We were just talking about Acts 16. Let us start there just to clarify something, and then we will go back to 1 Peter.
In Acts 16, we find some really amazing parallels to what happened on May 21, because there was a great earthquake. There was also a great earthquake on May 21, but this was not as we had expected. It was not physical, but spiritual.
So in Acts 16, we can identify May 21 due to the earthquake; and it does not say here that there was just an earthquake; it says that there was a “great earthquake.” This, specifically in Revelation 16 and in Revelation 6, is what God was talking about, as we had studied and realized that there would be a great earthquake “so mighty an earthquake, and so great” that the world had ever seen.
Here in Acts 16, God is really painting a spiritual picture of salvation, because He shows us that we are all in a prison, a spiritual dungeon. What happens here is that there is a great earthquake that has effects that only impact the prison doors and the bonds of the prisoners, and they are all released.
Something that also helps us identify this with May 21 is the language of “all.” It says in Acts 16:26:
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
This is what we are understanding. This was a worldwide thing that affected all of God’s elect all over the earth. Anyone who was in a spiritual dungeon had their prison door opened, and we were saying this. We said that God was going to save the last of His elect by May 21. We said this. We also said that on that day, the door to Heaven would shut. We said that there would be no more salvation, because this would have already been accomplished; and so this has already been done.
So this language of “all” and “every one’s” is significant. We see a great earthquake. The time was at midnight, which identifies with judgment. Everyone’s bands and prison doors were opened. This all fits. It fits what happened on May 21.
Then we read in Acts 16:27-29:
And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
This prison keeper is coming trembling, and God speaks of working out our own salvation “with fear and trembling.”
So as a result of the earthquake, as a result of all of the prison doors opening and the prisoners being there still – because if the prisoners had escaped, this prison keeper would have killed himself – as a result of all of this, this prison keeper starts to tremble and to fear God.
Look at what happens after this in verse 30. We read in Acts 16:30:
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
This prison keeper is very serious and very earnest; and we have to keep in mind that this is all as a result of the earthquake that opened up the prison doors. Then we read that this prison keeper goes on to believe, as it says, “believing in God with all his house.” But it is as a result of a great earthquake that he begins to tremble, which is what we are saying.
We are saying this, because the Bible is teaching this. This is what happened as a result of what God did prior to May 21, because leading up to that final day, where the “latter rain” was being poured out all over the earth, the whole world was talking about Judgment Day – May 21. The Word of God was heard by all of the prisoners, which is just like Paul and Silas who were singing and praying to God “at midnight” and were heard by all of the prisoners.
So the Word of God went into all of the world like it never has before in history. All of the world hears and God saves all of His people. We know that He did this. The Philippian jailer and his house are a picture of those who will begin to experience the salvation of God that has already been accomplished in their soul.
What took place on May 21 is that God saved His people. As a result of this, they will come trembling to God over the course of these next five months. But we should not think that the Philippian jailer is becoming saved afterwards. No; the picture is that this earthquake is what brought this about.
What happened on May 21 is what brings about an individual today who begins to realize that something is different with them and that they are changing. Before, as they tried to do things God’s way, there had always been that intense pressure, that intense resistance in their lives. They wanted to do something that they could not seem to be able to do; but now, they are trying and they are beginning to be able to do these things. This is because they are free. They have been set free. I think that this is what the Bible is saying.
Let us go back to 1 Peter now and continue looking at verse one. We read in 1 Peter 1:1:
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the [elect]…
I keep mentioning this because this word “elect” is there in the Greek. It says again:
…to the [elect] strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
Let us take a look at a few verses concerning “strangers.” Turn to Hebrews 11. It says in Hebrews 11:13-15:
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
When God saves a person, they become a stranger to the world. And now, a lot of people just became strangers. There is a great multitude out there. They were in the world and they were a part of the world. The world loves its own and everyone gets along in varying degrees with the world. As long as someone is not shining the light of the Gospel, it does not matter what they do or who they are, because they will pretty much fit in with the whole world. But when there has been that change made, well, now, they are going to experience some difficulties.
