PROPHETIC ACTS

PROPHETIC ACTS

Acts 21:10-11 – As we stayed many days [with Philip the evangelist in Caesarea], a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the
Gentiles.’” * And so it happened.
Hosea 1:2 – The Lord said to Hosea, “Go take for yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord.” Genesis 8:1-12 – After the waters of the Flood receded, Noah “sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth.” The raven symbolizes Satan, who goes about like a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour. [See 1 Peter 5:8 and Job 1:6- 7 & 2:1-2] Then Noah sends out a dove, which finds no resting place and so returns to the
Ark. After seven days, Noah sends the dove out a second time, and the dove returns “with a freshly plucked olive leaf.” Noah waits another seven days and sends out the dove the third
time, and the dove does not return. * How can we understand this? What’s the symbolism here? * God’s Original Purpose of Creation (OPOC), found in Genesis chapters 1 & 2, is to
establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth (KoHoE) through one godly couple – a man and a woman and their children and grandchildren to fulfill the Three Great Blessings of Genesis 1:28. But God’s first effort with Adam & Eve fails because of their sin, which is symbolized by
the return of the first dove, who “found no resting place for the sole of her foot.” Both the dove and the olive branch are symbols of peace, and the second dove symbolizes Jesus who
departed from and returned to Noah (God) and the Ark (Heaven). The primary mission of Jesus – to establish Peace on Earth and Goodwill to men (Luke 2:14 & refer also to John 14:27 & 16:33) – was frustrated because he was murdered, crucified, his body broken, like the bread at the Last Supper, so he was not able to marry and form a family as the foundation for the KoHoE. The third sending of the dove, of course, represents God’s
sending the Third Adam to find the Second Eve (God’s True Daughter, equivalent to Jesus), marry and establish a godly family as a foundation for the KoHoE. Jesus as the first advent of Christ knew this, but was not able to tell his disciples (and us)(John 16:12), because he was
unable to fulfill this dimension of God’s overarching Providence. Nevertheless, he asked us to pray in what we term The Lord’s Prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on Earth, as it is in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) When Jesus speaks of the coming of the “Spirit of Truth”
in John 16:13-15, he is talking not only about the Holy Spirit coming in spirit, but also about the Second Advent of Messiah as a man in the flesh born of woman, as he was. Paul refers to this time of Christ’s coming in 1 Corinthians 13:9-12 – “We know in part and we prophesy in part. But when he who is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. .. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.” Paul says this again quite clearly in
Hebrews 9:28 – “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many [referring, of course, to Jesus of Nazareth, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” in John 1:29.]  but he [the Christ, the Messiah, chosen personally by Jesus] will appear a second time (apart
from sin) for salvation,” referring, of course, to the establishing of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth (God’s OPOC) after The Marriage Supper of the Lamb, not the “salvation” which we already have with Jesus in the Spiritual World after the end of this physical world. Genesis 15 relates the detailed story of “God’s Covenant with Abram” and his failure in his
first offering of a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon, the failure being in neglecting to “cut the birds in two.” This failure is so severe that several things happen in
rapid succession: (1) “vultures came down on the carcasses,” defiling them, for scavengers are unclean birds, symbolizing Satan; (2) “a deep sleep fell upon Abram, horror and great darkness fell upon him,” a gruesome nightmare, and (3) God said to Abram, “Know certainly
that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.” * Wow! What’s the deep, hidden, symbolic meaning in this one? Why is God so angry with Abram that his progeny are sentenced to four hundred years of hard labor at the hands of the Egyptians after the death of Joseph? Well, it’s actually easy to understand if (and only if) one reads and comprehends the whole
Bible, not just isolated parts of it. Refer, for example, to Leviticus 12, “The Ritual after Childbirth” – “If she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtledoves or two
young pigeons.” And Exodus 13:2, 12, 15 – “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast. It is Mine. .. You shall
set apart to the Lord all that open the womb .. but the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. .. I sacrifice to the Lord all males that open the womb, but all the
firstborn of my sons I redeem.” And Exodus 22:29 – “The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me.” And Leviticus 27:26 & 28 – “The firstborn of the animals .. is the Lord’s. .. Every devoted offering is most holy to the Lord.” Most important is “Jesus presented in the
Temple” in Luke 2:22-24 – “Now when the days of her purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the
Lord’ {See also Numbers 3:13 & 8:17}), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in
the Law of the Lord, ‘A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.’” * In short, Jesus was the
firstborn of Mary and so dedicated to God. The firstborn should be “redeemed” (from death
by sacrifice to the Lord) by the offering of two small birds; so when Abram failed to cut the
birds in twain, symbolically the offering for Jesus was not properly made, defiled, so he had
to be literally sacrificed, cursed by the Lord. (Refer also to Deuteronomy 21:22-23, 1 Peter 2:24, and Galatians 3:13) He had to go the way of the Cross. * Divine Principle adds two
important notes here. First, because Abram failed in this first offering of animals, God asked him to make a greater sacrifice – that of his beloved son Isaac. This is an example of “greater
indemnity.” Second, even though Abram failed in this initial offering, he stood on the
foundation of the success of Noah and the Ark, so he was given a second chance. Noah did
not fail. The failure was in his sons. It was only after Abram offered Isaac in absolute
obedience to God that he became the Father of Faith and his name was changed to

