How To Untie A Donkey
Cont., page 4
“THE LORD HAS NEED OF IT”
At the first ever Tabernacles Pentecost, held in 2005, this specific question arose as to how to get the donkey, the latter rain. There were many things we did not understand about this then, that have now come to light. To begin with, let us consider the events related to the natural donkey, for which Yahshua summoned, and what they reveal. It is only in seeing and understanding these that we can hope to understand how indeed to obtain that donkey that brings forth Immanuel. In fact, in Yahshua’s own words, its importance is set forth. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, His answer to those who would question the disciples regarding obtaining it was to tell them, “The Lord has need of it.” This is precisely why we today pursue this donkey—“The Lord has need of it” in order to come into His place on this earth. Once again, “That which has been is that which will be.” Nothing is more necessary today than the much needed fulfillment of this donkey.
First, we also read in the accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke that as Yahshua approached Jerusalem for His triumphal entry, they came to two villages—Bethany and Bethphage. On the other side of these was the Mount of Olives, and then Jerusalem. It is readily accepted that they had passed Bethany, and as they approached Bethphage, it was there that Yahshua sent the two apostles to obtain the donkey. This would indeed have been the case.
This order can be confirmed in another account, adding further needed understanding. In Matthew 21:17 and Mark 11:11, we read that Yahshua had spent the night in Bethany, and the next day traveled to Jerusalem. In that journey, He went to a fig tree to eat its fruit, and upon finding none cursed the tree. In Matthew it withered immediately, and in Mark it withered the next day. From there He went into Jerusalem. So what do we see in both of these accounts?
Prophetically, Bethany represents the Remnant, particularly the first Remnant. Bethany was the home of Yahshua’s friend, Lazarus, whom He brought forth from the grave just before His triumphal entry. This is indeed what He will do for the first Remnant as well, and they are indeed His friends. The meaning of “Bethany” is “house of dates” or “house of affliction.” Both of these names are fitting for the first Remnant, for they were certainly afflicted, and the palm tree speaks of the first Remnant. Jericho clearly attests to the first Remnant, and was called the city of palm trees (Deuteronomy 34:3, 2 Chronicles 28:15).
Next in their journey to Jerusalem would have been the village of Bethphage. The meaning of its name is “house of unripe figs.” Undoubtedly, this is the precise location where Yahshua found the fig tree and cursed it. Fittingly, its name means an unripe fig, which is equally not ready to eat. So, what can this mean and what is it that Bethphage represents? As has been addressed in The Love of Money, page 9, the fig tree very consistently represents Christianity. It is Christianity that is cursed for not bringing forth fruit. Oh yes, it has a vast amount of leaves; but, no fruit! This also explains why Yahshua cursed the tree when it was not even the season for fruit (Mark 11:13). Such it is with Christianity. They too were too early, before the time, even unripe. The evidence that Bethphage is Christianity is clearly established.
And what was next in this journey to Jerusalem? The Mount of Olives. Here we have a clear representation of the two Remnant, the two olive trees of Zechariah 4. This is the Mount of Olives that is split by the very large valley of Christianity (Zechariah 14:4).
Thus, in the order that we are seeing here, the journey to Jerusalem begins at Bethany—the first Remnant, followed by Bethphage—Christianity, and is concluded by the Mount of Olives—the second Remnant. Having completed this course, one may then enter into Jerusalem with the King. This is the same journey we saw in the cloud, the sea, and the Jordan, thereupon affording entrance into the Promised Land. Equally, they are the three baptisms.
This is incredible and highly valuable information, consistent with all that we have been seeing evidenced—once again a seamless garment of truth. And most important here is that it adds more insight as to what takes place in order to find and untie that essential donkey. What is that insight? Let us see.
Who has had the rights to the kingdom for the last two thousand years? Of course, Christianity. As we saw in When Elijah Comes, they have been Judah and have had the rights to the rod, the rights to rule the kingdom. But, we also saw that those rights have to go back to whom they belong, and that is to the Remnant—the Levi –> Judah –> Levi pattern and works. Christianity in particular has been the fulfillment of the two loaves of Pentecost bread, the two thousand years of the leavened kingdom of God. And in like regard, they have had the donkey. As it is foretold in Genesis 49:11 regarding Judah, “He ties his foal to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choice vine.” Let us examine and elaborate on this.
