Sunday, Dec 1st
What prevents me from getting baptized?—Acts 8:36.
Was the court official from Ethiopia truly ready for baptism? Consider: The Ethiopian man “had gone to Jerusalem to worship.” (Acts 8:27) He must therefore have been a Jewish proselyte; he had converted to Judaism. No doubt he had learned about Jehovah from the sacred writings of the Hebrew Scriptures. Still, he was eager to learn more. In fact, when Philip met that official on the road, he found him poring over a scroll of the prophet Isaiah’s writings. (Acts 8:28) He wanted to keep learning. He had traveled all the way from Ethiopia in order to worship Jehovah at the temple in Jerusalem. The Ethiopian learned from Philip some vital new truths, including the identity of the Messiah. (Acts 8:34, 35) His love for Jehovah and His Son grew. He was moved to make the life-changing decision to get baptized as a follower of Jesus Christ. Seeing that the man was ready, Philip baptized him. w23.03 8-9 ¶3-6
The Ethiopian eunuch was very motivated. He apparently had his own personal handwritten copy of the scroll of Isaiah, which I do not suppose were all that common. He was reading aloud from what we now call the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. That chapter is about the unjust trial and sacrificial death of Jesus. Phillip, who was instructed by an angel to run alongside the chariot, was invited by the Ethiopian to hop in and explain to him what this passage meant. The account in Acts says: “Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he declared to him the good news about Jesus.”
Few people appreciate that the name Jesus is a derivative of the Hebrew name Joshua, which literally means “Jehovah is Salvation.” Fewer still realize that the name Isaiah means the same thing, only the order is reversed. Isaiah means “Salvation of Jehovah.”
The entire series of prophecies in Isaiah is about Christ. The Ethiopian man was reading a passage about Christ’s coming in the flesh to serve as a human sacrifice. However, most of Isaiah pertains to the second coming of Jesus Christ, although some prophecies are interwoven and make no distinction between Jesus the man and Christ at his return. For example, in the eighth chapter, God foretells that the king of Assyria will flood Judah, the land of Immanuel. But as we know, Jehovah did not allow Assyria to conquer Jerusalem.
In verses nine and ten, the prophet calls on the nations to come and attack the land of Immanuel: “Cause harm, you peoples, but you will be shattered to pieces. Listen, all you from distant parts of the earth! Prepare for battle, but you will be shattered to pieces! Prepare for battle, but you will be shattered to pieces! Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted! Say what you like, but it will not succeed, For God is with us!”
The call to battle is echoed in Joel, where God calls on all the nations to beat their shears into swords and attack Jerusalem. We know how it turned out for the Assyrians. One angel slew Sennacharib’s entire army. Shattered to pieces, indeed!
However, Isaiah’s prophecy goes on to foretell that God will become a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. That appears to be a contradiction. Here is what is stated: “He will become as a sanctuary, but as a stone to strike against and as a rock to stumble over to both houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Many of them will stumble and fall and be broken; they will be ensnared and caught. Wrap up the written confirmation; seal up the law among my disciples! I will keep in expectation of Jehovah, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Look! I and the children whom Jehovah has given me are as signs and as miracles in Israel from Jehovah of armies, who resides on Mount Zion.”
In his letter to the Hebrews, Paul quoted from Isaiah and applied it to Jesus’ anointed disciples. They are the children whom Jehovah has given to his Son. Jesus acknowledged this very fact in prayer to God moments before he was arrested and fulfilled the prophecy that the Ethiopian was reading. Jesus said: “I have made your name manifest to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have observed your word. Now they have come to know that all the things you gave me are from you; because I have given them the sayings that you gave me, and they have accepted them and have certainly come to know that I came as your representative, and they have believed that you sent me.” – John 17:6-8
Because Jesus came as a human representative of Jehovah, he will return in the same capacity. Jesus will become a sanctuary for some but a stumbling block for others. Did not the Lord forewarn that many would stumble, hate, and betray one another? The desolation of Jerusalem is the focal point of Jesus’ extensive prophecy regarding the conclusion of the system and Christ’s parousia. Jerusalem symbolizes Christ’s congregation since the holy city was where the original anointing of the young children took place. Further, did not Jesus exhort us to stay on the watch, to keep in expectation of him?—Whereas Isaiah says to keep in expectation of Jehovah. No, Jesus is not Jehovah, as Trinitarians foolishly claim. Jesus is coming with all of the power and glory of Jehovah himself.
The law will be sealed “among my disciples” when God writes His law upon their hearts. That will occur when the final sealing takes place. That is when the new covenant, Christian law, will be concluded —sealed up. The children that Jehovah has given to his Son will be as signs and miracles when the revealing of the sons of God takes place. In that way, God will be with us, which is what Immanuel means. We were introduced to Immanuel in the seventh chapter, which states: “Therefore, Jehovah himself will give you a sign: Look! The young woman will become pregnant and will give birth to a son, and she will name him Immanuel.”
Backtracking in the eighth chapter to verses 11-13, we read: “With his strong hand on me, this is what Jehovah said to me to warn me away from following the course of this people: “You should not call a conspiracy what this people calls a conspiracy! Do not fear what they fear; do not tremble at it. Jehovah of armies—he is the One you should regard as holy, He is the One you should fear, and he is the One who should cause you to tremble.”
There is a conspiracy today. Many people speak of it. It is a conspiracy to set up a new world order. The globalists euphemistically call it “the great reset.” The conspirators are intent on destroying the nation-state system and, foremost, Christianity. Patriots are foolishly trying to prevent what God has decreed. The conspirators have devised a scheme to collapse the system and impose a digital bank run by the UN that will control everything: what we may buy and sell. Since the Devil will be running that system, and to be sure, at that point, God will no longer be using the “superior authorities” as his civil ministers on our behalf for the simple reason that the Kingdom of Christ will then have come. By the way, this simple fact exposes the Watchtower’s 1914 Kingdom-has-come doctrine as a lie. Why would God continue to use the political powers as his civil servants if Christ’s Kingdom was ruling?
But, back to the point: Using the revived beast that will then speak as a dragon, the Devil will make it impossible for the children that God has given to Christ to participate in it without compromising. That is why Jesus told his children, “Whoever seeks to keep his life safe will lose it, but whoever loses it will preserve it alive.”
How is it possible to preserve one’s life by losing it? In a word: Resurrection. All of the children will be killed. But Paul revealed a sacred secret. During the parousia, we, the living, will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. In that way, the children will preserve their lives by dying. So, no, we are not concerned with the Devil’s grand conspiracy to overturn the present order. We welcome it. It is God’s doing. It will be the final confrontation between the seed of the serpent and the woman’s offspring, the children. It is nearing the time when Satan will marshall his forces to attack the land of Immanuel.
“Look! I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one who stays awake and keeps his outer garments, so that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness.” And they gathered them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Armageddon.
