NATHANAEL
Nathanael
was special. Jesus said here is an “Israelite” without “guile”. Guile
means deceit, and the scriptures say, deceit particular of what we say,
our speech.
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Philip findeth Nathanael,
and saith unto him, We have found him,
of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph. |
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And Nathanael said
unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip
saith unto him, Come and see. |
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Jesus saw Nathanael
coming to him, and saith of him, Behold
an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! |
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Nathanael saith
unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus
answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when
thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. |
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Nathanael answered
and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the
Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. |
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Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said
unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest
thou? thou shalt see greater things than
these. |
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And he saith unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open,
and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. |
Nathaniel was an Israelite, and had no guile. Therefore,
he is a “type” of one of the 144,000 Israelites who will be sealed after
the 6th-seal earthquake mid-tribulation rapture of the un-numberable
host seen in heaven.
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And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount
Sion, and with him an hundred forty and
four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. |
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And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice
of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard
the voice of harpers harping with their harps: |
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And they sung as it were a new song before the
throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could
learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which
were redeemed from the earth. |
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These are they which were not defiled with women;
for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever
he goeth. These were redeemed from among
men, being the firstfruits unto God and
to the Lamb. |
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And
in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before
the throne of God. |
Notice that Jesus said to Nathanael that even before Phillip had called him, He had seen him
already “under the fig tree”, which is a symbol of national Israel.
Jesus already knows who will be the 144,000 called and chosen and sealed
Israelites, 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes. And Nathanael
says, “whence knoweth me?” The Israelites prior
to being sealed with the seal of God, wonder how Christ could know them
personally. Nathanael then recognizes Christ
as the “king of Israel”,
and so will the 144,000 sealed servants recognize Him as their king. Jesus
tells Nathanael that he will see greater things
to come, like the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
This goes back to the time when Jacob wrestled with God, and saw the angels
ascending and descending. This was a period of trial for Jacob, and he
was made lame from the encounter. Here Jesus is showing Nathanael
(and therefore the 144,000), that they would see
the angels during the judgment years, and that, like Jacob, would “prevail”,
or “overcome”.
The 144,000 are the “firstfruits”
unto God and to the Lamb, from the nation of Israel,
returning to Him in repentance, and being sealed with the seal of God, for
protection during the judgment years. They have “no guile” (deceit), in
their mouth. They are “virgins”, and have no guile.
Jesus “saw him coming”………..He has seen each one of us
coming to Him, ever since the foundation of the world. Let us work on
not having any “guile” in our mouth.
O.K., just so you know. It’s just that I
saw that word “guile” describing the 144,000, and then remembered that Nathanael was “without guile”. I am done for the day….
Your lovey-dovey sister Arlene
PS
By the way, from what I can gather in the lst chapter of John, Nathanael
was the "fifth" deciple called by Jesus, the number of "grace"
for Israel.