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The Michael and Mary signs, Part 2

Our eastern trip was actually to Marysville, PA, near Harrisburg in the southeast corner of Pennsylvania to visit old friends from grade school at the mission school in the Philippines. We did not have time to visit with others along the way. It turned out to be a quick trip there and back. It appears that the special mission that I mentioned in the October 10 weblog is to be done later.

As for the great grandchild, Emma Gene was born about 11 pm on Monday, October 15. If I had a singing voice, I would be tempted to sing How Great Thou Art to my wife, who is now a great-grandma. (Perhaps we should sing to each other.) We are planning to drive to Arkansas in about 10 days to see the baby and visit the family for a few days.

Meanwhile, I will be able to catch up on emails, articles, and videos, and even write the November FFI.

The Pennsylvania Trip

With all the focus on Hurricane Michael, I did not make the connection to Marysville until we were on our way home. Yet considering the fact that this prophetic picture began to be painted last year on September 23, 2017 in the wake of Hurricane Maria/Mary, it seems appropriate that we would go to Marysville for this occasion.

As I wrote a week ago, we left home the same hour that Hurricane Michael came ashore near Panama City, and we had a strong tailwind as we traveled east. That same wind was what turned Michael toward the east and finally out into the Atlantic. In Marysville, we had clouds and a misty rain, but otherwise saw no evidence of the hurricane south of us.

The grade school reunion itself was a lot of fun as we discussed our experiences and perceptions at the boarding school. One schoolmate could not be there, since he had to fly to Florida to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral Saturday, October 13. But his sister and her husband were there, along with two other women who flew in from California.

Of course, our hostess, Evangeline, was also a younger classmate from the same school days, and her house was big enough for all of us to stay the nights. Her husband died last May, so we missed meeting him. Evangeline’s older sister Carol, who lives not far away, drove to Evangeline’s house each day to visit and share her perceptions.

I left a book with them to read that was given to me a few weeks ago by an older classmate, named Phil. It is the story of the missionaries who were interned by the Japanese during World War 2. A few of the families escaped and hid in the hills for a year and a half before they were discovered. They had built homes and gardens and were homeschooling their children during that time. But once they were discovered, they were brought back to Zamboanga City, where they remained in a compounds until they were moved south to Davao City (where I have ministered in recent years). From there they were brought north to a place just south of Manila, and it is there that American paratroopers rescued them toward the end of the war.

Phil was born after the war, but his older brother and sister, as well as his parents, were in the group that had hidden in the hills. Phil’s older sister wrote the book. I found it very interesting, of course, as did the others in the group.

Those conversations, of course, were meaningful and enjoyable on a personal level, but this report is about the prophetic side of things in the bigger picture. The question is this: Did this time of personal fellowship have a higher meaning? I did not have time to ponder that question until we were on our way home. Driving always gives me time to pray, discern, and ponder.

The Meaning of Names

First I made the connection between Marysville and Hurricane Maria from last year. That, of course, connected everything with Hurricane Michael.

Second, in pondering the names of those gathered for fellowship, I took note that Evangeline is from the word Evangel (“gospel”), and that two of the women were named Elizabeth Ann. In our discussions they mentioned how one was called Betsy and the other Bess Ann (now Betty) in order to distinguish between them.

In pondering the name Elizabeth, the first thing to note is that the biblical Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist, who was “Elijah” (Luke 1:57; Matthew 11:13, 14). But since we had a double portion of “Elizabeth,” I interpret this as an indication of Elisha, rather than Elijah.

Elizabeth is from the Hebrew name, Elisheba, the wife of Aaron (Exodus 6:23), whose name means “My God has sworn” or “God is an oath.” Eli means “my God.” The word sheba means “seven,” and it comes from the root word shaba, “to swear an oath.”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H472&t=NASB

I take it to mean “My God has sworn an oath,” which is a reference to the New Covenant oath that God has sworn. God’s oath is the basis of the Evangel, or Gospel, which is the Good News, even as the Old Covenant is the bad news of man’s failure to keep his own oath to God.

Note also that when God swore an oath to Abraham, God appeared as “a smoking oven and a flaming torch” as He walked between the seven animals that had been sacrificed (Genesis 15:9, 10, 17). Here we see the connection between the perfect number seven (sheba) representing His character and God’s oath (shaba) representing His word of promise.

Their middle name, Ann, means grace, as it is short for the Hebrew name Anna or Hanna. In addition, Anita was at the gathering, and her name is also derived from Ana or Anna. She provided a third witness of grace, and this triple grace supported the idea of the Evangel, or the New Covenant Gospel that is based on God’s promises.

So it appears that God arranged this meeting to provide the setting for what He is doing in the earth today. He is setting the stage for the Elisha ministry that will complete the work of Elijah and succeed where Elijah fell short. Neither Elijah nor John the Baptist were able to complete their missions under the single anointing. However, we live in the time of the second coming/work of Christ, so we have been given the double portion to complete what was begun by John who was called to prepare the way for the first coming/work of Christ.

Dual Natures

The ultimate purpose of the feast of Tabernacles, of course, is not to get rid of the material creation but to cause it to manifest the presence of God. In other words, when Tabernacles is fulfilled, it will not simply transform us from matter to spirit. It will give us two sets of clothing, as it were, pictured in Scripture as wool and linen clothing, giving us authority to minister in both realms at will.

