Dear friends:A couple of weeks ago, Rev. Ron Patterson called me to share that the Lord had been speaking to him about the passage in John 5 where Jesus healed the invalid man at the pool of Bethesda. See verses 2-11. The man had been an invalid for 38 years!
Ron said that the man had been lying there all those years and the religious people did not help him. The water in the pool is symbolic of the Word. There were plenty of promises in the Jewish Bible at that time for him to get healed. Nobody helped him get into the Word. Through Jesus, God decided that He would have to help the man Himself, by His grace. The Word made flesh came to the man in Person! There were five colonnades, and five is the number of grace.
Ron said this is the condition of the world today. The world is in such bad shape, and the lukewarm Laodecean church is not doing enough to help. So in His mercy the Lord is going to personally come again to bring healing and deliverance to those who will receive it. He said the Tribulation is a time of mercy. God does not need the Tribulation for punishment because He already has hell to do that. It will be a severe wake-up time and opportunity after the rapture for people to call upon the Lord and be saved for eternity.
As Ron spoke, all of a sudden it dawned on me: The man had been an invalid for 38 years! And counting 38 years from the most prophetic and milestone event since the first century, when the Jews took over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in 1967 = 2005. When I said that, Ron was ecstatic! He sensed that the number 38 here is significant.
I did not share this before, but I share it now because the numbers 38 and 2005, and also 12, have come up again this week in different contexts.
1. Pastor F.M. Riley pointed out that after they left Egypt, it took the Israelites two years to reach Mt. Sinai, where they rebelled against God, and He required them to wonder in the wilderness another 38 years to reach the Promised Land.
Riley says, “This is 2005! Thirty-eight years ago (1967) Almighty God delivered the Temple Mount into the hands of the Jews during the Six-Day War. Instead of immediately seizing the opportunity, rebuilding their Temple, and claiming their promised Kingdom, the Jews (through their blind leaders) rebelled against the will of God plainly stated in His prophetic Word, and literally gave the Temple Mount over into the hands of their enemies. God have mercy! They have had to pay dearly for the past 38 years for that act of rebellion, just as their ancient forefathers had to pay (38 years) for their rebellion. But praise God! At the end of the 38 years ancient Israel crossed the Jordan and entered upon their Kingdom promises. They still had to fight a seven-year war to subdue their enemies, but they were on their way. Folks, can't you see that this plainly points to Israel entering their Kingdom promises this year, 2005, where they will still have to fight a seven-year war to subdue their enemies. This year (2005) is 38 years since Israel had and relinquished the Temple Mount, and the seven-year Tribulation is at the door. It will begin this Spring. Glory! But there is another point whether some like it or not. Since this year is the 38th year and the Tribulation is at the door.... so is the rapture of God's people. Glory!” See http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/jan2005/fmriley125-2.htm
2. Also this week, Pastor Riley points out that Lamentations 1:17 describes Jerusalem “as a menstrous woman among them." He then mentioned Jesus healing the menstrous woman who had the “issue of blood” for 12 years (Matthew 9:18-20, etc.). Riley says, “This woman had been menstruating nonstop for twelve years. There is no question in my mind that this woman is a type of Jerusalem. And how long has the controversy over Jerusalem been going on? The real bloody controversy over who would control Jerusalem began just twelve years ago. Remember? That was 1993, the year that Rabin of Israel and Arafat of the PLO signed the rotten, deceitful Oslo Accords. There has been nothing but bloodshed since that day. God have mercy! And He will! Just as the Lord healed the woman after she had suffered for twelve years with her 'issue of blood,' so the Lord is going to heal Jerusalem this year, 2005. He will do so by sending back to Jerusalem His 'two witnesses' and saving 144,000 Jews. Glory! And it will take place this year. 2005 - 12 = 1993. See http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/jan2005/fmriley127.htm
CONCLUSION:
The above instances provide three different biblical patterns and types that appear to point to the year 2005.
“What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” (Mark 13:37).
Jim