In 3 Days, After 3 Days, or Both?

In my last post, I suggested that the spiritual awakening that is going on right now in the hearts of a few believers in every nation around the world was directly linked to the resurrection of Christ. I compared the resurrection story, according to the gospels, linking to the scripture in 2 Peter 3:8-9,

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

We are seeing the signs of the end of the age being fulfilled all around us. At the same time an amazing spiritual awakening is touching the hearts of a remnant of believers throughout the world, all at once. The church is considered "the body of Christ", and we are in the early hours of the third millennial "day" since Christ died, and so I concluded that this awakening was a "resurrection of the Body of Christ". I have found that the best subjects to write about are researched in reverse: where you have an idea that strikes you suddenly, and then do some homework to check it out, and get a resounding confirmation that you're thinking on the right track. The last post was like that. I had assumed that the Nicene Counsel had written the Apostles creed, but when I found out the truth (that the apostles creed was written in the 1st century with "resurrection of the body" and the Nicene Creed was written 200 years later, when the Holy Spirit anointing was gone, the term "body" changed to "dead")...when I found that out, the concept I had made even more sense.

Recently, Thomas brought up Jesus' words in Matt 12:40

"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

He pointed out that if Jesus was talking about his resurrection, than my concept was a thousand years ahead of us, and not going on right now, because we are in the early hours of the "third day" since Jesus died. Thomas raised a good point. but when he brought it up, I had just finished a long and difficult exchange with Dan, and was feeling attacked, so my quick responses didn't completely explain what that verse is talking about, and how my teaching could be considered valid. If I am teaching in a way that contradicts the overall story of the scripture, then my teaching is worth nothing. But thankfully, the Bible is full of explanations.

The most important way to find answers to the deep questions we have, is to seek out those answers ourselves, and to remain in prayer. Thankfully, the truth is available to all who will seek it. Seeking the truth is hard work, but it's not an impossible task. You don't have to know everything in order to recognize the truth. And the more of it you do know, and embrace it, the more free you become from the influence of deceivers (so it's worth the effort). Also the more truth you encounter, the more love you have for it.

First, I will reinforce the concept of God's remnant and Jesus raising up in the third day, and then we will read what is supposed to happen after the third day. Thomas was correct in pointing out Matt 12:40, and asking the needed question. That verse is a "technicality", in that it is "a detail meaningful only to a specialist". However, we are called to study the scriptures in order to show ourselves approved to God, so we should all be studying the scriptures continuously, looking to the scriptures (and prayer) directly as the best resources for finding answers to our questions.

I will use the gospel of Matthew and the book of Hosea to plead my case, but there are certainly more verses that discuss this topic, buried like gems throughout the scriptures. Matt 16:21,

"From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."

This verse introduces the concept of the personal resurrection of Jesus would happen in the third day, not after the third day. (but something will certainly happen after the third day). Matt 17:22-23,

Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them,“The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.

Again, this is saying that the resurrection will happen in the third day, not after. Now as far as the Passover Sabbath goes, I have done a little homework (thanks to leads given by Sandra and Thomas), and found that Passover is the holiday which comes immediately before the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus was not betrayed on the passover, because his conspirators were afraid that the people would riot against them. Matt:26-2-5 starts with Jesus telling his disciples:

“You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

In the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the first and the last days are considered Sabbaths. The days in between are not. Although they are part of the celebration, work can be done. This is significant. The conspirators needed to get rid of Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. What better time to strike than when the people were mostly pre-occupied with the week long feast of Passover? They couldn't do it on the opening feast day, because no one was allowed to work that day (neither Judges, nor Chief Priests, nor Elders). But they could do it after sun set on that day, in the middle of the night, while most of Jerusalem was sleeping. Matt 26:17 makes it clear that the Last Supper was on that day.

Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”

The rest of Matt 26, gives the account of Jesus' betrayal. Matt 27 opens up the next morning, and it is on that day that Jesus is sentenced by Pilot and crucified. Jesus died in the "9th hour" of that day, which is three hours before the beginning of the "day of preparation". The Jews counted their days from evening to evening. Matt 27:57 says that when Jesus was crucified, he was buried that evening, and the next morning the elders and priests convinced Pilot to place a seal on his grave. The next day was the Sabbath. Since the Last Supper was shared on the special Sabbath of the Unleavened Bread Feast, and he was crucified the next day, it would be impossible for the Sabbath before his resurrection to be a double sabbath.

So he was buried and sealed in one day, he remained in the grave for the next day (the sabbath), and his resurrection was discovered the morning of the third day after his death. Now, it should be noted that none of the gospels give an account of the actual resurrection. All of the accounts are of discovering the empty tomb. But even though no one knows the hour of his resurrection, and none of us were there to witness it personally...there is no doubt in my mind that Jesus was alive again before the 72 hours of "three days and three nights" were up, and that he was dead for two full days, before being resurrected within the third day after his death. In that case, since Jesus wasn't a liar, he must have been talking about something else in Matt 12:40, when he says that "the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth".

My view is that Christ wasn't talking about his resurrection in that passage, but was instead talking about the future of the church, and his own future. Since we are flesh, and come from the "dust of the earth", and Jesus is in the hearts of his believers, he has been in "the heart of the earth" since he died, and will continue to be there even after he returns to rule the earth for 1000 years of peace. So that prophecy will not be fulfilled until after that 1000 years is over. We have an extra day ahead of us, where the body of Christ will be resurrected, and both head and body will remain in the heart of the earth, to rule together...this I believe to be "the last day" that Jesus spoke so much about. Hosea 6:1-3 also has a great promise for God's people. That is the promise that I shared in my last post.

Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.

So the restoration will come after two days. Then for a thousand years, Satan will be bound, Christ will rule this earth, and there will be peace and joy like never before. After that thousand years Satan will be loosed, there will be one more war, and then this heaven and this earth will be judged and done away with (and replaced with a new heaven and a new Earth).

Please read through Revelation 20-21 to confirm that this is what the scriptures teach will happen. In Mat 12, Christ is talking about the days leading up to final judgment. The sign that will be given to those who demand a sign is this: the presence of Christ in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. (the entire history of the real church, including the next 1000 years). Judgment will come for all immediately after that appointed time. Matt 12:38-42

"Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. After his death, his mind and his spirit have lived on in those who belong to him. This will continue, even in the earth's new state of existence, after Jesus the head comes back to the Earth, for the next day and the next evening. Only after three days and three nights will the final judgment come. But we are eagerly awaiting what is happening now, because it signals the deliverance of the church, and victory that was promised for the last day.

The Resurrection of the Body of Christ.

The Apostles Creed is a summary of the common beliefs held by all Christians, of all denominations, and was written during the time of the apostles (while miraculous power still defined the baby church) . One of the beliefs listed in this creed is "The resurrection of the body". While many assume that this refers to our physical bodies, we should remember that in the New Testament, "body" is a metaphor for the church itself. I believe that the "ressurection of the body" is referring to a new spiritual life that will come into the church in the days leading up to the return of Christ. If you read the New Testament, you'll see that the promises, callings and definitions of our faith stretch very far above and beyond the experience of most. The Holy Spirit empowered believers when the church was first forming, and I believe that Spiritual anointing was a "first fruit", or a taste of what was certain to come at God's appointed time. I believe that God is powerful, purposeful and patient, and that all things he has promised will certainly come true.