Let us say that God saves a person and this person does not even realize this. Maybe he saw a billboard that was put up in his country. Maybe he received a tract or maybe he read a portion of the Bible. But God saved him and he just continues on about his business. He gets into the month of June and July, but as he is going along, though, and as he is getting into his normal activities with his friends, he is now developing more and more of a conscience. When he and his friends used to get together and joke about this other guy and basically lampoon him and put him down, he now has this feeling that this is not right. He just cannot get into things like this as much as he and his friends used to be able to do. Whatever it is, there will be a big change in this person’s life. They are going to begin to realize that they do not fit in anymore, because they have become a citizen of Heaven.
Let us also look at 1 Peter 2. We read in 1 Peter 2:11-12:
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
This has something to do with our day because this is mentioning the “day of visitation.” Again, here are people who just want to do things God’s way and they are spoken against, like they are an “evildoer.”
As far as the world is concerned, it is like Mr. Camping is an “evildoer.” But are they serious? Are they? Do they really believe this about this man who worked in this ministry for over 50 years without taking a dime in salary?
We have people out there trying to accuse him that this was all about money and bringing money in. This obviously goes to show that they do not know a thing about this. I can understand why people would think this way, because this is the way that the world thinks, but he is not of the world. He is a child of God and none of God’s children are of the world. He does not think along those lines.
Tell me; what was his crime? What did he do that he is so reviled for by the churches? They call him a date setter. Do you realize that the Bible sets dates? Do you realize that there are dates and time paths in the Bible?
What does Daniel 9 say? It tells us of 70 weeks, and then it tells us to begin to count those 70 weeks from a certain point that will go into the future. This is a time path and it goes right to the dates of 29 A.D. and 33 A.D. This is a time path in the Bible that goes to a particular date. Would anyone charge God as a date setter? Would they speak against Him as an evildoer because there is this date in the Bible that He gave?
The churches just cannot seem to pass up this opportunity, because here is this ministry that has been telling and telling people that the church age is over and that they were not to go to church but to come out of the church. What is the reason for the churches to behave like this? It is because the churches do not teach truth.
I can say something here. Mr. Camping would never say this, but I can say this. If the churches want to find false prophets, they should take a look in the mirror. If they do, they will find churches and congregations that teach falsely on just about every point of doctrine that the Bible has.
Plus, the Bible does not only talk about false prophets. It also talks about false brethren, false apostles who come looking like Christ, as well as false prophets. There are four or five different falsehoods that God refers to, and this false teaching is overwhelmingly in all of the churches and congregations of the world.
But, you see, this is their opportunity to claim that Mr. Camping is a false prophet, as well as Family Radio. They want to get rid of this thorn in their sides. They want to get rid of the voice of that fellow who has been very pestilent. This is like what Tertullus said as he tried to accuse Paul in the book of Acts of being “a pestilent fellow” and of evildoing, but there has been no evildoing here.
Do you know what there has been? There has been people who with all good conscience went to the Bible as the Word of God and studied it and believed it. They just lacked understanding on a minor point. Yes; a great earthquake is a minor thing in comparison to the door of Heaven shutting. This is the much more major thing. It does not get any bigger than the fact that there is no more salvation available. This is a huge thing.
But I understand. The Bible tells us about the nature of mankind. They see the light, but they hate the light and they speak evil of the light. God has told all of us that they would also speak evil of us, but that we are not to worry. We are to just continue on, as the Bible says, that “they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” We are to just keep living as a child of God having our conversation, our behavior, honest amongst the nations of the world, the Gentiles.
Let us also go to Ephesians 2 where this is speaking of Christ. We read in Ephesians 2:18-19:
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
To the kingdom of God, we are no longer strangers, even though we were before. We were aliens to “the commonwealth of Israel” or to the Heavenly Jerusalem. But now God has saved us and translated us into His Kingdom. We are now citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God. Since our citizenship is there, we are aliens here. We are strangers here, and the world does not understand us because we are no longer of the world.