In fact, this dichotomy has already begun in us, for if we have been begotten by the Spirit, we are already a combination of the flesh man and the spiritual man (i.e., old and new man). This transformation is not complete, for our flesh is still from the first Adam. But we see Jesus as our example of the dual nature, being both Son of God and Son of Man in perfect form.

This dual nature is pictured in the Mazzaroth (Job 38:32 KJV), the twelve signs of the Zodiac, which were also the banners of the twelve tribes of Israel. God is the One who took credit for naming the stars (constellations) in Psalm 147:4 in order to prophesy of Christ, the church, and the overcomers. Although men have perverted the original meaning and purpose of the signs to suit their own particular religious views, their misunderstandings in no way alter the divine truth that the constellations portray to this day—when understood through biblical eyes.

The Centaur and Sagittarius, for example, are each pictured as half man, half horse to portray the dual nature of Christ in different ways. The Centaur is an archer, that is, a Teacher who hits the mark of Truth. The Greeks called him Cheiron, the chief centaur, who was the great teacher of mankind.

Joel 2:23 KJV mentions Cheiron in a little-understood prophecy with a dual meaning. The KJV reads,

²³ Be glad, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He hath given you the former rain [moreh] moderately [tsedaqah], and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

The Hebrew word moreh has a double meaning “rain, teacher.” The Hebrew word tsedaqah means “righteousness, justice” (i.e., justice in moderation with a perfect combination of justice and mercy). A “righteous” rain is neither too little nor too much at one time.

Joel’s prophecy speaks of a moderate rain, but it also could be translated “Teacher of Righteousness.” In fact, the sect of the Sadducees applied this verse to their founder (Zadok), whom they referred to as the Teacher of Righteousness. Of course, we believe that Jesus Christ actually fulfilled this prophecy, and that He is the Source of both the former rain and the latter rain. The latter rain came at Pentecost in Acts 2, the former rain will come at Tabernacles as we now expect.

Our great Teacher of Righteousness is an archer. In Hebrew metaphoric language, an archer is a teacher. We see this also in The Chronicles of Narnia where C. S. Lewis utilizes centaurs to portray righteous teachers who fight for Aslan, the Lion (Christ).

Capricorn portrays a fallen goat with a fish tail and serves as the sign of Christ’s death and resurrection. Capricorn’s focus is on the two works of Christ, rather than on His dual nature. Christ Himself died and was raised from the dead, but on a broader level, His first coming centered around His “death” work, while His second coming centers around His “life” work. This is seen most clearly in the two goats on the Day of Atonement, where the first was killed and the second was released alive into the wilderness.

Likewise, in Leviticus 14 we see the two birds (or doves) to cleanse us from spiritual leprosy (mortality). The first bird was killed to portray Christ’s baptism and later His death on the cross. The second bird was dipped in the blood of the first bird and then released into the open field. Hence, Revelation 19:13 pictures Christ coming the second time with His robe dipped in blood.

The two works of Christ are thus pictured in the constellation of Capricorn having the head of a goat but having the tail of a fish. In Hebrew metaphoric language, a swarm (school) of fish signified life, or teeming with life. This is the meaning also of the letter nun, and keep in mind that Joshua was the son of Nun (Exodus 33:11). As such, Joshua (Yeshua) was the “son of the fish,” or the “son of life,” i.e., resurrection.

The Evangel, then, is the word of grace that presents the promises of God, by which He will cause us to come to the stature of the fullness of Christ, having a perfect dual nature with authority in both heaven and earth. Whereas we currently suffer in a body that was given to us through Adam the sinner, we have an expectation of receiving a new and perfect body in which we will minister on earth to the glory of God.

Michael and Peniel

Another way to view this is to see the link between Michael and Peniel, the two angels who together provide the double anointing. In this way of viewing things, Michael by himself is the angel of the Elijah anointing, but when joined by Peniel, the double portion of Elisha is given with the full anointing to ensure success in the second coming of Christ. If Michael was indeed the angel of Elijah and of John the Baptist, then I believe he was also assigned to Elisha. But Elisha received more than Michael, for he had a double portion. As I see it, Elisha’s angel was Peniel but he was also accompanied by Michael in order to have the double portion.

The autumn feast days (from Trumpets to Tabernacles) prophesies of the events surrounding the second coming of Christ. Hence, the autumn feasts require the anointing of both angels. Michael is the angel of resurrection (Daniel 12:1, 2), needed to fulfill the feast of Trumpets. Peniel, the Angel of His Face/Presence (Isaiah 63:9) is needed to fulfill the feast of Tabernacles by transforming the living overcomers as prophesied in 1 Corinthians 15:51.

To raise the dead without transforming the living overcomers would fall short of the divine plan. To transform the living without raising the dead would also fall short of God’s purpose. Together, however, they make an unbeatable team, allowing the autumn feasts to be fulfilled.

I believe that Hurricane Michael was a sign of Michael, and that this will be followed at some point by a second sign manifesting the angel Peniel. I already have some revelation about this, and this is the basis of the related mission that I thought might occur after being in Marysville. Yet apparently, this is for a later time. It is hard to tell at this point if the Michael revelations have been completed. When they are, my expectation is that we will progress into a revelation of Peniel. But that work and revelation is yet unknown, for it lies over the horizon.