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The Duck Boat tragedy in Branson—a prophetic sign, part 2

The duck boat tragedy in Branson follows the prophetic sign of baptism, and this alone points to numerous biblical patterns of death and resurrection. The numbers involved (14 and 17) also help us to interpret the event, as I have shown.

As for the timing of the event (July 19), it is only understandable by knowing that the feast of Tabernacles begins on 7/15 and ends 7/22. On our calendar, 7/19 is the fifth day of the feast, which correlates to the fifth miracle-sign in the book of John. The storm in John 6:18 was duplicated in the Branson event, so one would have to study the meaning of the Scriptures in order to interpret the Branson story.

Understanding signs can be difficult or even impossible, because few people have studied the Scriptural patterns to that extent. Further, most people have never heard the 1980 revelation that “July is like September.” So they do not know that we can link July 19 with September 19, a date which happens to be the Day of Atonement in 2018.

This year it happens that another layer of timing is added to the mix, because the Day of Atonement falls on 7/10 (Hebrew calendar). But 7/10 on our calendar is July 10—the day that the Thai resurrection sign took place. Once again, we are seeing that resurrection sign linked to the overall revelation. July 10 links with September 19, which in turn links back to July 19.

As I wrote two weeks ago in my weblog about the 12 boys saved from the cave in Thailand, July 10 is a type of the Day of Atonement, and is linked to September 10, which is Rosh Hoshana, the feast of Trumpets (New Year). So in 2018 we have a rather unusual overlay of feast days, where Trumpets and the Day of Atonement are overlaid on each other.

The meaning of this is yet unclear. At the present time we are seeing the Day of Atonement being set forth in the theme of baptism, death and resurrection. Trumpets itself is the prophesied feast where the dead will be raised “at the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52). Hence, both Trumpets and the Day of Atonement have the resurrection theme in common.

But what does it mean? I think we will learn more when we go to Branson for our conference on September 7-9. That conference ends the evening of September 9, which, by Hebrew time, is the beginning of September 10, the feast of Trumpets. If it were up to us, I would vote for the resurrection of the dead. But, of course, we have learned that it is not our will but His that is important. By seeking His will, we remain observers and participants in His plan—not our own.

Table Rock Lake

Perhaps the Table Rock Lake in Branson is significant, since the duck boat sank in that lake, not far from where the Chateau on the Lake is located (our meeting place for the conference in September). Does this suggest the two stone tables (or tables of stone) on which the law was given? Is it not on account of the law that all sinners are sentenced to death?

Perhaps, then, the Chateau, situated on a hill overlooking the lake, points to resurrection.

Tornado in Pella

On the same day that the storm struck the lake in Branson, a tornado struck Pella, Iowa.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/07/19/central-iowa-tornado-marshalltown-pella-bondurant-vermeer-storms-damage-severe-weather-funnel-clouds/804326002/

Some of you may recognize the name, because there is company called Pella that makes doors and windows. It is headquartered in Pella, Iowa.

Pella is also the name of the city where the early Christians went just before Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. The war began in 66 A.D., and the Roman army was about to capture the city late in the year 66, but they mysteriously retreated. That was a “mistake” on their part, because they did not get back to Jerusalem for a few years. Meanwhile, the Christians remembered Jesus’ warning in Matthew 24:16-20, so they left the city, settling in Pella.

The story is told by Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea in the early 4^th century in his Ecclesiastical History III, 5,

“Furthermore, the members of the Jerusalem church, by means of an oracle given by revelation to acceptable persons there, were ordered to leave the City before the war began and settle in a town in Peraea called Pella. To Pella those who believed in Christ migrated from Jerusalem.”

So what is the significance of having a tornado in Pella at the same time that the storm was hitting Table Rock Lake in Branson? This was the same storm system.

First of all, Pella has a connection with Jerusalem’s destruction. Second, it seems to be a sign to the church. If Pella was the place where the Jerusalem church fled before the destruction of the city, then Pella was their city of refuge at that time. Now it appears that the tribulation (tornado) is coming to the church (Pella). Perhaps the church should consider evacuating from its spiritual location—that is, its understanding of the situation with Jerusalem.

Much of the church has relocated to Jerusalem, spiritually speaking. Whereas they ought to have found refuge in the New Jerusalem, they have returned to the earthly Jerusalem, which is the bondwoman (Galatians 4:24) and the place of bondage. When people consider the earthly Jerusalem to be their “mother” (i.e., the “mother church”), they testify that there are of Hagar, the bondwoman and are not “children of promise” (Galatians 4:28).

The early church had the same problem. Most did not really understand the New Covenant, and this was a source of conflict between them and the Apostle Paul. They were tied to their past culture and the temple and their Old Covenant viewpoints. It was only when Jerusalem persecuted the Christians that they were scattered (Acts 8:1), so that they could fulfill the Great Commission. It was only when Jerusalem was finally destroyed that the church was able to break ties with their fleshly mother.

