Another Clue in John 4…??
By Pastor F. M. Riley
September 7, 2010
Dear
beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
I send this Bible study forth in the love
of Christ for all who read it, knowing that this could be [??] the last Bible study that I will be
privileged to share with my readers. My
prayer is that the Lord will bless His Word in this study, and use it to bless
the hearts and minds of every reader.
Introduction
John 4:1-42 records the Lord’s visit
with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.
At the first coming of Christ Samaria was located between Judea and
Galilee on the west or coastal side of the Jordan River. Check your Bible maps. Both Judea and Galilee were populated by the
Jews at the first coming of Christ, but Samaria
was not regarded by the Jewish people as a part of Israel.
The Samaritans were part Jew and part
Gentile because the two peoples, the Jews and the Assyrians, had intermarried
after the Assyrian Empire had carried away captive most of the northern kingdom
of Israel [or Ephraim as it was sometimes
called], leaving only the poorest of the poor Jews in the land. See 2
Kings 17:5-41. The Assyrians brought in colonists from among their own
people to fill the empty cities and houses of the Jewish captives who had been
carried into captivity, and these Assyrian colonists intermarried with these
poor Jews, bringing into existence a people called Samaritans. Time passed…..
After the southern kingdom was carried
off into Babylonian captivity for 70 years, a remnant was finally allowed to
return to Judea. The pure blood Jews who
returned to the land after the Babylonian captivity looked down upon the
Samaritans as half-breed “bastards,” considering them to be nothing but Gentile
“goyim,” [dogs]. The Jews who considered them selves to be
“pure” in their Jewish lineage, then had nothing to do with the half breed Jews
in Samaria.
The pure blood Jews despised the
Samaritans so much that they refused to even travel the short distance through Samaria
if they needed to go from Judea to Galilee, but rather would go out of Judea across
the Jordan, go up the east side of the Jordan River, and then once they had passed Samaria, crossed the
Jordan again to reenter Galilee.
Yet in John 4 the Scripture
explicitly states that Christ “must needs go through Samaria,” 4:4. Why?
Because the Lord was painting a spiritual picture for the generations to
come [including us living today], if
they had the “seeing eyes” and “hearing ears” to discern it.
The Meeting
The Lord met the woman of Samaria [a
Gentile woman] on Pentecost. We know
this to be true because it is always exactly four months from Pentecost [the beginning of the wheat harvest] to
the end of the Jewish harvest season for the preceding year, which
1
always
officially ends during the Holy Days in the Jewish month of Tishri. The first
day of this seventh Jewish month of Tishri always begins with Rosh HaShanah, 4:35.
A Type of the Lord’s Church
The Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 was the exact day
when the Lord empowered His church to go into all the world and invite
the lost to “Come, see a Man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this
the Christ?” 4:29. See Acts 1:8.
This Gentile Samaritan woman is a type of the Lord’s church [His Gentile bride], whether some Christians want to believe this or
not. Their unbelief will not change the
truth of God’s Word one iota. The Lord
revealed Himself to her as the great God of Israel who appeared to Moses at the
burning bush, “I AM speaketh unto thee,” John 4:26 [Textus Receptus Greek]. If
you will check the Greek text for yourself, there is exactly five words
spoken to this Gentile woman in this verse as the Lord revealed Himself to her
as the great “I AM;” the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The ministry then of this Gentile Samaritan
woman typifies the ministry of
the Lord’s church during this present “dispensation of grace,”
Ephesians 3:2. Five is
the Bible number for “grace.”
Two Days with the Gentiles
Proof of this truth is further
set forth in John 4:40 as it is recorded how that the Samaritans “besought
Him that He would tarry with them: and He abode there two days.” Read 2 Peter 3:8. Those two days that Christ spent with
the Samaritans are typical of
the two thousand years + that Christ has been ministering the gospel of
salvation to the Gentile nations of the earth.
Glory to God! Praise the Lord!
During these “two days” [typical of 2,000 years] “many
of the Samaritans [Gentiles] of
that city believed on Him for the saying of the woman….,” 4:39. This typifies the ministry of the Lord’s church [or churches] throughout this present “dispensation
of grace.” Many precious souls
have come to Christ through the centuries because of the faithful witness of the
Lord’s churches, Revelation 3:10.
