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The work of the house of Joseph, part 17

We poured out both wine and water at Scott Circle (as usual). The wine bore witness to judgment upon Babylon through the ministry of the house of David; the water bore witness to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through the ministry of the house of Joseph.

The Fourth and Fifth Signs in John

The fifth bowl of water in particular correlated with the fifth miracle-sign in the Gospel of John, where Jesus walked on the water (John 6:16-25). The eight signs in this Gospel are laid out in typical Hebrew format known as a chiasm, or parallelism. The first is parallel to the eighth, the second is parallel to the seventh, etc. The fourth and fifth signs run parallel to each other and appear back to back with no commentary separating them.

The fourth sign is where Jesus fed the 5,000 at the time of Passover (John 6:4). The people then wanted to crown Him king “by force” (John 6:15), so He “withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.” This prophesied of Jesus’ ascension to heaven after His body was broken at the cross to feed the multitude. His death fulfilled the calling of the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:9) and, more specifically of David when his throne was usurped by Absalom.

The fifth sign prophesied of His second coming, which, as we know, was to be a manifestation of the house of Joseph with His robe dipped in blood (Revelation 19:13). So when Christ walked on the water to the disciples who were caught in a storm in the middle of the lake, it was a sign of His second coming.

Commentary on the fourth sign (feeding the 5,000) is then set forth in the latter half of John 6, where Jesus told them to eat His flesh and drink His blood (John 6:53). Commentary on the fifth sign (Christ’s coming in the middle of the lake) is set forth in the seventh chapter, where Jesus suddenly appeared in His temple in the middle of Tabernacles (John 7:2, 14).

Walking on the Water

When Jesus was seen “walking on the sea” (John 6:19), He prophesied of the day when He would be victorious over all the nations, as we read in Revelation 17:14, 15,

¹⁴ These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful. ¹⁵ And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes, and nations and tongues.”

The storm in this case represented the nations in turmoil. Isaiah 57:20, 21 says,

²⁰ But the wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up refuse and mud. ²¹ “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

The nations thus “wage war against the Lamb,” but Jesus overcomes them. The storm cannot hinder or prevent Him from coming, nor can the waves toss Him to and fro.

In John 16:33 Jesus told His disciples,

³³ These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.

Matthew 14:28-30 tells us that Peter went out to meet Jesus, walking on the water. In doing this, he illustrated Paul’s word in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, where we will be “caught up… to meet the Lord.” In the past 150 years this has been interpreted in terms of the so-called “rapture” doctrine. It is, in fact, a prophecy of Christ’s second coming, but it must be viewed in the light of the feast of Tabernacles.

As with Peter, the overcomers will indeed meet the Lord, but Jesus did not take him back to the mountain (i.e., heaven). Instead, Peter was Jesus’ escort to the boat. The idea that Christ will come and remove the church from the earth for 7 years or 3½ years is not found in this story.

See my book, The Rapture in the Light of Tabernacles.

In the commentary on the fifth sign, Jesus sent His disciples ahead of him to the feast (John 7:8) and then came unexpectedly in the middle of the feast (John 7:14). This is the explanation of the fifth sign, where Jesus sent His disciples out into the lake while He remained on the mountain. Jesus then came to them in the middle of the lake.

Kingdom Government

The water theme has a variety of meanings and applications. Pouring out water primarily signifies the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which is directly associated with the second coming of Christ. I believe that this outpouring will begin prior to Christ’s coming to prepare the way of the Lord. Then, I believe, it will enter a new phase afterward that will be a continuous revival among Kingdom citizens for a thousand years.

Moses’ fifth speech also speaks into the fifth sign in John as well as the fifth bowl of water. His fifth speech begins in Deuteronomy 16:18, 19,

¹⁸ You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. ¹⁹ You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.

Moses’ fifth speech is about Kingdom government, its laws, its judges, and how to judge righteously. This speech supports the prophecy of Christ overcoming the nations, not to enslave them but to judge them impartially and “with righteous judgment.” This will be a day of rejoicing for the nations, as we read in Psalm 67:4,

⁴ Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for You will judge the people with uprightness and guide the nations on the earth. Selah.

While the nations are ruled by unjust men, they remain in turmoil and suffer much injustice by the laws of men—and by rulers who do not follow their own laws. Such is the nature of the storm of tribulation in which the disciples found themselves as the beast nations waged war against the saints (Daniel 7:21). Mark 6:51 and Matthew 14:32 tells us that the wind did not cease until Jesus stepped into the boat. This suggests that the tribulation will not BEGIN at the second coming of Christ, but rather will mark the END of the tribulation.

Details of the Second Coming

Keep in mind that the story says nothing of Christ coming twice, as the rapture theory teaches. Jesus did not take Peter back to the mountain from whence He came. He did not come a second time, this time accompanied by Peter.

Furthermore, Peter represents the overcomers—those willing to step out of the boat and overcome the wind and the waves. The rest of the disciples in the story played the role of the church as a whole. Hence, we see that only the overcomers will be “caught up” to meet the Lord on this occasion. The church as a whole, which failed to overcome, will receive its reward a thousand years later at the general resurrection of the dead (Revelation 20:12).

Jesus prophesied about this general resurrection in John 5:28, 29, saying,

²⁹ Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, ³⁰ and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

That “hour” is the general resurrection. The first resurrection includes only righteous people, that is, the overcomers who are called to reign with Christ (Revelation 20:5, 6). The general resurrection includes the rest of the “righteous,” along with the unrighteous. This is confirmed by the Apostle Paul in his testimony in Acts 24:14, 15, where he stated his belief “that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”

When Peter went out to meet Christ, walking on the water, he played the role of the overcomers going out to meet Him, while the rest of the disciples played the role of the church. The underlying message is that only a few believers actually overcome their fear of the wind and the waves of tribulation—and even Peter himself had to be rescued at the last minute (Matthew 14:30, 31) after “he became frightened” and began to sink.

So we see that the water being poured out has a dual application in the overall prophecy. It represents both the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as well as subjecting the nations under the feet of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:27). Overcoming the nations during the turmoil of tribulation is pictured by Christ walking on the water. His rule—after getting into the boat—is pictured by the calm sea (Mark 6:51).

Christ’s Kingdom Headquarters is pictured by the boat being caught up to shore at Gennesaret (Matthew 14:34). The people, however, came and found Him at Capernaum (John 6:24), which was His ministry headquarters. Capernaum is from the Hebrew, Kippur-Nahum, “Covering of the Comforter.” This pictures the last great day of the feast of Tabernacles, when Jesus spoke of the outpouring of the Spirit (John 7:37-39).