A Passover Prophecy That You Are Fulfilling Right Now

"Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her"

Bethany was a village on a slope of the Mount of Olives (see also Zechariah: He Shall Stand Upon The Mount Of Olives), a short distance ("a Sabbath's day walk," see below) from Jerusalem. It was the place where the Messiah ascended to heaven (see The Ascent From Bethany and What Happened When The Messiah Arrived In Heaven?; also Who Sits At The Right Hand Of God?).

"^24:50 And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. ^24:51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." (Luke 24:50-51 KJV)

"^1:10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; ^1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

^1:12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey." (Acts 1:10-12 KJV)

Bethany was one of the Messiah's favorite places, perhaps primarily because it was the home town of the sisters Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus who the Messiah had raised from the dead shortly before Passover (see Who Else Did They Want To Kill At Passover?).

Six days before the Passover during which the Messiah would be Sacrificed, He again visited His friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus. While there, Mary, who obviously knew that the Messiah's execution was near, took "a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment." The traitor Judas Iscariot (see The Traitor In History And Prophecy) objected to the "waste" (a blasphemous statement by Judas Iscariot in itself) of their ministry money - that Judas regarded as his own ("This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein").

"^12:1 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.

^12:2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.

^12:3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

^12:4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, ^12:5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? ^12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

^12:7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this." (John 12:1-7 KJV)

A few days later, two days before Passover, the Messiah was again in Bethany, this time "in the house of Simon the leper" - a healed leper (see Heal The Sick, Cleanse The Lepers). While there, "There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat." Some believe that the woman was again Mary, who had anointed His feet a few days earlier, although only "a woman," who then anointed His head, is stated in the later event.

The influence of Judas Iscariot, or of any evil person, was and is infectious if allowed to fester (i.e. the saying "one bad apple spoils the whole bunch"; see The Spirit Of Traitors). This time "when His disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?"

The Messiah responded with a rebuke to them, as well as a prophecy that people over the centuries, andyou right now, are fulfilling once again as you read it: "Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her." Prophecy is real. You just fulfilled one.

"^26:2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. ^26:3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, ^26:4 And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. ^26:5 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.

^26:6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, ^26:7 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.

^26:8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? ^26:9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

^26:10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. ^26:11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. ^26:12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. ^26:13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

^26:14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, ^26:15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. ^26:16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him." (Matthew 26:2-26 KJV)

Fact Finder: When the Messiah said "Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world," what is the true Gospel that He was talking about?
See What Gospel Did Jesus Preach?

"The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning"

The living creatures of the land, sea and air were created by the LORD (see By Him Were All Things Created and The Christian Universe) because it was "good."The LORD does nothing in vain. The humans, that were created after the other living creatures, were given "dominion" (keep that word in mind, as we will come back to it a little later) over them.

"^1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. ^1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. ^1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. ^1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

^1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. ^1:25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

^1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

^1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ^1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:20-28 KJV)

Humans are subject to physical death (see The Postponement Of Death) - the same as the animals. The "spirit" described in the verses below ("who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth"), in the actual Hebrew, refers to the "breath of life," from the LORD, that all living creatures, human and animal, depend upon for every second of their life. It's more than just physical breath alone (see What Makes Physical Life Possible?).   READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

by Wayne Blank

"He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years"

Abraham was born in the fertile region of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. While it came to be known as "Babylon" after humanity's rebellion against the LORD with their "tower of Babel" (see The Tower Of Babel), the region had earlier been known as Eden - the place within which the LORD had planted the Garden of Eden - that was actually the Garden in Eden (see The Garden In Eden; also The Only Child Of The Garden).

"^2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed." (Genesis 2:8 KJV)

The LORD (see The Identity Of The LORD God) commanded Abram (the LORD later changed his name to Abraham; see A Biography Of Abraham: The Genealogy Of Abram) to leave his homeland in the fertile place that he lived and take up residence in the land of Canaan.

"^12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: ^12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: ^12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 12:1-3 KJV)

Abraham lived the rest of his life with the awareness that the promises that the LORD made to him were to be fulfilled in the future (see also The LORD's Seed Covenants With The Two Men Of Iraq). While the land of Canaan was a good, prosperous land, it was much smaller and not as naturally fertile as the land that he left behind. Isaac too, lived his entire life awaiting for the promise to be fulfilled in the future (see A Biography Of Abraham: Isaac).

by Wayne Blank

See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus, more popularly known as Constantine I, or Constantine the Great, was the King of the Roman Empire (seeAncient Empires - Rome) from 306 to 337. As a king (see The Politics Of Rome), Constantine was obviously political - but his legacy is, by far in place and time, religious. Constantine was the primary creator of the Roman Catholic and Protestant "churches" of today - and their antichrist doctrines (see Is Your Religion Your Religion?, Antichristians and Friends Of Jesus).

Constantine's religion was that of Babylonian and Roman paganism - much of which was based on idolatrous sun worship. The gold medallion in the illustration shows Constantine with the mythical Sol Invictus, or "invincible sun god" of the Romans. In March 321, Constantine decreed everyone to observe "the venerable day of the sun," or Sun Day, as the official day of rest and ceasing of business activity for the Roman Empire - the basis of Roman Catholic and Protestant Sunday worship to this day (see the Fact Finder question below).

In 325, Constantine presided over the First Council of Nicaea that established all of the fundamental doctrines of the Church of Rome today - and of the "Protestant" churches that centuries later rejected the Church of Rome's leadership, but kept all of the Church of Rome's core doctrines (e.g. Constantine's "Nicene Creed," named after Constantine's Council of Nicaea, is accepted as much by Protestants as Roman Catholics). There was no "pope" in Constantine's time - the Emperor was the head of the "church" that he created (the Emperor Constantine, not any mere city bishop, claimed the title of Pontifex Maximus, which means the highest priest); Constantine's local bishop, in Rome, was only one of nearly 2,000 such bishops throughout the Roman Empire. It was only after Constantine empowered his local bishop, to be a mere spokesman for the Emperor, that the "Papacy" was born. When the political empire of Rome fell, the Papacy continued on, merely by means of the power that it had been given by Constantine - a reality that has been lost to most people ever since (listen to our Sermon Constantine's Papacy).

Why did a sun-worshiping Roman Emperor want to create a "Christian" church for himself? On October 27/28 312, Constantine won the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (a bridge over the Tiber River in Rome) in which Constantine claimed to have seen a Latin "cross" in the sky, along with a message of "in this sign conquer." The reality problem with the claim (assuming that Constantine saw anything at all) is that Jesus Christ was not crucified on a Latin cross - the Messiah was crucified on a "T" (like an uppercase T) shaped cross (see Crossing The T). The alleged incident nevertheless was accepted and formed the supposed justification for the later wars known as the "Crusades" - "crusade" is from a Latin word meaning a Latin cross - a Roman cross that Christ was not crucified on.

The Origin and Future Of "The King Of The North" and "The King Of The South"   Read the entire article HERE

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