now] shall Michael [“the archangel” 1 Thes 4:16; Jude 1:9] stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people [all believing saints]: and there shall be a time of trouble [Heb: tribulation], such as never was [i.e., great tribulation] since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time [i.e., now] thy people [all believing saints] shall be delivered [Heb: escape: (be) rescued] [raptured: Dict: being carried away with joy, love, etc.; ecstasy], every one that shall be found written in the book [of life].

2.       measure = Gk: (ascertain in size by a fixed standard); fig. estimate. [i.e., our standard is the Bible]

3.       (Zech 13:7-9) Awake, O sword [Heb: a cutting instrument] [“The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon” Judg 7:18,20, i.e., the Word of God], against my shepherd [Heb: pastor], and against the man that is my fellow [Heb: associate], saith the LORD of hosts: smite [Heb: strike: kill, wound] the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon [Heb: against] the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts [i.e., professing but non-Christians] therein shall be cut off and die; but the third [part] [confessing true Christians] shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part [confessing true Christians] through the fire [of sanctification (purification)], and will refine [Heb: to fuse (metal): melt, purify, purge away] them as silver [a symbol of salvation, representing Jesus Christ: Exo 26:18,19] is refined, and will try them [Heb: test (espec. metals): examine, prove] as gold is tried [Heb: to shimmer] [a “pure” metal, symbolic of God, i.e., the Sheckinah Glory of God]: they [the “refined” third part only] shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

 

 

 

BUT MEASURE NOT THE UNSAVED PEOPLES

(Rev 11:2) But [however] the court [of unsaved peoples] which is without [Gk: outside] the temple [“ye are the temple of God” 1 Cor 3:16] leave out [Gk: eject: expel, cast forth, drive out, thrust out, send away (forth, out)], and measure it not; for it [the outside] is given unto the Gentiles [i.e., the unsaved]: and the holy city [Jerusalem] shall they [the Gentiles] tread under foot [“by the way side; and it was trodden down” Luke 8:5] forty and two months. (Rev 11:3) And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days [1260 days, forty and two months, 3 ½ years. i.e., through the great tribulation], clothed in sackcloth [Gk: goat hair (worn as a sign of grief) /// coarse loose cloth or sacking (used in mourning and for bagging); hence a bag (for grain, etc.)].

 

MEASURED FOR THE RAPTURE

(1 Thes 4:16,17) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel [2x, “Michael the archangel” (Heb: a chief angel) Jude 1:9], and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first [“the first resurrection” Rev 20:4-7]: Then [(secondly)] we which are alive and remain shall be caught up [Gk: seized: plucked, pulled, taken (by force)] together with them [the dead in Christ] in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1.    (Gen 19:15,16) And when the morning [sunrise, glorious illumination] arose [Heb: ascended], then the angels [“two angels” Gen 19:1; “my two witnesses” Rev 11:3] hastened [Heb: hurried] Lot [Heb: a tree (from its firmness)], saying, Arise [ascend], take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity [Heb: perversity, moral evil] of the city. And while he lingered [Heb: hesitated, (by implic.) be reluctant: delayed], the men [i.e., the “two angels” Gen 19:1] laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they [the “two angels/the men”] brought him forth, and set him without [outside] the city.

2.    (Gen 19:23-26) The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar [Heb: little]. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom [Heb: to scorch; burnt] [symbolic of false doctrines] and upon Gomorrah [Heb: a (ruined) heap /// gather grain: bind sheaves, make merchandise of] [symbolic of false works] brimstone [Heb: cypress resin; (by analogy) sulfur (as equally inflammable)] and fire [“Is not my word like as a fire?” Jer 23:29a] from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his [Lot’s] wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar [Heb: something stationary] of salt [Heb: powder, (specif.) salt (as easily pulverized and dissolved) /// to disappear as dust; vanish away].

 

 

Amen