We find more verses in relation to strangers in the Old Testament. Turn to Exodus 23 where God gives a Law concerning the stranger. We read in Exodus 23:9:
Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
This is the Law of God. We are not to oppress a stranger, because we were once strangers.
Spiritually, we can see what this means. Egypt is the “house of bondage.” We were in our sins in the world and we were just like the individual walking past us, the one whom we have never met before, the stranger.
God is telling us that we know what this is like. We know “the heart of a stranger,” and so we are not to turn around after we have been made a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven and oppress strangers. Instead, we are to be ready to entertain them.
Let us also go to Deuteronomy 10. We read in Deuteronomy 10:18:
He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger…
This is referring to the Lord. It continues:
…in giving him food and raiment.
Spiritually, this would be the Gospel as we give the stranger food and drink. Raiment is the covering of Christ’s righteousness.
This was what was going on in a big way when we were handing out tracts all over the world. We went to cities where we did not know the people. We went to different nations, but we did not know them. We went and we were loving the stranger because the Gospel, prior to May 21, was able to save, which is the “food” and the “raiment” that would cover the spiritual nakedness of these strangers, these people whom we did not know.
This was only done out of love and concern. This was only done in obedience to God’s command to us as watchmen to blow the trumpet and to warn the people. This was done so that, spiritually, they might be fed and so that they might have their sins covered.
Then God also says in Deuteronomy 10:19:
Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Again, let all of us not forget where we came from. We came from bondage. We came from sin, and so we should have a heart and a concern for the people of the world.
There is one other verse that I wanted to turn to in the Old Testament in relation to this. Turn to Psalm 146:9:
JEHOVAH preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
Here God tells us that He preserves the stranger. God uses certain figures of speech for His people. We are poor, we fatherless, we are widows, and we are strangers. These are all types that God gives and they are all synonyms for the same thing, for those individuals whom He has elected to salvation.
Let us also go to Matthew 25. This is when the Son of Man is seated upon the throne of glory. We find in Matthew 25:32-40:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
We can see spiritual picture after spiritual picture. When someone is hungry, when they are thirsty, when they are naked, when they are sick, when they are prison, as we were seeing earlier, these are all spiritual pictures of someone in their sins.
Christ is saying that when we brought the Word of salvation or the Gospel to those people in the world who were in their sins but who were His elect, it was like we gave Christ food and drink. It was like we clothed Him and it was like we took Him in as a stranger. This is because Christ identifies Himself with the body of Christ that is made up of all of these strangers, all of these people out there who are all His elect.
This is what should have been done through history. This is what God’s people should have been doing. But now, there is a little bit more information. Since we know that all of God’s elect have become saved, it is a matter of feeding the sheep and taking care of these individuals.
When the servant came in from the field in Luke 17 – and we know that the field is the world according to the parable in Matthew 13 – we know that he came in from the field after a long and hard day of work. This was a very tough job. We know, even today, that it is a very tough job to have to go out into the field, to be out in the hot sun all day and to labor in the field. And so this servant came home at the end of the day, and maybe the day was twelve hours long, but then what? What did the master say to him in Luke 17? He was told that it was not time for him to relax, nor was it time for him to eat and to drink. He had one more task. He was to feed the master. He was to give the master food and drink. And, again, this would relate to what Jesus is saying here, which is that as we do this to others, we are doing this to Him. And so there is this final stage of these five months that we are in, in which this is going on.
Returning to Matthew 25, we read in Matthew 25:41, of course, of the contrary, of those on the other end, as it says:
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Whom is He referring to? He is referring to the whole Christian world of about two billion people in the churches. Many will be saying, “Lord, Lord, have we not…in thy name…done many wonderful works?”