I also believe that the timing for this "resurrection of the body" is now. Because "1000 years is as a day to the Lord and a day is as 1000 years", Jesus was resurrected "in the early hours of the third day", and he also claimed that he would be "perfected in the third day". Have no doubt, by considering that this Resurrection of the Body applies to the church, I am also saying that the Body of Christ has been "dead" for almost all of the past 2000 years. This is a very humbling and frightening concept for church-goers who don't want to rock the boat. However, if you are familiar with Church History and become willing to question the foundation of your doctrines, traditions etc, you will clearly see how this applies. The deceptiveness of Lucifer is uncanny. The truth of this is not something that people can be convinced of by others. To see it, you have to look for the signs of deception for yourself. You have to plead with God to help you in discerning truth. You have to be willing to always reexamine the ground on which you stand.

In 325 A.D., by order of Roman Emperor Constantine, the church became the official religion of Rome and was organized by the Nicene Counsel. This counsel created it's own creed which is very similar to the Apostles Creed, but rephrases the "resurrection of the body" to the "resurrection of the dead". That subtle difference is very significant. Earlier in this blog, PeterZ taught, "I personally believe that the council was a grave stone to the Church because it went from being an organism to an organization. It set the cannon but it also made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and now had the authority of the State rather than the anointing of God." Since then, numerous atrocities have been carried out by the church, in the name of Christ, and have caused many non-believers to dismiss Christianity as a hypocritical, judgmental and violent religion. Fortunately, the teachings of Christ and the Apostles have little if anything to do with the horrors of the post-Nicene church. While scriptures have been plucked up and twisted to help the accuser to cast millions of Christians back into darkness, if a believer will study the scriptures faithfully in context (and pray for understanding), the nature of Christ's spirit becomes very clear. Even though the church has fallen away, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. The Gospel is truly good news, not some verbal formula; God's love for us is unconditional (agape), not simply "tough love"; and the time of restoration and resurrection is upon us. Hallelujah!

Many believers came to the church in the first place because they didn't want to go to hell when they died. Messages of Hellfire and Brimstone are terrific motivators, and successful evangelists have been using that angle to beef up their recruitment numbers for many generations. And while it's true that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom", I can tell you for certain that the fear of the Lord and the fear of Hell are two entirely different things. Throughout most of the church age, Fear of personal destruction has been used to control people, to keep them submissive and obedient to their worldly authorities. But God did not sacrifice his only begotten son so that we would be scared into submission...He did it because He "so loved the world". To fear the Lord is to acknowledge that he knows everything about us all. That he sees into our hearts, he knows our secrets, and he isn't fooled by lies (even if we persuade ourselves to believe pleasurable lies...such as condemning a group of people and calling that condemnation "love"). To fear the Lord is to follow Him, to serve him, even if your own life is threatened because of that dedication. If you have the fear of the Lord it means you are willing to stand alone, against the crowd, despite great objection because you don't care about the judgment of people so much as you care about the judgment of God. Many people who belong to the church institution aren't willing to stand out of the crowd. They follow the rest of the herd, instead of the good Shepherd. They lack the "Fear of the Lord", and therefore lack wisdom.

Growing up, I would recite the Apostles Creed at its designated time every Sunday morning church service, along with the rest of the "flock". It always struck me as strange that people in my church could recite such a radical list of beliefs with little to no emotion. As though people were embarrassed, and competing with each other to see who could sound the least sincere or interested. But at the same time, these same people were too afraid or self conscious to do anything but recite it, on command, every week. Lots of things about the church always puzzled me. The history, the routines, the traditions, the repetition and the methods of recruitment. What we were reading from, learning about, and claiming to believe was much more urgent, inspired and extreme than what we were in the habit of doing. It all seemed so very wrong. But it was easier for me back then to believe that there was something wrong with my perception, instead of something wrong with the entire church.

When the church was young, it was full of life, energy, love and joy...then very quickly after it's birth, it began to die. The Official Catholic Church introduced a heavy system of rules and traditions that Jesus never spoke of (but the old pagan Roman religion practiced)....and for almost the entirety of these past twenty centuries, the power, life, love, faith, and hope of the church has died...but even that was a part of God's greater plan.