However, in recent decades, much of the church has again reverted back to its high expectations of the earthly Jerusalem, thinking that it is the focus (mother) of the Kingdom. One’s view of prophecy in this regard is sufficient evidence of this. So I take this tornado as a divine warning that the church should once again evacuate from Jerusalem, not only the city itself, but (more importantly) the Old Covenant mindset that comes with being a spiritual Ishmaelite.

Correlating Kevin Peters’ Word from July 21

Kevin Peters received a revelation while in Palestine, Texas on the morning of July 21, 2018. I wrote about it here:

https://gods-kingdom-ministries.net/daily-weblogs/2018/07-2018/prophetic-word-for-today-from-kevin/

The first part of the word was this:

“10 degrees of adjustment, 10 degrees of alteration and correction. With this adjustment you shall receive the very fullness of my Spirit. It is the Spirit of judgment to receive that which I will now release.”

In the past few days, some of you have sent your insights into the meaning of this. There are many layers of meaning of this, and no doubt it has a different significance to each person. To me, of course, it speaks of the Hezekiah Factor (2 Kings 20:10), which tells me that we must look back 10 years to the year 2008.

The most significant event in 2008 was the near collapse of the world banking system in mid-September 2008. It is quite possible that we will see a similar event occur in September of 2018, perhaps this time involving Deutsche Bank, which is even now a zombie bank near the point of collapse.

The Hezekiah Factor was part of God’s answer to King Hezekiah, who had a very bad infection (“boil”). In 2 Kings 20:7 we read,

⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

Hezekiah’s problem was an infection, and the solution was “a cake of figs.” What do the figs represent? What was the spiritual problem in this prophetic story?

Recall that when Jesus cursed the fig tree in Matthew 21:18, 19, he was conducting spiritual warfare against the nation of Judah. This is made clear when Jesus applied the prophecy to Jerusalem and Judah in Matthew 24:32-34.

So the way I interpret the story of King Hezekiah, I see that Hezekiah, who was a genuine believer, still needed some adjustment in his thinking—perhaps about 10 degrees of adjustment. Immediately after he was healed, we read about the problem in 2 Kings 20:12-19. Ambassadors came from Babylon, and Hezekiah showed them his treasury. The Babylonians never forgot this, and a century later it was enough to motivate the Babylonians to lay siege to Jerusalem. Isaiah, of course, prophesied this in 2 Kings 20:17, 18.

So Hezekiah’s spiritual problem contributed to the destruction of Jerusalem and of Solomon’s temple a century later. The literal figs may have resolved the king’s physical problem, but the deeper problem also involved figs. The prophecy is deliberately left vague, but once we understand that Judah was a nation represented by the fig tree, and see Jesus’ actions in Matthew 21, it is not hard to conclude that the church needs to understand figs.

Jeremiah 24:2 tells us that there are good figs and evil figs. The difference between the two types of Jews (Judahites) is important to understand. The New Testament story of Jesus’ ministry was largely a conflict between good figs and evil figs. The evil figs refused to submit to Rome, and they were thus responsible for bringing upon themselves the wrath of Rome, resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem.

Kevin received his revelation in Palestine, Texas on the 9^th of Av, the anniversary of Jerusalem’s destruction. In fact, Jerusalem was destroyed on 9 Av in the days of Jeremiah and again in 70 A.D. For this reason, that day has been a public day of mourning in Judaism for many centuries.

The timing of a revelation always has something to do with its fulfillment. Kevin’s revelation came on 9 Av in Palestine, Texas. Need I say more?

Helsinki and Jerusalem

However, someone pointed out that Helsinki, Finland is 10 degrees longitude west of Jerusalem. The longitude of Helsinki is nearly 25 degrees East. The longitude of Jerusalem is just slightly over 35 degrees East.

This, I think, is significant, in light of the Pella event and its connection to Jerusalem.

US President Trump and Russian president Putin held a peace summit in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. Somehow, this is connected to the fate of Jerusalem. I believe that the evil figs, having the same spiritual problem as described in Jeremiah 24, will again bring destruction upon the city. I suspect that these evil figs oppose any US-Russia peace initiative, even as the Democratic Party opposes it in America.

Their call to war and their insistence upon making Russia the enemy of America will eventually bring about the destruction of Jerusalem, as prophesied in Jeremiah 19:10, 11. For this reason, the church needs to have a 10-degree adjustment in its thinking and to apply the fig-principle to its inner “boil.”

In my view, Zionism itself, which is fixated on the earthly Jerusalem (“Hagar”), is what needs a 10-degree adjustment by the “spirit of judgment.” As with the early Jerusalem church, even believers in Christ need to adjust their thinking, so that they can claim Sarah as their spiritual mother and thus be inheritors of the promises of God.

For a full study on this, see The Book of Galatians: Paul Corrects the Distorted Gospel.