But notice also that 4:41 explicitly states, “And
many more believed because of His own Word.” Folks, it has always been true and is
still true today, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of
God,” Romans 10:17. Millions
of precious souls through the centuries did not even have a Bible believing
church to attend. Yet they were able to
obtain a copy of the Word of God, or to hear the Word from the witness of some
true believer, and in reading or hearing the Word of the Lord they came to a
saving knowledge of the Lord. Praise
God! Remember that the Lord Himself
explicitly declared, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh
profiteth nothing: the Words that I speak unto you, they are
Spirit, and they are life,” John
6:63. Folks, there is “power” in
the Word of the Lord! Never neglect
it!
Then back to Israel
Notice that “after two days He
departed thence, and went into Galilee,”
4:43. In other words, “after
two days” He left the Gentiles and resumed His ministry with the
2
Jewish
people. Now is it just coincidence that
it has now been two thousand and eight
prophetic years since the Lord left Israel, ascended back to the Father
in Heaven, and began His ministry to the Gentiles? Oh yes it has! Figure it out for yourself…..
Deduct 30 A.D. [the year of the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ]
from 2010 and the actual number of Gentile years [365.2422 days to the year] is 1980 years. Now multiply these 1980 literal years by
365.2422 to get the number of days in this period of time according to our
Gregorian Gentile calendar. The answer
is 723,179.556 days. Now divide this
number of days by 360, which is the number of days in a prophetic year. The
answer is 2008 + prophetic years. Folks, we living today have already passed
the 2000 year mark by a full eight years. In other words humanity upon the earth is presently
living “after two days” exactly in harmony with the truth
stated in John 4:43. This should
give every serious Bible student some insight into how close we are to the coming
of our Lord for us New Testament believers.
It is time for the Lord to resume His ministry to His own Jewish
people.
The Controversy
I know there are some of our readers who
are going to insist that what I have presented is wrong, because it has become
quite popular today to take liberties with the time of the birth, ministry,
crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ back to the Father that is
neither taught nor warranted by a careful study of the Word. The timing of these events which was passed
down to us believers living today by our Christian fore fathers, is now held in
disrepute by many in the ranks of Christianity, and new year dates are being
proclaimed for these events. I am not
going to take the time nor the space to go into all of the controversy, except
to say that some today insist that Christ ascended back to the Father in 29
A.D, 32 A.D., 34 A.D. or even as late as
38 A.D.
It doesn’t take much intelligence to see
that these “new” dates for the ascension of Christ would most definitely change
the calculations I have presented, in some cases by as much as several years. So
who is right? On second thought, who is right doesn’t really make any
difference. All glory belongs to the
Lord! PERIOD!
A far better question or questions to ask would
be, “What is the correct date for
the ascension of Christ, and why is it important?” Let’s just see…..
In the mouth of two or three
witnesses…..
First, the ONLY Jewish historian who
was an eye witness to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies
in 70 A.D., and who was very familiar with the events of the first coming of
Christ, and whose writings have been handed down to us living today, was a man
by the name of Josephus. In his history
he explicitly states that it was 40 years from the crucifixion of Christ
to the destruction of Jerusalem
in 70 A.D. Now I may not be the
“brightest bulb” in the lamp, but when I deduct 40 years from 70 A.D., it takes
me back to 30 A.D. for the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I don’t think this is too
hard to understand! I receive his
witness!
Second, the chronology of the
Bible is inspired of God and is correct.
If one adds up
3
the
years beginning with Adam’s age at the birth of his first son, and continues
carefully adding up the years from birth to birth through the lineage, a correct
year date for the birth of Abraham
is 2008 years after the
creation of Adam. Isn’t this
interesting? Abraham was born 2008 years
after the creation of Adam, and the Jewish descendants of Abraham RIGHT NOW are
living 2008 prophetic years after Christ ascended back to the Father in
30 A.D. Is it possible this may
indicate that some of Abraham’s Jewish descendants will be “spiritually born”
in this 2008th year, just as Abraham was physically born 2008 years
from Adam’s creation? Think about it…..