Where else do we find the “choice vine” (Strong’s #8321) used in the Scriptures? It is used only three times—here and in two other places. In all three of these we find extraordinarily affirming and consistent evidence regarding Christianity and the donkey. Thus far we have seen that the choice vine spoken of in Genesis 49:11 is Christianity. So, when you read these other two accounts concerning this vine, it will be obvious why you will want to think of Christianity as well. As you will see, there is an unmistakable relationship. First, in Isaiah 5:1-2, we read:
Let me sing now for my well-beloved a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug it all around, removed its stones, and planted it with the choice vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it and also hewed out a wine vat in it; then He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones.
Yahshua quoted this same passage as recorded in Mat 21:33, Mark 12:1, and Luke 20:9. In the verses following, in context He was speaking regarding the Pharisees, at least they thought so. But, do you really think that Yahshua was simply concerned about the Pharisees, when in fact He was building His kingdom that was the fulfillment of everything that had taken place from the original Garden? Do you really think He still wants a literal Garden with two literal trees in it? Likewise, do you really think that John the Baptist was Elijah, or that Mary was the one who fulfilled Isaiah 7:14 and brought forth the promised Immanuel? No, no, no, and no! All of these were foreshadowing or preceding types. If we are limited to these Ishmael flesh works, then we are doomed, for “The flesh profits nothing.”
When you read Isaiah 5:1-2 and the verses following, clearly, the choice vine is Christianity—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (a grape tree) in the Garden kingdom which He is providing to man. The Well-beloved who planted the vineyard with the choice vine on this earth was Yahshua. And what has happened to that vine? The same thing that happened to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the very things He warned of in Matthew 13:24-33. Like the linen cloth that Jeremiah hid in the cleft of the rock (Jeremiah 13:1-7), like the husband of Abigail who became drunk (1 Samuel 25:25), its fruit has been “worthless.” Thus, continuing to read in Isaiah 5, verses 3-6, we see precisely what has happened to Christianity for 2,000 years. The fruitless fig tree that was cursed and withered and this worthless vineyard are one and the same.
“And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones? So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. I will lay it waste; it will not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”
So has been the fate of cursed and worthless Christianity. Verse 7 even specifically states that “Judah is His delightful plant.” Judah is indeed the choice vine to which the donkey has been tied for two thousand years—Christianity.
The third place where “choice vine” is used confirms the very things we have seen thus far. In Jeremiah 2:21-24 we read:
“Yet I planted you a choice vine, a completely faithful seed. How then have you turned yourself before Me into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine? Although you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your iniquity is before Me,” declares the Lord Yahweh. “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley [the breach]! Know what you have done! You are a swift young camel entangling her ways, a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness, that sniffs the wind in her passion.”
Once again we see Christianity as not only the corrupted choice vine, but also as the Ishmael Pentecost wild donkey in the wilderness.
Now we see who has the donkey. Of course this is clearly set forth in the pattern of these two villages that preceded Yahshua’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, foreshadowing the coming of Immanuel. Where did Yahshua send the two disciples in order to get the needed donkey’s colt for His triumphal procession? Into Christianity Bethphage, the house of the unripe figs. Christianity has had the donkey for two thousand years, and one must go into it, find the donkey, untie it, answer the objections of the questioners, and bring it to Immanuel. Who then is the one who is sent? As we found in When Elijah Comes, part 2, it is the Elijah, who stands in the office of Judas.
We read in Genesis 49:11, “[Judah] ties his foal to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choice vine.” We also know from those verses that the right to rule does in fact have to leave Judah—the rod departs from Judah when “to whom it belongs comes, obedient people.” These are the concluding second Remnant, the concluding Levi in the “Levi –> Judah –> Levi” testimony, the Mount of Olives.
