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Twin Timelines

Part XVII

In Twin Timelines, we have been documenting the phenomena in which "Scripts," found in the Word of God, are recapitulated via Spiritual influence from the LORD, as well as the two fold "principalities and powers." In this (and prior works), we have established how these repetitious patterns can provide a degree of predictability in the perceptions of the Christian believer. The prophetic implications are enormous, but the missing ingredient in the formula involves the foundational understanding of the Gospel, which filters how these patterns are discerned.

The body of Christ is presently inundated in a cacophony of voices clamoring to be heard, and the lack of discernment in the Spiritual realm is now at an all time high. Thousands and thousands of small Christian ministries, asserting faith that the LORD is raising them up as a prophetic voice, routinely misidentify, or misapply the Spiritual gifts described in Scripture. As the subject of Spiritual gifts bestowed from on high is complex, this aspect of the Twin Timelines poses a significant challenge to this generation of the Lord's people.  

For instance, many believers who have spent some time in a local church body are aware of the phenomena when an individual in the congregation will begin uttering some type of prophetic statement. In certain Pentecostal or Charismatic oriented assemblies, the person will begin speaking in what is purported to be "tongues," and the words await an interpretation. In other cases, the person will speak to the members of the church as though the LORD is speaking directly through them.

In the early days of Christianity, the Apostle Paul encountered circumstances like this and, on occasion, the mystique surrounding the gift of prophecy brought Paul to write extensively to correct the Christians of Gentile extraction on the subject. The need for sound doctrinal guidance was particularly acute in Corinth, as the letters in I and II Corinthians indicate. The Corinthian Christians were plagued by factionalism, sexual impropriety, aberrant understanding of God's ordained plan for the roles of men and women, idolatry, and even excesses relative to the practice of Communion.

Paul understood that the traditions of the Gentile cultures (which had been saturated with idolatry for centuries before the calling of the Gentiles to Christ), commonly led to distorted understandings concerning the way in which believers were to live.

"Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them…Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not?" (Jeremiah 10:2; 7:9).

Simultaneously, while Paul refuted the Gentile apostasies, he clearly indicated the Old Testament laws of the Jews were not to be adopted by the Christians, but were to serve as guidelines to communicate the larger truth of the kinds of lives we are to lead as adopted sons and daughters of the King of heaven. Recounting numerous aspects of the Israelite history when they were called out of Egyptian bondage, Paul specifically compared the case of the Physical Israelites in the wilderness with the case of the Spiritual Israelites under the same LORD in the New Covenant. Many incidents in the Old Testament foreshadowed how the redeemed believers are to enter the Spiritual "wilderness" of born again life, separate from being in captivity to the ways of worldly existence.

"Our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual food; and did all drink of the same spiritual drink" (I Corinthians 10:1-4).

This is the epitome of the doctrine of the Twin Timelines as, in the context of Prophetically Paralleling the many infractions of the Israelites headed to the promised land, the next few chapters of his epic writing to the Corinthians specify the parallel misdeeds of the largely Gentile believers in Corinth. More precisely, the Holy Spirit, writing through the Apostle, provided specific examples of Israelite misbehavior in the wilderness.

"But with many of them God was not well pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness" (I Corinthians 10:5).

Paul then proceeds to enumerate numerous offenses in the wilderness; but even though he twice states "these things were our examples" (I Corinthians 10: 6, 11), because the false prophets of our timeline have erroneously convinced the overwhelming majority of believers that the Christian church and Israel are two separate entities, most fail to realize the reality of the parallels between Physical Israel in the antiquarian wilderness, and Spiritual Israel in the Christian era.

For instance, noting that some of the Israelites in the wilderness experience were guilty of idolatry, Paul quoted the record of Moses.

"Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play" (I Corinthians 10:7).

Knowing the verse just quoted from Exodus tells of how the Israelites "sat down to eat and drink" (at the time they worshiped the golden calf while Moses was absent), Paul tells the Christians what to do when they are invited to a feast, but the host says "this is offered in sacrifice unto idols." (I Corinthians 10:28). Obviously, such a circumstance would have arisen in that timeline and, using the golden calf episode as a Prophetic Parallel, Paul tells the believers they are to refuse to eat in such a setting.

"…eat not….wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry" (I Corinthians 10:28, 14).

Paul continued his recognition of the supernaturally generated similarities between the Twin Timelines of the Israelite sojourn in the wilderness, and the Spiritual Israelite experience that he was entrusted to shepherd at Corinth in the first century AD. Noting that he was aware the Corinthian believers were guilty of ongoing sexual impropriety, the fiery Apostle rebuked the entire body for not separating themselves from the offenders.

"It is commonly reported that there is fornication among you…and ye…have not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you" (I Corinthians 5:1, 2).

Immediately after comparing the idolatry among the Israelites in the wilderness, to the Corinthian's feasting on foods "offered in sacrifice unto idols" (I Corinthians 10:2), Paul recalls a specific instance of sexual immorality which resulted in the death of tens of thousands.

"Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand" (I Corinthians 10:8).

The episode in question, which occurred while Israel was in the wilderness, was related to an important account in which many of the Israelite men had relations with Baal worshiping women of Moab.

"…and the people began to commit whoredoms with the daughters of Moab. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor; and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel" (Numbers 25:1, 3).

The shameful incident at Baal-peor resulted in a great plague falling upon Israel in which thousands died; and the Apostle Paul was clearly issuing a warning to the Christians by drawing a Prophetic Parallel between the immorality occurring in Corinth, and the episode involving sexual contacts outside of the institution of marriage within the Israelite family of God.   

Incredibly, Paul follows up his ongoing recitation of the Twin Timelines, as he continued to parallel the Physical Israelites under Moses, with the Spiritual Israelites in the Christian timeline. Following the "Script" of the events in Baal-peor involving sexual impropriety, Paul then reminded the Corinthians of how the Israelites blasphemed God and Moses, claiming the LORD brought them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness:

"And the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?" (Numbers 21:5).

This is the very same Scriptural account wherein the LORD was to establish the connection between the Physical serpents in the wilderness (which link blaspheming the LORD with the sentence of death), and the demonic faction described in Revelation as "Serpents…[whose power was] to slay the third part of men" (Revelation 9:19, 15).

"And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died" (Numbers 21:6).

Chapter XVI of the Twin Timelines series detailed the similitude of the Serpents, who are identified with death, and the Scorpions, who are identified with temptation, torment, captivity, and chastisement.

Back in the Corinthian comparison of Israel's infractions in the Physical wilderness with the infractions of the Christians in the Spiritual wilderness, the first letter to the Christians at Corinth conclusively connects their malfeasance, with the misbehavior in the wilderness.

"Neither let us tempt the LORD, as some of them also tempted him, and were destroyed by serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer" (I Corinthians 10:9, 10).

Not only does this amazing verse confirm the symbolic connection between the "serpents" and death, the doctrinal thread associates that resulting death as occurring at the hands of "the destroyer." This statement relates to doctrinal understanding which was already intact in Paul's timeline. Further, since this quotation from the New Testament speaks of a historical fact from the Old Testament timeline, it merits close attention.

In other words, when the Apostle Paul quotes the verse from Moses indicating that when the Israelites tempted God (and He sent serpents which killed many of them), the recitation of that episode tells us that even though God sent those serpents, they were associated with a presence Paul labeled "the destroyer."

Adjacent Scriptures establish God Himself is not "the destroyer," so narratives like this one provide us with a glimpse into the Spiritual sphere of existence that we call the TRIUNIVERSE. Obviously, there are many Scriptures where the Devil was utilized to further the LORD's divine will, and the well known account wherein God allowed Satan to devastate the worldly existence of Job (as a test) comes to mind.

"And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand" (Job 1:12).

The previous chapter of Twin Timelines dealt with the triune architecture of the heavenlies, as we examined the allegorical "Serpents" (representing Death), the metaphor of the "Scorpions" (which represent Hell, Torment, Captivity, Chastisement, Deception, Temptation, and much more), and the "Seed" of God (the righteous, Spiritual body which inherits His kingdom).

The reader will remember the intense interaction wherein JESUS rebuked the disciples for mistakenly associating His ministry with the attributes of one who destroys. Two of His disciples suggested that Christ give them the power to destroy a Samaritan village that had rejected the Saviour.  

"And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as [Elijah] did?" (Luke 9:56).

It was on this occasion that Christ issued a rare rebuke of two of His disciples.

"But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them" (Luke 9:55, 56).

The episode in which Christ disavowed any Spiritual connection to the "destroyer" is the very same account in which JESUS told His disciples that He has given them power to tread on both factions of the "destroyer."

"Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19).

The exotic imagery found in the book of revealing allows us to see further details concerning this "destroyer." When the Bottomless Pit is opened in the vivid account of things in the Spiritual realm (in the very chapter in which the "Serpents" which represent Death are released), we see the demonic creatures described as Serpents and Scorpions have a presence that unites them.

"And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon" (Revelation 9:11).

These two names, Abaddon and Apollyon, both have a literal meaning of the Destroyer. In other words, although there is one king over the infernal abode, he has two names (or two aspects to his dominion) – and those twin hemispheres of his realm are represented by Serpents and Scorpions.

As we review the Twin Timelines, in which the Apostle Paul clearly compared the cycle of the Israelites in the wilderness under Moses with the Born Again body of Christ in the Spiritual wilderness under Paul, we might also note a fascinating detail which is often overlooked. In the Old Testament, the wilderness outside of Egypt, which the Israelites passed through on their journey to the promised land, was called The Wilderness of Sin —and it is there they encountered the Serpents and the Scorpions.  

"And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD" (Exodus 17:1).

-- James Lloyd

To Be Continued