The faith of Christ's disciples was shaken when he died. For two days, they remained hidden from the outside world. The rug was pulled out from under their feet. The 11 remaining Disciples, and numerous other men and women had dedicated their lives to following a man who was supposed to deliver Israel...and he died. For two days (the day it happened, and the day after) there was nothing...the future looked very grim for Christ's followers. But then on the third day he rose again: and all doubt, discouragement and uncertainty was put to rest. Followers of Christ are in a similar predicament today, but resurrection is coming. When it does, everything will change.

That's the reason why the global elite have been scrambling to establish their New World Order: Lucifer (who rules them) knows that his time is short; he knows that the resurrection is coming, and he is in a race against time to establish his rule before he is overthrown and put in chains.

Also, Jesus knew that there would be atrocities carried out in his name. As a prophet, he saw not just this point in history, but across the entire landscape of the past 2000 years. It has been marked by misinterpretation and the spiritual death of his teaching. His teachings and spirit have been rejected by the established authority. Throughout the ages, a remnant has survived, and has been blessed with an understanding of Christ's spirit. But it has only been a remnant. And here is hope: despite knowing what would happen under the banner of Christianity between then and now, Jesus also knew what would happen in our future. And the final judgment of Father and Son is that Christianity was worth the price. We haven't seen anything yet when it comes to the Glory that has been promised to the Son, and his bride. He will return to rule the world, along with his saints who will rule under his authority. The seventh "Day of Rest", the third "Day of Resurrection" and the 1000 years reign of Christ in Revelation 20 are prophecies of the same exact promise. So as bad as everything may seem to us, we must rest assured that the King of kings will be given his throne very soon, and what happens then will be more wonderful than anything we can imagine.

Romans 8:18-25

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

Interesting Weekend

Hi all,
Just got back from a family vacation. I actually survived it!
Interesting confluence of events, and events are going to take off from here. Those with wisdom will see the Illuminati playing chess with human lives:
The Olympics are centered around the confluence of the date 8-8-2008,and the date 8-11-2008. Numerologically, regrding 8-8-2008, 8+8= 16, 1+6= 7 + 2 =9 + 8 = 17. 1+7 = 8. in essense this number is 8888, or 32. There is a lot of significance ot these numbers for occultists, but specifically the relationship between 32 and its inverse 23 , and of course the famous Skull and Bones 322. It is no coincidence that the Olympics are in China at this moment, or that Russia is invading Georgia.
http://the-number-23.blogspot.com/2007/02/religion-sects-and-occult.html
Georgia invades South Ossestia, and Russia responds by invading Georgia. Russia "takes the bait" and invades Georgia (surprise, surprise. And Bush and Putin were gladhanding at the opening ceremonies the other night, like they had no idea that this would take place. LOL). The invasion by Russia was essentially on 8-11-2008. Numerologically, this date 8-11-2008 adds up to (surprise surprise) 11, the master number. Also, 8 x 11= 88, and this number has some interesting meanings and historical connections, especially regarding the host nation of this years homage to the reptilian demon hordes(or the Olympics as it is popularly known), China:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88_(number)
In addition, 23 divided by 88= 27, and we have seen the importance of this number for occultists. It implies rule and kingship, which would correspond to the events of the last eight years or so, and the ANA-POLIS MARY-LAND (the conncetiosn to their goddess Isis, Columba, Ishtar is so transparent that it is laughable) summit of 11-27-2007. There are direct links between Anapolis and the events pertaining to and surrounding the Olympic Games. For example, the nation of Israel, which was prominent at the Anapolis summit, was featured in a 60Minutes "report" on 8-10-2008 about the Israeli air force, and how they might have to attack Iran in order to prevent a repeat of Nazi Germany's Holocaust, because Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the same as Hitler (God, they realy do believe in programming people through repeating lies. After all, Ahmadinejad is in league with these guys, but he is in competition with them for power). The comparison was made with the successful attack on Iraq in the 1980's, and it was implied that the Israelis are so well trained that they can do it to Iran with a minimum of civilian casualties. What a load of crap, but interesting that this story would run this weekend. Coinicidence? I think not. And the date 8-10-2008 can be added as 8+1= 9 + 2= 11 + 8 = 88, or 8-11, and we are of course seeing a pattern here.
What does this all mean? Clearly the US, Europe, Russia, China, Israel and Iran are all part of the same occult network which is jockeying for position in the NWO. Its like the Mafia, they believe the smae things, and work for similar objectives, but they are in competition with one another and every now and then, they go to war to serve their owns needs.
The number 27 keeps popping up, and it is the number of Kingship, or Divine rule of a King. It is the number of Empire, of the resetablishment of the ancient order of the Dragon (the National Symbol of China) which has been surpressed (thrown to earth) for 2000 years by Christ. This is their moment, and the game is on to see who will rule the Earth on 2012. Boy are they in for a surprise!
One last thing. We are entering a period of increased Sun Spot activity. The last one began in 2001 and ended in 2006 or 2007. The current cycle will last until, drum roll please, 2012, when it will peak and begin to diminish. Clearly these occult "sun" worshipers see the cycles of increased sun spot activity as integral to their plans of domination, so I believe that the events will begin to speed up very soon. Stay tuned and stay awake my brothers and sisters.