Thus we see here in this provocative account regarding that which “The Lord has need of” (the latter rain donkey that prepares His way back to this earth), that what has legally been the rightful possession of Christianity, has to be transferred to the second Remnant. And we know that this testimony does not stand alone, for it is the same testimony set forth when the bones of Saul are dug up by David, taken to Zela at the provocation of Rizpah sitting on a rock, and are buried there. As has been addressed, “Zela” means “rib,” and once again the rights given to Christianity go to the rib, the twelfth apostle who builds the Bride. Therefore, as seen in Judas, the twelfth apostle must be sent into Christianity and obtain the donkey.
In summary at this point, (1) we have now found the donkey’s colt. It has been tied up in Christianity for two thousand years. Having found it, (2) we have also identified who it is who is sent to obtain, untie, and provide it—the Elijah. Now, (3) the question must be asked: How is the donkey untied?
This is the hardest question to answer at this time. We can look back and see what Yahweh has done. As it is written in Exodus 33:23, we can see Yahweh’s back. We can see where the donkey first originated—at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the first Remnant. But Stephen was stoned and the work Yahshua began breached! The kingdom then went to the Body of Christ. They got the donkey, and have claimed its ownership for 2,000 years. Again, this is the easy part to see.
Also discerned is who it is who is sent and has the authority to untie the donkey from Christianity—Elijah, who stands in the office of Judas. Judas was undoubtedly one of the two disciples who effected this work for Yahshua so as to prepare the way for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Now for the third part—how to untie the donkey.
In all three accounts—Matthew 21:2, Mark 11:2, and Luke 19:30—the two selected apostles were specifically told to untie the donkey(s) and bring it/them to Yahshua. Since this was specifically set forth, it is obviously meaningful and important for us today. But, without the evidence of the donkey at this writing—the full later rain in power—it cannot yet be said that the unloosing has been effected. So, what will unloose the donkey? At this point, we can only seek to deduce what that will be.
From my own personal standpoint, I know that Yahweh specifically called me to be an intercessor. An intercessor is one who walks things out in the natural in order to receive the accompanying rights in the spiritual. Intercession provides both critical insight and understanding, as well as authority. Since 1994, this man and those who have joined with him have effected many intercessions in hopes of receiving the latter rain, in hopes of untying the donkey. Though we have not received that which we ultimately have to have, there is no question that these works have not been a complete loss. They have not been without critical gain. Yahshua Himself is the chief example of this. No one could say that though He did not set up His kingdom and begin reigning 2,000 years ago, that that work was a complete loss. One has to sow a seed into death and darkness in order to produce a crop unto life and abundant harvest.
Many of the things we see and understand today have been because of our steps toward that which we know we have to have. Instead of using the word “untie,” maybe a better word for us is “unravel.” Over the years we have sought to unravel what it will take to receive the latter rain. These possibilities will be considered and addressed in the remainder of this writing.
One of the things we can know without question is that we, the second Remnant, have the sole rights, and therefore the authority, to that donkey. Where did we get these rights? From the first Remnant who received the former rain. Remember, Christianity is a breach of that which Yahshua began 2,000 years ago.
Do you recall the births of Zerah and Perez by Tamar, the erect palm tree? Zerah placed his hand outside the womb, received the scarlet thread, then pulled it back in. Perez, the breach, was then born. Finally, the one who had the rights to be the first-born was birthed—Zerah (Genesis 38:27-30). So it is with the rights to the donkey. The first Remnant received the donkey, but soon it was tied to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—Christianity. But, to whom does it really belong? It belongs to the second Remnant. Remember, these are the two sons of fresh oil as set forth in one of the most explicit testimonies there is regarding the church—that which is not by might nor by power, but by Yahweh’s Spirit (Zechariah 4). The two Remnant are the two outpourings of the “shemen,” the fresh oil, the Spirit of Yahweh. So we, the second Remnant, have the rights to the donkey, and with those rights and our continuing efforts we will succeed in untying, even unraveling it.
Continue to page 5 of How To Untie A Donkey for WHAT WE’VE LEARNED