The reason I say that the earth may be somewhat older is because it was said to be formless and void in the beginning; when the Spirit of G-d hovered over the waters. And there is evidence of an angelic battle that may have left the earth formless and void, and the possibility that "Rahab" (Ps. 89:10 & Is. 51:9) was another planet that was destroyed. See an enlightening essay on the subject at:
"Cydonia, (Face on Mars), Egypt, and "The Stones of Fire" (Must press back button to get back here). Also; Immanuel Velokovski’s “Worlds in Collision” is a great read, though it concerns a much later epoch, (the exodus).
Hence, when Christ said: “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven,” He probably was not talking about Rev. 12, as the modern shepherds teach. Though it is possible because Christ was eternal before His conception, and outside of our time domain. But though He prophesied of many future events while here on earth; His major claim to
G-dhood was past tense, for He said: “Before Abraham was, I AM.” And sure enough: when we go back and study the Genesis, we find that “G-d said, let US make man in OUR image,” notice the pluralistic nature of this statement!
The fall of Satan in Revelation chapter 12 is yet future. There was the first fall of Lucifer in the initial rebellion. One would not put his servants (angels) in charge of His household or temple, (i.e. us), unless He had first tested His servants (the angels) for loyalty, and obedience. Satan was found wanting in the beginning, before Adam. And this becomes the crux of our dilemma, for when Adam and Eve sinned, Satan gained access to heaven, once more, as our accuser.
So the Devil gained temporary rulership of this planet, forfeited by Adam, as evidenced by the Satanic offer to Christ in the temptation; “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” How can Satan give the kingdoms of this world to Christ if he does not have power over them?
So Christ came, and paid for our sins in our place, and He alone has the right to expel Satan from heaven at any given time. He will give Michael, (His servant over Israel), the command when the prophetic clock of Israel begins its final three and a half year count. One thing have I learned the hard way: that is, we are all sinners, and in need of the Saviour, but when He searches us out and we accept: he becomes the revealer of secrets. This however is an entirely different subject that really will not edify, if I go any deeper, so I will move on.
The topic at hand is the great week of G-d’s timeframe for man, and specifically the two days that come between the first and second advents of our L-rd, and the great thousand year Shabbat that we honor every Saturday, (or Sunday for some of you. Neither shall I enter into an argument of the L-rd’s day, but He did say that He was L-rd of Shabbat). And I shall leave off at those words.
We shall now look at a passage that shows these two great days typologically. I am quite sure that you have never heard this passage taught in this way. The normal sermons, lectures, and exegetical teachings, I will leave to the modern shepherds; for there are volumes posted online regarding this story, and millions of publications and pastoral notes regarding the woman at the well. But I have found none such as this one, save for the fact that the writer of “The Epistle of Barnabas” probably understood it, as well as the early (Jewish) church and John the writer.
John 4:1-45
1. “When therefore the L-rd knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
2. (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
3. He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.
4. And he must needs go through Samaria.
5. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of G-d, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12. Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13. Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
16. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18. For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
19. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24. G-d is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
25. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
26. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
27. And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
28. The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
29. Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
30. Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
31. In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.
32. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
33. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?
34. Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
35. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
36. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
37. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
38. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.
39. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
40. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
41. And many more believed because of his own word;
42. And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
43. Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.
44. For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.
45. Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.”
Now this story of the woman of Samaria and her encounter with Yeshua is very familiar to all of us. It is known to us as the woman at the well story, but when I came to verse 44, I had the same trouble with it that I have always had: I did not understand why John included this quote at this point in the story. I didn’t understand why the Spirit would have him say “For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country,” and then immediately after this quote John records that Jesus came to Galilee and “the Galilaeans received him.” The point is that Jesus was from Nazareth of Galilee! The quote doesn’t say that a prophet is not honored in his own town or village; it says country. Now we all know that Yeshua was from the country of Galilee! Yet they received him! What is going on here?
Now after I prayed about this, I was thinking about it, and decided to turn on the radio station that I sometimes listen to, and I heard a popular shepherd saying that John the Baptist was the last Old Testament prophet. The first thing that entered my mind was “wasn’t Yeshua also a prophet? As well as High Priest, Meshiach, son of David, and son of G-d Himself?” Didn’t the church begin ten days after He ascended to the right hand of our Heavenly Father? The right hand of His true Father?