Paul and the Scripture

Concerning Paul, it had been said that he was not a man of God; he has even been accused of being the enemy that sowed the bad seed.
I would like to briefly examine these concerns. First we must ask ourselves how are we to determine this answer? As a Christian we must have a basis for our faith apart from our self and our opinion. That would have to be the "Word of God", "The Scripture" or "The Bible" . We as Christians believe that Scripture is perfect and without error in its original form.
We could spend a whole teaching on how we came to have the book we call the Bible, but I will give just a few points as to why we claim the books we now call the Bible. The Old Testament is easy. It had already been set and considered Scripture at the time that Jesus was here in the flesh. So we have Jesus to give us His seal. The New Testament wasn't not sealed till the Nicene Council in 325AD that was called by Constantine. Much could be said about that subject as well but let us just say that the only argument would be if some things may have been left out, not with what was included. Some thought other books should have been included but only one that was included was questioned and that was Revelation. Those that made these decisions were the leaders of the church over various parts of the Empire. They had been set in authority by Elders before them in a chain of Apostolic succession. I personally believe that the council was a grave stone to the Church because it went from being an organism to an organization. It set the cannon but it also made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and now had the authority of the State rather than the anointing of God.
Christendom now had a set of books that all agreed upon as authoritative; but the only problem that now occurred was the interpreting of the Word. This then became a source of oppression as the "Church Clergy" were the only ones considered qualified to interpret it. This is still our problem "how we interpret". Jesus taught us that we were to rely not only on leaders but upon the Holy Spirit.
Jn:16:13: Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.
As one reads the writings of Paul you may on the surface have a problem with what he says; but I would suggest that the problem either lies in your heart or your understanding.
Paul was recognized as an Apostle by his brethren and other Apostles and Prophets through out the "Book of Acts", and Peter put his seal on Paul's writings 2Pt:3:15: "And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16: As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."
Is this what is happening today? Peter flat out tells us that some of what Paul teaches is hard to understand, but let us not twist them to our own destruction.
2Tm:3:16: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Peter Zarcone

I would like remind everyone, we will being doing weekly Christian/911 radio broadcasts on internet radio. The show is live on Tuesdays at 7pm eastern time.
"The Micro Effect" http://www.themicroeffect.com/index.htm . It is a call in talk show named "Pursuing Truth". call in number - (888) 747-1968 If you go to the "Broadcast Schedule" on the side bar http://www.themicroeffect.com/broadcastschedule2.php and scroll to Tuesday at 4pm Pacific time which will be 7 pm my time (Eastern) you can see the schedule. Click to listen on the speed button you want. We hope to be on every Tuesday at the same time. I pray that the Lord will use this.