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Abraham. Furthermore, his progeny -- Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph -- succeeded him in faith and
obedience.
Numbers 20:1-13 recounts the story of “Moses’ Error at Kadesh,” and it is quite similar to
the stories of Abram and his offerings in its momentous consequences. The children of Israel
are again complaining against God and Moses, bitching and moaning because they had no
water for themselves or their vast herds of cattle. God wants to demonstrate once again His
love for the Israelites and His fidelity to His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So “the
glory of the Lord appeared to them. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take the rod ..
speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water.’ But instead of merely
speaking to the rock, Moses “struck the rock twice with his rod, water came out abundantly,
and the congregation and their animals drank. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron,
‘Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel,
therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.’” (This
story is rehashed briefly by Moses in Deuteronomy 3:23-29.) * Once again, Divine Principle
explains the reason for God’s anger and harsh judgment against Moses and Aaron. God had
asked Moses to “speak” to the rock, which symbolizes Christ (See, for example, Matthew
7:24-29); but instead, Moses acts impulsively with anger at the incessant complaints of the
people, and “strikes” the rock twice. Satan “struck” Adam through the temptation of Eve,
leading to the failure of God’s first attempt to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
through godly families; and the prophetic act of Moses in striking the rock twice symbolized
that Satan would strike a second time, this time at Jesus, leading to the failure of God’s
second attempt to fulfill His Original Purpose of Creation.
John 3:14-16 – “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of
Man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through him might be saved. ” Jesus is referring to the story of “The Bronze Serpent” in
Numbers 21:4-9. The Israelites have been defeated at Hormah, and they are having to take
a long detour en route to the Promised Land; so “the soul of the people became very
discouraged on the way; and the people railed against God and against Moses, saying, ‘Why
have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?’ .. So the Lord sent fiery
serpents among the people, they bit the people, and many died.” The people realize and
repent of their sins of murmuring and complaining, so Moses interceded and “prayed for
the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole; and it
shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.’” * This prophetic act, of
course, foreshadows that when we sinners realize and repent of our manifold sins and
multiform wickedness, look to Jesus on the Cross, confess our sins, and believe in the
resurrection of Jesus, we will receive “life” in spirit with Jesus, symbolically dying with him
through baptism, so we can be resurrected with him spiritually in this life and the next. *
Finally, the fact that Joshua succeeds Moses and leads the Israelites into the Promised Land
foretells that the Third Adam will succeed Jesus to establish the Kingdom on Earth.