The radio shepherd’s voice faded off into the background as I began to think about how different it may have been for the modern shepherds if the scripture had not been divided into Old and New Testaments. The Prince of the covenant; Yeshua, and the truth about His covenant with Israel and the Gentiles may have not been hidden from them. Then the voice of the radio shepherd came back into my thoughts and he said something else that got me thinking. I heard him say: “The book of Acts is a transitional book.”
This I agreed with, and began to think that if only the four Gospels would have been placed at the end of the Old Testament; if we could look at the scriptures in that way, it would be much more comprehensible. The confirmation of the covenant by Yeshua, (who is the covenant), would be plain for all to see. The Old Testament "typology" represented, would be much clearer. The "covenant with death" is not a covenant with anti-Christ. It is the rejection of Christ in support of the "Law Covenant" of Moses, which only Christ fulfilled. And He also fulfilled the covenant with Abraham. For through the seed of Abraham, G-d promised that He would bless all nations. And the covenant with Abraham was a covenant of mercy and grace. Christ confirmed it at the midpoint of Daniel's seventieth week, by His death, and His "blood shed for the many," when He was "cut off, but not for Himself." And that is why His ministry was exactly three and one half years. All of this is explained in detail in "A Letter to the Shepherds," (Chapters 2 and 3.)
This is Yeshua; and is our nation not blessed by the seed of Abraham? Much more all Nations? Are we not blessed by the grace and mercy of Jesus the Messiah, son of G-d?
Then the L-rd showed me what John chapter four was all about! Typology! I turned off the radio and went back to John 4:44, and sure enough; I understood it! It represents the return of Christ to the earth, (and his own people)! Let us now go over the important parts of the story of the woman at the well of Jacob.
The first thing I noticed, when I began to look at this story as typology; is the city of Samaria called Sychar. I checked my concordance and sure enough this is the only place it is mentioned in scripture! It is nowhere in the Old Testament, and only mentioned here in the entire New Testament. What does this tell us? The city was hidden from our view until this point in G-d’s plan. It represents the church, which was also a mystery until Pentecost.
The next important event is that the woman believes Yeshua and runs off, leaves her water pot and witnesses to the whole town! Many believe just by her testimony; “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” And then what happens? The whole town comes out to see the Messiah and many believed on His name!
Yet there is not a word about miracles in this encounter with the town! This is also representative of the age we now live in; we are asked to believe without seeing! Without witnessing Yeshua walking on water, or raised from the the dead. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that G-d no longer does miracles, but the type that Yeshua did are reserved primarily for Him. And this is our faith. Now of the twelve also some of them did miracles, but they were used by Yeshua to begin His church. "Blessed are they which believe and have not seen."
The next point is that Yeshua tells the disciples that this is the harvest; for sure we know that this represents the church, the body of Christ Yeshua. “So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.” This too is a part of the typology! It would have been more appropriate for John to tell us that Yeshua “tarried” with them for two days, (for that was what they sought). But the Spirit directs John to use a word that means to dwell, Yeshua dwelt with them two days, and this represents the two thousand-year days that come before the day of the L-rd, the great Shabbat. The two days that Christ dwells in His temple, the church, us!
So then, the typology does not end here; knowing this, we have a better understanding of why John would be directed to insert the following at this point:
43. “Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.
44. For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.
45. Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.”
What the typology is telling us is that even though a prophet has no honor in his own country, when Messiah returns to his people the second time, (the second advent of our
L-rd Yeshua); at that time they will receive him! Now John, by the Spirit, puts this idea down in the rest of the chapter with the story of the nobleman’s son.
John 4:46-54
46. “So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.
47. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.
48. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
49. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.
50. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.
51. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.
52. Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.
53. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.
54. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee."
This last verse seems not to have much reason for being inserted here…unless it is typology! John is not saying that this was the second miracle that Christ performed, remember; He performed the water to wine miracle here also in Cana, but did also perform miracles at the temple before the healing the nobleman’s son:
John 2:23
23. “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.”
So then what is John saying by ending the story of the nobleman’s son with this saying? “This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judea into Galilee.” Think of it from the standpoint of the typology in the rest of the passage: Judaea represents heaven and Galilee represents the family of Yeshua, the Jewish nation of Israel accepting their true Meshiach Nagiyd, at His second arrival here on earth! Praise the L-rd!
