The Gates of Hell

I've been camping on Gary's Open Your Eyes post from 10 days ago and the nearness of October 31st.  I have some additional thoughts that have come to mind after my sister Rebekah refocused my attention on the Barley harvest and 10/31 that I will share here.

October 31st: this would be the true Day of Atonement if the barley wasn't aviv as expected thus bringing into focus the jubilee trumpet theory.  It also happens to be Halloween (All Saints' Eve) and the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, both of which are central to the Church and its meaning.  This Halloween happens to be 40 days after Yom Teruah (if it wasn't delayed), thus we see a possible 40-day repentance window.  It sure would be a way for God to take back the day the devil has stolen! 

Some of you are familiar with the work of Ray Vander Laan.  I have been blessed, moved and changed as this Biblical archaeologist and founder of That the World May Know Ministries makes the living Word of God come alive, through carefully teaching in the context in which the Word was written.

Background

In the early days of Jesus' ministry He was something of what we might call a rockstar or celebrity. The lame walk, the blind see, the dead are raised, radical powerful heart of the matter teaching, shaking up the establishment, demons cast out, feeding thousands all in the safety of the northern reaches of Galilee.

Some verses that highlight the point:

Matthew 4:23-ff (NASB)

Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.

(leading into the Sermon on the Mount - chapters 5,6 & 7)

Matthew 8:1-3 (NASB)

When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. 2 And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Luke 8:4 (NASB)

When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:

Here the tone changes.  As if Jesus begins to show His band of twelve the cost of discipleship and what faith looks like.  Boot camp.  They're going to need it.

Here we get the account of the storm on the Sea of Galilee in the night and the man filled with a legion of demons in Gadarenes.

These fishing boats were not U.S. Coast Guard-approved.  These were homemade boats.  There were no approved floating devices, rescue boats, lighting, flares, weather radio, two way radios, rescue beacons, cell phones or satellite phones.

There was then a natural fear of the water.  It was believed by many to be the abyss, the home of the demons.

Worst possible scenario - out in the middle of the Galilee, in the dark, at night, in a storm.  Suddenly the Son of the Most High God wakes from His sleep in the bow of the boat and announces to the wind and the waves "Peace be still".  They were in awe.  "Who is this that commands even the wind and the waves".  He of course is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He spoke the universe into existence and without Him nothing was made that has been made.  He is Lord of the deep and Lord of the abyss.

If this wasn't traumatic enought they get out of the boat to find themselves in a place where no good Jewish boy would go.  A Gadarene cemetery face to face with a naked man, who was out of his mind, who broke chains and who was filled with a legion of demons.

Imagine the deepest horror movie voice and when you reply and ask "what is your name?", the reply is the deepest, most-nerve-rattling-demonic "we are legion for we are many".

SCARY!

Suddenly the cost of discipleship grows higher and confusion sets in.  We liked prosperity Jesus, the big crowds, big meals and big popularity better.  (IMHO - I suppose this is what did Judas in.  He thought He could push Jesus into a confrontation and He would throw off the Lamb and become the Lion - maybe not, don't know).  Much of the church is dead, powerless, practicing a form of godliness, but denying its' power.


Caesarea Philippi

In Matthew 16 and Mark 8 we receive the account of Jesus taking the disciples far into the north of the Galilee to Caesarea Philippi.  Not a Jewish place at all.  A Roman city full of the most despicable idol worship, worship of the "god" Pan and Ba'al, orgies, temple prostitutes and infanticide.

All of these mythic practicies were designed to excite the gods, into bringing fertility to the area.  If I can be so pornographic to say, that if there was enough orgy, prostitution, idols, and statues of sex and fertility, perhaps the gods would be aroused enough to ejaculate rain and bring life.  It was a place of utter wickedness.

Caesarea Philippi sits below Mount Hermon.  Mount Hermon is the hightest point in Israel.  Snow accumulates in winter and the spring and summer melt feeds the Jordan River.  Of course the Jordan is life to all of Israel.  The headwaters of the Jordan are right here.  At one time they came out of the mouth of this cave, although an old earthquake closed this passage and rerouted the head waters of the Jordan.

Caesarea Philippi was a red light district.  This was definitely a place where no follower of Elohim would be caught dead.

That the world may know article - link

From the picture above you see the mouth of the Jordan and where the holes in the rock face where once stood idols to Pan.

Pan was the half man / half goat.  Certainly a shadow of the gateway where the goats will be sent once the sheep and goats are divided.

It was commonly thought that this was the place of demons, that the deep abyss could be found in the cave and that this was in fact the gateway to hell.

It is in this place where Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 (NIV):

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Of course a large dogma and system have been built around Peter from this one verse.  This was not about Peter.

Jesus is saying I'm not hiding at Trinity Christian Academy in Jerusalem, Israel.  You won't find the battle at the First Christian Church in Jerusalem.  The battle is here.  And where the battle is that is where you will find me.

Much of dead Christendom hides in their buildings, clamouring for their 501(c)(3) status, while doing nothing to reach a dead and dying world.

Where sin rages.  Where the homeless are.  Where the disinfrancished can be found.  Where the lonely, hurting, sick and distraught are - there He is.

This job has been passed along to the Church and to my point:

The Church (the true Church) is knocking down the front door of hell.  We (the body) knocked down strong holds, we pointed people from death to life, from sin to holiness and through the collective work of the Church "greater things than these are performed".  The sick were healed, the blind received sight, where there was conflict you find peace, where there was brokenness you find wholeness and where there was loss we find gain.

In the words of Mark 5:15 we find those who were formerly far from God "seated, clothed and in their right mind".

It was the Church that built the orphanages and the hospitals.

The Church kept hell pinned back and the gates of hell did not prevail.  Once again God's prophetic word proved true.

Now as Halloween approaches, I'm reminded that we the Church, the body, are leaving and the gates of hell will open again as the Restrainer leaves and this world enters Daniel's 70th week and it will be one very demonic place.

Be ready.

Share the hope that lies within you.  That's all you can take with you.

Grateful for what Hillary reminded us of yesterday (my grandmother's 100th birthday - she went home 4 years ago), 1947, 1948, 1967 are past.  The Chernobyl type and shadow of the Wormwood star is old news.  The giving of the Gaza Strip is old news, as is the 2014/2015 blood moons, 8/21 eclipse, 9/23 - Rev 12:1-2 and the Fall festivals in 2017.  The hour is exceedingly late.

Ray Vandeer Laan - That the World May Know - Volume 5

It would be fascinating if Christ's return for the bride was on Halloween.  Regardless, I am reminded to stay on mission no matter what happens.

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