PROPHECY OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION (#3 in this series)

ENDING WITH THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST

03-08-15 This message may be viewed live streaming video at www.tabernacleofmoses.org commencing today Sunday at 11:00am, and repeated 24/7 for one week; thereafter, the audio and notes without video are archived.

The depth of our revelations depends upon the correctness of our doctrine. Love joins; Sin separates.



(Amos 8:11) Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

  1. hear = Heb: to hear intelligently consider, discern, perceive, understand, witness.

  2. (Rom 10:17) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

  3. (Luke 18:7,8) And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?


THE ONSET OF THE GREAT FAMINE:

NO RAIN AND THE BROOK DRYS UP

(1 Kings 17:1-7) And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years [“three years and six months” Luke 4:25; James 5:17 & Dan 7:25; Rev 12:6,14; 13:5 (6x)], but according to my word. And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.


(1 Kings 17:8-12) And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

THE FAMINE:

NO RAIN AND TESTING: DO YOU BELIEVE GOD?

(1 Kings 17:8,9) And the word of the LORD came unto him [Elijah], saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman [a Gentile, a type and shadow of the church] there to sustain [Heb: feed, to provide sustenance] thee.

  1. Zarephath = Heb: refinement /// to fuse (metal), refine: - cast, melt, purify, purge away, try [test].

  2. Zidon = Heb: in the sense of catching fish; a fishery.

  3. widow = Heb: a desolate place: a desolate house /// in the sense of bereavement; discarded: - forsaken /// to tie fast; hence (of the mouth) to be tongue tied: - bind, be dumb, put to silence.

  4. Commentary: as we shall soon see, from the evidence of her attitude and deplorable living circumstances we may deduce that this widow woman, who at this moment in text represents Old Testament believers, is depressed, disheartened, discouraged, dispirited, demoralized, saddened and a truly sad case. However, this widow woman has also been “commanded” by the LORD God to sustain Elijah in Zarephath.


(1 Kings 17:10-12) So he [Elijah: a prophet and ambassador for God] arose and went to Zarephath [manifesting faith in the LORD’s word, and obedience in action (faith and works)]. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman [an Old Testament type and shadow of the church] was there gathering of sticks [notes 1,2]: and he called to her, and said [the request from a stranger: John 21:5,6], Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it [a display of obedience], he called to her, and said [an additional even more burdensome personally sacrificial command in the time of famine], Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread [the product of meal (crushed seeds: Luke 8:11 – the word of God, Jesus Christ: John 1:14) mixed with water (the Holy Spirit), placed in a vessel (your body), and baked in the (consuming) fire of God’s refining purifying purging tribulation, thereby forming a small (humbled) perfect cake (of understanding), a loving present unto the LORD] in thine hand [Heb: power]. And she said, As the LORD thy [rather than “our”] God liveth [i.e., she recognizes Elijah as a holy man of his God, but questions his command; she hesitates to obey, reluctant to self-sacrifice, and she seeks a reasonable release from his command] [notes 3-5], I have not a cake [not a perfected understanding], but an handful of meal [i.e., she had a bit (“an handful”) of biblical knowledge] in a barrel [her biblical knowledge occupied a very tiny part of the biblical knowledge available; the wooden barrel may also represent her body as a vessel], and a little oil [and she had a type of “the earnest” (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5; Eph 1:14) of the Holy Spirit (she was saved)] in a cruse [Heb: to expand; a saucer (as flat)]: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks [encompassing all Israel] [note 6], that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die [an allusion to the valley which was full of dry bones: Ezek 37:1,2] [note 7].

  1. gathering = Heb: to become sapless through drought.

  2. sticks = Heb: a tree (from its firmness); hence wood (plural sticks), wood, fig. to assemble.

  3. (Mark 12:41-44) And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld [in their hearts] how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

  4. The Full Life Study Bible: Jesus gives a lesson on how God evaluates giving. 1. A person’s gift is determined, not by the amount he gives, but by the amount of sactifice involved in the giving. The rich at times give only from their abundance – it costs them no sacrifice. The gift of the widow cost her everything. She gave as much as she possibly could. 2. This principle can be applied to all our service to Jesus. He judges our work and ministry for Him, not by its size or influence or success, but by the amount of sincere dedication, sacrifice, faith, and love involved.

  5. (Rom 12:1) I beseech [Gk: implore] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

  6. (Ezek 37:16,17) Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions [the good southern kingdom]: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim [the evil northern kingdom under King Ahab and Jezebel], and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

  7. Commentary: Hypothesis: Being a type and shadow of the New Testament, most Old Testament saints lacked the much fuller degree of understanding that becomes available with the blessing of the “indwelling” Spirit of God, and they therefore lacked… joy.


(1 Kings 17:13-16) And Elijah said unto her, Fear not [“fear not” = 62x; “be not afraid” = 28x]; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first [a type of firstfruits offering, a tithe], and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did [“faith without works is dead” James 2:20,26] according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

  1. Commentary: May we herein note that the widow woman’s faith (the church in type and shadow) was manifested in believing the word of God conveyed through His sevant Elijah that neither the barrel of meal nor the cruse of oil would fail until the LORD would send “rain upon the earth,” and that her works were exemplified by her actions of physically mixing the meal with the water and baking those elements into a perfect cake of bread... for an offering unto the LORD.

  2. (Psa 37:18-20) The LORD knoweth the days of the upright [Heb: entire: without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sound, unefiled, whole]: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed [Heb: confounded, put to confusion, become dry] in the evil time [an allusion to the Great Tribulation]: and in the days of famine [the Great Tribulation] they shall be satisfied [Heb: full]. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away [doubtless by nuclear warfare: Zech 14:12].

Amen