How To Untie A Donkey

 

 

 

 

“That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done.  So there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).  Do you want to know what Yahweh is doing and what He is going to do in the church, in the world?  Obviously, here is the answer.  All one has to do is look at what He has done.  Sounds easy—right?  Well, it’s easy until you look back and can’t tell which one of the ways in which He did something He will now choose to do, and when.  And, add to this having a longing desire for a fulfillment, as well as the desperate need for Him to effect a work, this makes every hopeful opportunity of fulfillment ring with the anticipation of a child in the back seat of a car on the way to a vacation place, asking over and over, “Are we there yet?”

 

On June 11, 1994, I was standing in the kitchen of the home we had built for women and children, and out of the blue, suddenly Yahweh spoke something to me that would profoundly alter my life and place me on an unquenchable journey to find its fulfillment.  I spoke it out loud to some ladies standing there as well, stating, “That which God did at the beginning of the church, He will do again at the end.”  Ah, Ecclesiastes 1:9.

 

If one wants to know what Yahweh will do in the end, today, this in and of itself sounds quite simple.  Hindsight is 20/20.  We know that He did indeed pour out His Spirit with power, forever changing the lives of some fishermen and other common souls.  And the promise is that He will do this again—the promised former and latter rains, the two sons of fresh oil (Zechariah 4:14).  However, when one looks at the details of what took place then, as well as the necessary distinctions between the initiating former work and the fulfilling latter, correctly discerning the fulfillment is now much more complicated.  Most certainly, since 1994 our resulting persistent pursuit of this desperately needed fulfillment has often invoked the hope-filled question, “Are we there yet?” 

 

But as will be addressed here, we have learned a great deal through all of this.  Thomas Edison said as he walked out his own pursuit of bringing forth light, “We now know a thousand ways not to build a light bulb.”  Extended quest certainly brings about valued knowledge.  It is also worth quoting Edison in his statement, “Faith, as well intentioned as it may be, must be built on facts, not fiction—faith in fiction is a damnable false hope.”  The Bride does indeed seek truth, and to walk in it.  Without it we will not receive what we need.  But what Edison did not know is the effectual value of intercession—identification, so as to gain insight and authority.

 

Relative to the Bride’s persistence in seeking to obtain the latter rain and the coming of Immanuel, in Isaiah 62:6-7 we read:

 

On your walls, O [New] Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent.  You who remind Yahweh, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes [New] Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

 

Of necessity, we have been like those of whom Yahshua gave two examples—those who continually seek and knock so as to receive that which they MUST have.  In Luke 11:5-10, He tells about a man needing three loaves of bread at midnight; and in Luke 18:3-8, there is the widow woman who needed protection from her enemy, whereupon Yahshua concluded:

 

“… will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?  I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly.  However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

 

Both of these examples regarding perseverance are recorded solely in second Remnant Luke.  We indeed are those who have to press Yahweh for the third one thousand year period of the church, as well as protection from our adversary, Satan.  We will examine some of these “That-which-has-been” details and what we have learned in our quest to understand and receive the latter rain outpouring of His Spirit.  In this opening section we will simply introduce these, then expand on and add to them in the sections to follow.  Clearly stated, our purpose here is to understand what is required in order to receive the latter rain.

 

First, let us consider the testimonies of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring or anointing.  To begin with, some forty-nine days following Yahshua’s crucifixion, Yahweh poured out His Spirit on the first Remnant on the day of Pentecost—the former rain.  And very important to understand, we also see that the former rain, this former outpouring, was the result of a conjugal act whereupon Yahshua was lifted up on the cross.  As testified by the two sons of fresh oil, the Holy Spirit is the oil.  The Hebrew word for “oil” is “shemen.”  Thus, these are the two sons of fresh shemen.  When Yahshua was lifted up, erected, on the cross, some forty-nine days later the fresh shemen was released.

 

But to complicate this, though bringing important truth and insight, Yahshua experienced His own anointing in the Holy Spirit.  We find in all four Gospels that when He was baptized by John, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him as a dove out of heaven.  He experienced His own baptism in the Holy Spirit, even as the disciples received on Pentecost.  And to complicate this even more, we find the like testimony of Mary being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit in order to bring forth Yahshua.  Most certainly, she too received the shemen of the Holy Spirit, literally impregnating her so as to be able to birth Yahshua.  Then if these distinct differences are not already enough, on an unspecified day or even time of the year, Cornelius and his household received the Holy Spirit as on the day of Pentecost.

 

So, what is so complex about this?  Its complexity is in knowing which outpouring of the Holy Spirit is relevant to today, to whom they relate (the Remnant or the Elijah?), and when and even how the fulfillment will take place.  Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit in latter December, about the time of Christmas, birthing Yahshua nine months later at Trumpets.  Upon being baptized by John, Yahshua received the Holy Spirit on Atonement.  The first Remnant received the fresh shemen some forty-nine days after Yahshua’s erection on the cross, on the day of Pentecost.  But complicating this even more, that forty-nine-day waiting period was in accordance with Deuteronomy 16:9-10, while Leviticus 23:15-16 sets forth two counts of forty-nine days.  And in addition, as addressed in “Foundational Testimony for Tabernacles Pentecost,” there is the clear testimony that there is a Pentecost that takes place following a count of three sets of forty-nine days.  Then if this is not enough, Cornelius’ house received the Holy Spirit as on the day of Pentecost at no specific feast-related timing.

 

And here again, now add the distinct differences between the former work and the latter, this can change everything as well.  For example, I first looked for the latter rain at a Passover Pentecost.  But it is evident that that fulfillment created a leavened wheat work that was two loaves, two thousand years, of leavened Christianity.  Therefore, the second Remnant receiving the latter rain at that time is totally inappropriate and would produce a like work of death and corruption.  Thus, we can rule out a Passover Pentecost for the second Remnant.

 

And, let us add even a third highly relevant distinction.  In When Elijah Comes, page 2, we saw that there is a distinction between (1) the office of the Son of God and the Elijah who prepares His way, and (2) the church.  Also, most importantly, we saw that in order to understand what Yahweh is doing, the separation of those two has to be respected.  This is clearly the case here once again.  As in the time of Yahshua and the first Remnant, there are in fact two works that must be anointed—the Elijah, who stands in the office of Immanuel, and the Bride.

 

It is quite evident that Yahshua’s baptism in the Holy Spirit cannot be comparable to any fulfillment of the baptism of the Bride in the Holy Spirit.  He received His baptism on Atonement, and the first Remnant on Pentecost.  Thus, both of these must be ruled out as possible fulfillments for the second Remnant.  When you look at the chart in that writing, the work that would be comparable to Yahshua would be the Elijah.  But even relative to the Elijah, Atonement, which is death, could not provide his baptism in the Holy Spirit either.  The fulfillment today instead must look to life and not death.

 

Thus, you can certainly see there are complexities here in seeking to discern how and when the latter rain will occur.  And as you will see in the closing section, even where the lifting up and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit can occur comes into question.  The former rain had to fall in Jerusalem.  If anyone was anywhere else at that time, they would not have received it.  So, where must the latter rain begin?  All of this will be considered here.

 

 

Continue to page 2 of How To Untie A Donkey for THE THREE BAPTISMS

 

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