Dear Cindy Busch -- Wow!! I just
read your letter on the angels' message on Ascension Day!!! Reminded
me of what I wrote the fivedoves site on April 11, 2007. Thank you
for posting your thought on this....I agree...there is definitely something
more to this message. :)
I copied and pasted my April 11th letter here.
G-d bless you all! I enjoy this site very much.
Appreciate everyone's letters!
I too am adding a letter about Ascension Day...actually it's
just a link to my Ascension Day letter from last year..but it still applies.
I still have not read anything about the 'message' of the Angels on Ascension
Day when Jesus rose into the clouds. I would appreciate anyone else's
thoughts on this or a referral to a book/website that covers this.
Thank you in advance for any thoughts/replies.
YSIC. Still watching and waiting with all of you!
Thank you John.
Chance
Below is a link to this letter...for your perusal on the Angels'
message on Ascension Day.
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/may2006/chance56.htm
I copied and pasted the above link's letter from 2006:
Re: What is the message of the angels on
Ascension Day?
G-d bless you all! This is my first post
but I've been 'around' for years. This site always touches my heart.
Thank you.
There is something I wanted to share with you
that every time Ascension Day rolls around I think about. It has to
do with Acts Chapter 1 and the two angels that appear there with a 'message'.
There are many translations of this chapter.
If you read Acts chapter 1, Jesus'
disciples ask Him about His restoring again the kingdom to Israel; Jesus
responds with "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons" --
I take this to mean that Jesus is telling them this will not happen
in their lifetime, so they do not need to know the date/time/month/year;
so it's not important to them.
After Jesus ascends into heaven, two men appear
in white apparel who say to the disciples as they are looking up at the
clouds:
"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up
to heaven? This same Jesus who is taken from you into heaven, shall
so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."
Another translation:
"Galilaeans, why stand looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been
taken up from you into Heaven will come in just the same way
as you have seen Him going into Heaven."
Whenever G-d has wanted to communicate something
REALLY BIG to mankind it seems that He often has sent angles
-- an angel was sent to Daniel to help him decipher his dreams; an angel
was sent to Mary to tell her she carried the Son of G-d; angels were sent
to the shepherds to tell them the Messiah was born; one or two angels
(depending on the Gospel one reads) told the women who went to the tomb
that the 'Messiah/Son of G-d is not there, He is risen'; etc. etc.
These angels always have some BIG message of prime importance for mankind.
On Ascension day, G-d doesn't send just
one angel, He sends two. One angel could have easily delivered this
message to the disciples so why TWO?
In the above translations the angels tell the
apostles that Jesus will return 'like you just saw him leave'. This
is not a BIG message -- Jesus himself told
the disciples He was coming back -- they knew this and had asked Him about
this... so this is not BIG news. It's
not a BIG DEAL to be told that Jesus will return in the clouds either
-- so that part of the message is not BIG news. No
more mention is made of these angels or their message...the disciples
journey to Jerusalem and go to the upper room. It seems to
me that the angels' message is 'lost to them'. I really don't
see any reason for one angel, more less two angels, to give the disciples
this 'all imporant' message from G-d. Maybe I'm missing something?
Acts 1:3 states that Jesus was "being seen
of them forty days" after his Resurrection -- that's "Ascension Day" or
day 40 after Firstfruits. So, in Acts we are specifically given
the day that this 'ascension' and message occurs.
Now back to the message of the angels -- what
the angels told the disciples wasn't even important enough for the
disciples to mention again in the rest of the chapter or anywhere
else in Acts that I am aware of -- they did not see the angels' message
as a BIG DEAL -- but maybe it was.(?) Maybe because it
was not for them to know the times or seasons...it is for someone
else like 'the last generation' to know.(?) Maybe the angels were
telling the disciples that Jesus would return 'in like manner', that
is, He will return exactly on this same day in the clouds
in the future. That would make this message a BIG
DEAL. That would warrant a couple of angels at least!
:) That would be a BIG message from G-d to mankind.
It obviously wasn't a message for those who
actually heard it and it took TWO angels to deliver it. Seems there
should be something more to it than a message telling them things they
already knew. Maybe it's this 'message' that's the important
part of this chapter -- and G-d wanted to emphasize the message by having
it delivered by two angels. But what was G-d trying to tell
us?
To date, I have not found a translation that
says 'on this same day Jesus will return in like manner'. :)
I can't remember ever reading about or hearing anyone 'explain' this
message or even ponder this message.
Just a thought that keeps me thinking about
Ascension Day and that odd message of the angels.
I am watching and waiting too. :)
G-d bless you.
Chance