Well, they may have done certain things in His Name. For example, they might have a social gospel that literally and physically feeds the poor and gives physical drink, or they may have a gospel where they open up a closet to the homeless people and they physically give them clothing. But these things are not what God is interested in primarily. He is interested in the salvation of souls. He is interested in the spiritual nourishment, in the spiritual food, in the spiritual drink.
This is why those in the churches will be shocked. They will be shocked as they will proclaim, “Did we not do these things in Your Name?” Well, no; not as they should have. They really should have been more faithful with the Bible. This is basically what Christ is saying to the churches. They should have carefully taught the truths of the Bible, and then all of these things would have happened to the hearers of the Gospel, because the Gospel would have gone into the world via the church; but they did not do this.
It goes on to say in Matthew 25:42-46:
For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
So here is that distinction between the sheep and the goats. The sheep would be those on the right and the goats would be those on the left, and Christ is making a division between them. One comes under His wrath, but the other one is blessed. Evidence of their salvation, and of their being blessed, is how they treated the Bible—how they sent it forth into the world, as well as how they shared the Gospel with the people of the world.
So we are looking at the word “stranger” in particular, and it is interesting what we read in verse 35, Matthew 25:35. This says again:
…I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
We also find the word “took in” in Matthew 22 in the parable of the wedding feast. Many were originally called who were not worthy. Then we read in Matthew 22:8-10:
Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
The word “gathered together” in Matthew 22:10 is the word “took in.”
So they went out and found strangers. They found these people who were not originally the ones whom the king intended to come. Then they brought them into the place where the wedding would be.
Then we read next in Matthew 22:11-14:
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.
This man, who is identified as a friend, is a stranger. His name is not used, but the king is wondering how he got into the feast without a wedding garment. What is this garment? What is this pointing to?
We just read in Matthew 25, “I was naked and you clothed me.” This is the garment of the righteousness of Christ. This is what needs to cover us, not our own righteousness. The Bible tells us that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Our own righteousness is no covering at all from the piercing and searching eye of God that goes right to the heart of man and is able to see our sins that are innermost in our being. One’s own righteousness is not going to cover anyone. It is only Christ’s righteousness that covers, as He paid for the sins of that individual. Then that pure and white garment can be put on, which is the proper attire. This is the proper thing to have and the only proper attire for this spiritual wedding feast that God is holding.
So this man was a stranger, but he was not an elect stranger; and there is a difference. This is why this parable ends the way it does in verse 14. It says in Matthew 22:14:
For many are called, but few are chosen.
And remember that Peter is writing to the “elect strangers” scattered throughout those five regions.
And so this individual at the wedding feast got in somehow, but this did not help him. He came under final judgment and was cast into “outer darkness.”
By the way, if you were going to describe annihilation or if you were going to describe nothingness, how would you do this? We read in the book of Jude about the “blackness of darkness for ever.” This is a pretty good description of “outer darkness.”
Go ahead. Close your eyes and try to picture nothingness. It is nothing but dark. This is the idea that God is trying to express, because the Bible tells us that the “wages of sin is death.” If someone is not saved at the time of death, they cease to be. This is like blackness, because this is the absence of everything. It is darkness.
There is one other verse I wanted to go to that uses this word “took in.” Turn to Matthew 12. We read in Matthew 12:30:
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not [or takes not in] with me scattereth abroad.
This is speaking of those who did not “take in” with Him. No one can say that they are neutral, that they are not in this game. By analogy, everyone is in the game. If we are not with God, if we are not serving God, then we are against Him. In particular, anyone who professes to be a Christian who is still in the church is against Him. They are not serving God’s will. They are serving themselves. As a result, they are scattering abroad those whom Christ is so concerned about.
This takes us back to 1 Peter again. We read in 1 Peter 1:1:
…the [elect] strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
We are familiar with some of these areas or regions. Galatia is familiar, because we are familiar with the Epistle to the Galatians. We are familiar with the area of Asia, of course; but we do not know too much about Pontus, Cappadocia, and Bithynia.