Third,
the Lord explicitly states that He has declared “the end from the beginning” in
Isaiah
46:9-10. So if we go back to the
beginning of Israel’s
history as a nation, we find Joseph in Genesis 41 interpreting the dreams
of Pharaoh. Joseph told Pharaoh there
would be “seven years of great plenty” followed by “seven years of famine,” Genesis
41:29-30.
All through the personal
ministry of Christ, the truth that He would be gone “two days” [2000 years] from Israel is
taught again and again in type and
shadow. See such passages as Matthew
14:15-21 [two fishes], Matthew
16:27-28 – 17:1-9 [after six days],
Mark
5:1-20 [2000 hogs], Luke
10:30-35 [two pence….two days
wages], John 4 [two days with the
Samaritans], John 11:1-7 [abode two
days still in the same place…..a Gentile land]. Now if we use 30 A.D. as a starting
point for our calculations, it has now been 2008
prophetic years since Christ left Israel. Since the inspired Word repeatedly teaches
that Christ would be gone from Israel
for “two days” or 2,000 years, then why didn’t the Lord return to Israel eight
prophetic years ago? Isn’t the answer
obvious?
The Lord has not only fulfilled the “two
days” or 2,000 years of His absence from Israel as clearly prophesied in the
Scriptures, but in His “longsuffering to us-ward” [2 Peter 3:9] He has extended to mankind
the final “seven years of great plenty.” Folks, we are talking food here; the
very basic necessity of life. There has
been food enough to feed the whole world during the past “seven
good years.” But I don’t have to
tell any serious student of the Scriptures that the “seven years of great plenty” are
at an end, and the “seven years of famine” are staring humanity in the face RIGHT
NOW. Are you listening? Hello!
All of the above references verify my
calculations that Christ ascended back to the Father in 30 A.D. The reason this is important is because it
obviously verifies that we are indeed living in the 2008th prophetic
year from the ascension of Christ back to the Father. This is where humanity is at on the calendar RIGHT
NOW in God’s great Plan of the Ages. This
means that it is indeed true that Christ will depart from ministering to the
Gentiles sometime “after two days” [2,000
years] and take up His ministry to Israel again, 4:43. Folks, “after
two days” is where we are living RIGHT NOW! Is it then just coincidence that at this very
time almost the entire Gentile world today has turned away from hearing and
honoring the Word of the Lord?
Well…??
Now let’s proceed…..
Back to Israel
We are explicitly told that “after
two days” of ministering to the Samaritans the Lord “departed,
and went into Galilee,” 4:43. In other words, He went back to the
Jewish
4
people
to minister to them. We are also told
that when He came back to Galilee, “the
Galileans received Him,” 4:45. This
typifies how the 144,000 and
the Jewish “remnant” are going to receive Christ as their Savior and Messiah as
this present “dispensation of grace” ends with the resurrection and rapture
of New Testament believers and Christ begins to minister to the Jewish people
again during the coming Tribulation. Even today there is a mighty longing in
the hearts of many of the Jewish people for their Messiah to come and save
them as promised in the Holy Scriptures, 1 Peter 1:1-13. His
return to Israel
and the salvation of the Jews is then typified
right here in John 4. Praise the
Lord! Glory to God! Hallelujah!
Is there a Clue to the Timing…??
However, there is another event recorded here
in John
4 that may be setting
forth “a clue” to the timing of these prophetic events, which appears to
have been completely overlooked by most Bible students, including me. I have repeatedly stated and pointed out in my
Bible studies that the prophetic Word is a progressive
revelation that is being opened up more and more as we near the end of
this age, Daniel 12:4. Now I
want our readers to notice this last event recorded in John 4, and then YOU
decide for yourself if this is “a clue” to WHEN these last end-time events are
to begin to come to pass.
At the very time that Christ returned into
Galilee, He was met by “a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.” 4:46. The
Greek word translated as “nobleman” in this verse is the
word, “basilikos.” This Greek word literally means “royal; noble; kingly; ruler; royal
official.” See Thayer’s Greek
Lexicon, page 98, Strong’s No. 937. This
word occurs five times in the New Testament, and is always used of one
who is in a position to rule over the people.
This “nobleman” had “heard” of the Lord. Immediately upon the return of Christ
to Galilee, he then went to the Lord begging
Him to “come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death,” 4:47.