If we go back to Acts 2, we do find three of these areas mentioned on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out, which was when Pentecost was fully come. We read about this in Acts 2. This is when the disciples were given the gift of tongues; that is, they were able, by the Spirit of God, to speak in known languages or in these other languages. This was not gibberish. This was not like the gift of tongues that we read about in 1 Corinthians 14. These men were understandable. We know this because it says in Acts 2:4-5:
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
The Jews had been spread out due to the Babylonian captivity. They had been taken into Babylon and many of them went into other provinces of Babylon. Sometime after this, we read about Haman in the book of Esther who wanted to kill the Jews, and he said that the Jews were a “people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom.” The law that had been commissioned that said that the Jews were to be slain had gone into all of the king’s 127 provinces.
So the Jews were spread out. They were dispersed. And these Jews here in Acts 2 who were dwelling in Jerusalem were devout men, as it goes on to say in Acts 2:5-9:
…devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
So here are three of the five areas that we find in 1 Peter 1. These men were Jews in those areas and it was normal for Paul or the missionaries to go to the synagogues of these cities, because they had Jews practically everywhere; and so we find these three areas mentioned here.
We read about the other two regions in Acts 16, as well as of Galatia. We read in Acts 16:6-7:
Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.
They were not allowed into Asia or Bithynia. Why not? Well, God is much wiser than we are. This was the first century A.D. If the Gospel had gone there and settled – like it has in the West, like in America and in Europe where the Gospel has been – what do we find? What do we find the character to be of the people in these lands where the Gospel has been for hundreds of years? Are they open to the Word of God? Are all of those people in all of those churches and congregations on so many street corners open to the truth of the Word of God?
No; no. After awhile, they think that they have elevated themselves above the Word of God. They do not think that they need this anymore. They are enlightened societies. They think that they have grown beyond the need for God and the Word of God, the Bible.
If you were someone who ever tried to bring the Gospel to a European city, this was a lot more difficult than bringing it to India. I remember being in India. I could stuff my backpack full with 2,000 tracts. By Noon or by 1:00 P.M., I would be done. I would go back, eat, stuff the backpack again, and then go back out, because practically everyone took one. They would hang out of buses or they would grab one as they went by on bicycles or on motorcycles. People would just come up to me.
Then, on the other hand, it was totally different in France or in England where we had to practically beg people, “Will you please take one?” Still, a lot of the time, they would not. Why not? Well, they just thought it passé. They thought the Gospel to be nothing to them.
Actually, the truth is that the European needs the Gospel just as much as the Chinese or the Indian or the African. We all equally need the Gospel, because we are all equally sinners.
But, you see, when a church has gone into an area, do you know who else has gone into that area? Satan. All through church history, there were synagogues of Satan. He was not in all of the churches. He was not ruling in the churches before 1988, even though he certainly had people in just about every church. He was not ruling in all churches until God gave him official rule at the end of the church age. But he had been able to infiltrate the churches and to pervert doctrines and gospels so that the witness of those churches became of no effect.
God, however, in His wisdom sealed up some areas, and they happen to be some of the most populated areas that are in the world today. There are one billion, four hundred million people in China. There are one billion, one hundred million people in India. These two together are a third of the world’s population. Many other Asian nations have large populations as well.
I think that we can understand this a certain way. It was almost as if the Holy Ghost forbid this in the first century. As a result of this, we do not find in the fifth or the eighth or the tenth centuries that missionaries went into these places. Maybe they did and maybe there was a handful of them; but, definitely, these regions were never evangelized in a major way until the “latter rain” period. It was then that, in a major way, the Gospel went into these areas.
One of the blessings in many of these places was that there was not a church or Christians (since God ended the church age) who were trying to snatch away the “good seed” as the Gospel was given to them. This means that we can understand that many did become saved from these areas, like in the Middle East or in the Arab nations.
Let us look at the word “scattered” a little bit. For instance, we read in James 1:1:
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
So we see twelve tribes and, yes, James is writing to Jews; but we can understand that God is writing to His people, because the twelve tribes of Israel would represent the people of God; and they are scattered abroad.
We find this word for “scattered” in John 7. It is translated there as “dispersed.” It says in John 7:35:
Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?
That is, this is referring to the synagogues, as in going to the Jews who are among the Gentiles, as Paul would later do in his missionary journeys. This would happen again and again. When they would first go to a city, they would go to the synagogue. Then when the Jews in the synagogue would not listen, they would say that they were turning to the Gentiles, to those who were not Jews; but the Jews were scattered in the surrounding nations.
Turn also to Acts 8. We read in Acts 8:1:
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Then it goes on to say in Acts 8:4:
Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
So this is exactly as it sounds. The people were scattered. They were amongst the people of the world, amongst the nations of the world.
Let us now look at a couple of verses in the Old Testament. Turn to Ezekiel 34. We read in Ezekiel 34:1-2:
And the word of JEHOVAH came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
This has been what we are talking about. We are commanded to feed the sheep.
In John 21, we find that historical picture of the great catch of fish that was brought in. There were 153 fish, which represents the “great multitude” that came out of great tribulation. These were safely brought to Christ. Then following this is the third time that Jesus shows Himself to the disciples. The number 153 breaks down to 3x3x17, and God is also emphasizing the number 3 within this number.
So the third time Jesus shows Himself after His resurrection, He says to Peter, “Lovest thou me?” How many times does He ask this? He asks this three times. Peter responds, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee,” but we will not get into the difference in the word “love” that is found in these verses.
So three times, Peter responds. Then three more times, Jesus comes back with, “Feed my sheep.” Actually, He says “Feed my lambs” first. Then He says two times, “Feed my sheep.” This is all saying the same thing.
We see the number 3 again and again, and God’s purpose after the great tribulation, because this great catch of fish are all secure, is that we are to feed sheep.
But why is God telling us this? Is this not the job of the church? Is this not the job of the congregations and their pastors and their elders and their deacons? It was throughout the church age. But how did they handle it? What did they do?
Right here, they would say that this is talking about the shepherds of Israel; and, out of blindness, they do not understand that this is talking directly about them. It is the shepherds, it is the pastors of the churches and congregations, especially of today, whom God is pointing the finger at. He is pointing His finger at them and pronouncing a woe to the shepherds, because they should have fed His sheep. This is what they should have done, but, instead, we read in Ezekiel 34:3-4:
Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
They do not feed His sheep. It continues:
The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick…
Remember the figures of speech from Matthew 25. For example, “I was sick, and ye visited me.” This was what was in view. Again, they did not bring the Gospel to those who needed it. This is basically what God is saying.
It continues:
…neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
A great multitude was out there. What were the churches doing about this? Hardly a thing. They were too busy with their building fund. They had to have an addition on their church. They were too busy trying to meet the physical needs of people to send forth the spiritual Word of God, the Gospel. And God recognized this. He noticed it.
Then we read in Ezekiel 34:5-6:
And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
We are reading 1 Peter and it was Peter to whom Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” Then, as God is moving him, Peter opens the Epistle to say in 1 Peter 1:1:
…to the [elect] strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
They were scattered in these five regions of the earth, and two of these places were where the Gospel was forbidden to go. But the Gospel has really only gone into these two regions in our day.
I would like to say that I think that we are going to find some similarities between Ezekiel 34 and John 21. We read next in Ezekiel 34:7-10:
Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of JEHOVAH; As I live, saith the Lord JEHOVAH, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of JEHOVAH; Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
God ended the church age. He came, He looked, He saw that the fields were “white already to harvest.” There was this great multitude, and many were alive at the time that the great tribulation began in 1988. Then He looks at the church, He looks at what they are teaching, He sees that they are not bringing the truth of His Word, and so He causes them to cease and He officially takes away their authority to feed the sheep.