Folks, I don’t think I am stretching a
thing to say that this is exactly where Israel is at today. Israel
today is surrounded by enemies on every hand, and under extreme pressure from
the United States,
the European Union, and the United Nations NOT TO DEFEND THEMSELVES
against their enemies. If one looks at Israel’s situation today through strictly human
eyes, it appears that Israel is “at the point of death,” and many
today are predicting Israel’s
imminent destruction and demise. But there is at least one Jewish
leader [perhaps more] who does
believe the Jewish Scriptures and is even now appealing to the God of Israel
and especially to the Jewish Messiah to “come down” and save Israel and the
Jewish people. This type is so glaringly obvious and relevant that I don’t see
how any true believer who seriously studies the Scriptures can possibly miss
it.
Notice that the Lord told him explicitly, “Except
ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe,” 4:48. Isn’t this the way the Lord has
always dealt with Israel
from the very birth of their nation in the land of Egypt? By showing them “signs and wonders?” You know it is!
Nevertheless, the situation was so
desperate on this occasion that the nobleman’s only reply was a cry for help,
“Sir,
come down ere my child die,” 4:49. Our
gracious Lord did not ignore the nobleman’s plea, but answered him saying, “Go
thy way; thy son liveth,” 4:50. Don’t
fail to notice that for the first time in the history of the Jewish
5
nation,
the nobleman “believed the Word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went
his way,” Folks, from the day Moses delivered the Law to Israel some
3,500 years ago, the Jewish people have looked to and depended upon the Law
of Moses for guidance and [mistakenly]
for salvation. Throughout all these
centuries it has been a poor substitute for simply believing the Word of
God BY FAITH. Even the Old Testament writings of the Jewish
prophets clearly states, “but the just shall live by faith,”
Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17. This
nobleman clearly and obviously “believed the Word that Jesus had spoken
unto him.” This was totally an
act of faith on the nobleman’s part.
Proof of it was the fact that “he went his way,” 4:50.
The Time Element
Now notice that as the nobleman “was now going down;” that is, back
to his home after presenting his plea to Christ, “his servants met him, and told him, saying,
Thy son liveth,” 4:51. Glory
to God! Remember that this son of the
nobleman typifies the nation
and people of Israel. No enemy on earth will ever again defeat
Israel! Israel lives!
But then the nobleman inquired of his
servants “the hour when he began to amend.” They answered him by
saying, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him,” 4:52. Praise the Lord! Glory to God!
Hallelujah! Folks, remember that
we are studying a type of the
healing and salvation of Israel
and the Jewish people. Unbelieving Israel has been judicially “blinded”
by their “fever” for the Law for the past 2,000 years, Romans
11:25. But they are going to be
healed! The nobleman inquired of his
servants WHEN THIS HEALING BEGAN.
And what was their answer to him?
“Yesterday at the seventh hour the
fever left him.” This is the
only time in the entire Bible which even mentions “the seventh hour.” It is NEVER mentioned anywhere else
in the Scriptures. Check this out for
yourself. The “time element” then when
the son of the nobleman “began” to be healed was the
previous day at “the seventh hour.” Glory!
Now do our readers know what hour
of the day “the seventh hour” is in Jewish reckoning? It
is 1:00 p.m.! So now what is typified here in this 7th
hour of the day in relation to the healing of the “blindness” of Israel
and their subsequent salvation?
What appears
to be typified is 7 – 1; that
is, the 1st day of the
seventh month on the Jewish calendar, or in other words Rosh HaShanah. Glory to God! Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord! Thank you Lord
Jesus!
I
have now presented to my readers what I believe the Lord showed me as the beginning
of the spiritual healing of presently blind and unbelieving Israel. YOU will have to carefully read this study
and decide for yourself if this is indeed “a
clue” to the time of the beginning of these end-time
events. I now leave this study between
you and the Lord to decide…….
<<<<<<< O
>>>>>>>
NOTICE:
Permission is granted to reproduce this study to share with others or to
quote from it in context as written.
Please address all comments,
questions, or correspondence to: Pastor F. M. Riley, 184 County Road 108, Harrisburg, Missouri 65256, or I can be reached by email
at: fmrglbd5@yahoo.com or
fmr7sngn@centurylink.net