Since 1988, they no longer had this authority. They may still think that they are a pope or a bishop or a priest or a minister or a pastor or an elder or a deacon, or whatever authority their title suggests. Of course, they still have these positions within their denominations and within their churches, as far as those who will recognize these positions; but from God, the only One who could officially give any authority to anyone to take care of His flock, He has ended it. On May 21, 1988, it was official. No more were they to feed His sheep. He took this away from them.
So how are they going to get fed? We read in Ezekiel 34:11-12:
For thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
This is referring to Judgment Day and He is saying that He is going to seek them out. He is going to find them, not the churches. He will do this. But how is God going to do this?
Of course, He uses people. He has always worked this way. He has obligated Himself to work in this way. This is because He cannot break the barrier of the supernatural, not until He ends the world. The only time that He does break this barrier is when He saves a sinner’s soul. At that time, He creates and He gives a new soul. But, otherwise, He is not going to do anything but through His people.
So He ended the church age and He raised up a ministry like Family Radio. He also raised up a technology through the electronic medium whereby it would not take multitudes of churches to bring a message. It would only take a few, because this is all whom God deals with. The Bible tells us, “But few are chosen.”
So only a few are able to send forth the Gospel into all of the world at the beckoning of God, at the will of God, in order to first find the sheep, to seek them out because they are lost; and He did this. All of the sheep are found.
We are familiar with the parable of a hundred sheep where one is lost. The Bible tells us, “If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?” Then God says, “Likewise, joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.” God is likening this to one sinner who repents. And this is done. It is finished.
So we have the same elements here in Ezekiel 34 as in John 21. In John 21, we see the judgment on the churches, because it was nighttime when they were fishing and they caught nothing. We see the command to find the sheep, but not for the churches – and God gave us the ways of doing this through radio and Internet and satellite broadcasting, and so on. And so we were commanded to find the sheep, which is done. Now the last thing is is that we are to feed them.
This is what we find in Ezekiel 34:13-15, which says:
And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord JEHOVAH.
Feed sheep. Feed sheep. Feed sheep. This is the next thing, and this is where we are. God is feeding His sheep.
I wanted to look at one last thing. Go to Jeremiah 50. We read in Jeremiah 50:17-20:
Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. Therefore thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead. In those days, and in that time, saith JEHOVAH, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.
So here God is speaking about punishing the king of Babylon and then He is going to bring Israel to a habitation to feed. This means that the king of Babylon, who represents Satan, would be punished, and then the sheep are to be fed.
Well, when is the king of Babylon punished? Turn to Jeremiah 25. It says in Jeremiah 25:11-12:
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation…
Again, this happens after 70 years, not before but after.
Look at Jeremiah 29. We read in Jeremiah 29:10:
For thus saith JEHOVAH, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
So after 70 years, God punishes the king of Babylon, and 70 years is a number that is a picture of the great tribulation.
There are several pictures that God uses of the great tribulation. There are the 7 years in Joseph’s day when they were in the 7-year famine; and Acts 7 refers to this time as “great affliction/tribulation.” Then there are the 23 years from 609 B.C. to 587 B.C. when Jerusalem was overrun and the temple was destroyed. This was 23 years inclusive; and this was a picture of the actual length of the great tribulation of our day. The great tribulation of our day went from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011, which was 23 years exactly or 8400 days. And another picture is the 70 years from 609 B.C., which was at the death of King Josiah, until 539 B.C. when Israel was no longer under Babylonian rule.
Why not? What happened? Does anyone remember?
If we go to 2 Chronicles 36, which is the last chapter in 2 Chronicles, we read in 2 Chronicles 36:20-21:
And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of JEHOVAH by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
This is the end of the 70 years when the Medes and the Persians took the kingdom. We read of this in Daniel 5. This was when the king of Babylon saw the writing on the wall. They called in Daniel to interpret this. What did it say? It basically said that his kingdom had been numbered, that their time was up, and that they would now face judgment.
The king, not realizing what Daniel was saying, tried to make Daniel the third ruler in the kingdom, but Daniel basically said for him to keep it to himself. The king had no idea what was about to happen, even though he had just been told that God was judging him.
Later that very night, the king of the Medes and the Persians and his mighty army marched into Babylon and took the kingdom like “a thief in the night.” They had been partying and drinking from the vessels of the temple. They had no idea that the Persian army was at the very gates as they were seeing the writing on the wall.
We have the expression that we see the writing on the wall, which is to say that we know what is coming. Well, the king of Babylon had no clue; because that very night, where were his watchmen? Where were the warnings that a great army had entered in?
They were not there because the king of the Medes and the Persians is a type of Christ, and he came unexpectedly for Babylon. It was like they were totally unaware as he just went in and took over the kingdom and put the king of Babylon to death – and this was at the end of 70 years.
Then we read in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23:
Now in the first year of Cyrus…
He is called Cyrus and Darius in the Bible. It continues:
…in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of JEHOVAH spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, JEHOVAH stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath JEHOVAH God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? JEHOVAH his God be with him, and let him go up.
What does this declaration do? What did this proclamation just do? This set forth the release of all of the captives. This freed them all. They were prisoners. They were captives in Babylon throughout the reign of the kings of Babylon.
So at the end of 70 years, which points to the end of the great tribulation on May 21, 2011, what did we learn from Acts 16? We learned that all of the prison doors had been sprung open. All of the bonds had been loosed. And we read here that now at the end of 70 years, a period that typifies the great tribulation, the king of the Medes and the Persians issues a proclamation for them all to go home. Actually, you will see several times if you read Ezra 1 that the proclamation was for them to “go up.” They were to go up to Jerusalem; that is, as a result of this freedom and of this deliverance, God will bring His people up after 153 days.
There is one more point that I would like to make. How does God describe Cyrus? We see some incredible language in Isaiah 45. We read in Isaiah 45:1:
Thus saith JEHOVAH to his anointed, to Cyrus…
This word “anointed” is also translated as “Messiah” in the book of Daniel; and so Jehovah is speaking to Cyrus, “his anointed.” This means that he was a picture of Christ.
Now back up to Isaiah 44 and read the last verse. It says in Isaiah 44:28:
That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure…
He is called God’s shepherd. What does a shepherd do? He takes care of sheep. He feeds the sheep.
So at the end of 70 years, we see freedom from Babylon made at the proclamation of Cyrus, the good shepherd. Of course, Christ is called the Good Shepherd in John 10. Cyrus was just a man, but God was likening him to the Good Shepherd, to the Good Shepherd who feeds sheep.
This is exactly what Cyrus was doing. He freed the Babylonian captives, the Jews; and then He tells them to go up to Jerusalem, “Go up.”
I think that we can see this now maybe even more clearly. There are still some things that we have yet to learn, but we can see where we are. God is telling us in several places what He has us here for and what He has done. He has already saved everyone, and now there is just this period of time in which there is the feeding of the flock.
Let us close with a word of prayer.
Dear Father, we do thank You for Your Word. We thank You that there is always refuge there. We can always find shade and deliverance. We can find strength and encouragement. We pray that You would help us to cleave to Your Word more and more over these days, as we continue to live after the door has been shut. Father, we pray that we would continue to pray for our family members and for our neighbors and for our friends and for our co-workers and for the strangers. Help us to pray, not that You would save them, but having saved them, could it be that You have already opened the gate, the prison door, and may they begin to realize this. We do pray that we would begin to see evidence, like that of the Philippian jailer who was someone who desperately wanted to do the will of God, someone who wanted to know what he must to do be saved, and then brought the Word to all of his house. Father, we thank You, once again, for this Day, Your Holy Day, and we do ask that You would help us to do things that are pleasing to You today. We pray this in Christ’s Name. Amen.