Have you ever considered that the seven days of creation are a revelation of the steps of becoming a converted person? Each day represents a step in conversion! If you study just Genesis and apply the principles of Genesis, you will get into heaven. Every word is a revelation of God’s plan to restore His image in the soul of man.
For example, on the first day, God said, “Let there be light.” Genesis 1:3. Where were you before God touched your life? You were in darkness, without shape or form. God said, “Let there be light,” and that light came into your heart and lighted your path. Christ is the Light of the world. (See John 1:6–9.)
Allow me to clarify this for you. On what day did God create the sun? Did He create the sun before He created the plants? No, He created the plants before He created the sun! (Genesis 1:11–19.) The sun was created on the fourth day, but many people have believed that the light of the first day, when God said, “Let there be light,” was the sun. That was not the sun, because the sun that we see in the sky depends upon the Light of the world, the Son of righteousness who comes with healing in His wings. (Malachi 4:2.)
Matthew 5:14 says, “Ye are the light of the world.” Jesus is the Light, and if you have Jesus in you, then you are going to be the light. No darkness will be there. As soon as you step into a place, there is going to be light. Insects are drawn to light; they are rather pesky creatures. Considering this, consider that when you are filled with the Light, you are going to attract a lot of folk that you will perhaps want to put your foot on and squash, but they are God’s creatures. If you are not attracting individuals of every type, something is wrong with you; you must have Light.
The Halt
A third type of person was at the pool of Bethesda. John 5:3 identifies the impotent, the blind, and the halt. When you think of the word halt, you perhaps think of lame, but I would invite you to consider another meaning for it: “to stop or to be motionless.”
Ezekiel 37:1–5 reads, “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which [was] full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, [there were] very many in the open valley; and, lo, [they were] very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.”
If God can take a valley of dry bones with no motion and put life into it, what can He make with that which already has life, just not the life that He wanted it to have? God can take nothing and make something out of it.
I want so much for you to understand this, because we have a work to do. The devil has come down with great wrath. He is angry with the woman, and he is to make war with the remnant of the seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:17.) The devil is angry at no other church but this church. He is angry at this church because God has entrusted this church with the light. As long as the devil can keep us deceived and fighting among ourselves, he is happy.
The Bible continues, in Ezekiel 37:6, 7, “And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking.”
When God puts His people together with truth, there is going to be a shaking. In fact, the shaking is already here. All those sinners in Zion will be shaken out, and God will have a people. He will put life into those people.
“Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds.” Verse 9.
You see, God is holding back these four winds until He puts His seal upon His people. (See Revelation 7.) We are in the sealing time now. The sealing time is the settling into the truth, both spiritually and intellectually, so that you and I cannot be moved, that we might have that final seal. It is a settling in that we cannot be moved with every wind of doctrine.
Motionless Prey
The way the devil catches prey is to paralyze it with a roar. The ground trembles; the prey feels the tremble, and it becomes paralyzed. It does not know which way to go. It becomes motionless, and the devil can easily trap it. A moving target is difficult to catch! When people are not witnessing for the Lord, they are motionless. They are spiritless. They have no Spirit.
The gospel commission is given in Matthew 28. When you look at the word gospel, what are the first two letters? G and O. God is telling us that we must go. It is time to work. We need to roll up our spiritual sleeves and go to work for God. We need to get out of the pews and stop being motionless. We need to ask God for His Spirit so we can go to work for Him.
This action is not brought about at the pool of Bethesda. It is only brought through the power of the Holy Spirit. When it falls upon His church, it will be on fire for the Lord. As soon as you come to know God, you have got to tell someone about it!
The Withered
The last representation we read about at the pool of Bethesda is the withered. I am certain you have seen a withered celery stalk or a withered carrot. It has lost its quality. It is limp; it is useless.
In 11 Timothy 2:20, 21, we read: “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, [and] prepared unto every good work.” God is telling us that in His house He has different vessels, and He wants to prepare them for His use. In every house, in every church, in every ministry, God wants people He can use.
It is not how long you live that matters, but it is how well you live for the Lord. I am a young 58. I am not youthful, but I am useful. Those people who are 40 years of age and older are not youthful, but they are going to be useful. Those who are younger than 40 years are youthful, but they can be useful too. The Bible says, “The glory of young men [is] their strength: and the beauty of old men [is] the grey head.” Proverbs 20:29.
Matthew 5:13 states: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”
What is the purpose of salt? It is used for seasoning. When you put the salt on the food, does the salt become the food? When you season something, the salt adds flavor to it. It is mingled with the food, but it is distinct. It gives flavor.
God said, “You are the salt of the world.” Therefore, as Christians, we are not to become like the world, but we are to give flavor to the world. We are to provide the right impression that God wants the world to have.
We should give the right impression to the world that the God who created heaven and earth is a God of mercy and love, but He is also a God of particulars. He is not going to save us in our sin.
If the Christian is watching pornography, how can the Christian teach the world not to watch pornography? If the Christian, in a business transaction, uses an unjust balance, how can he or she testify to being a Christian while not being fair in trade?
A Christian should be transparent with nothing to hide. It has been said that character is what you do when nobody else is watching or will find out. In other words, what you do when no one else is around is character.
Jesus said, “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” John 15:5. When you abide in Christ, you not only bring forth fruit for yourself, for when fruit appears on the tree, it is for other people to pluck. When people see fruit in your life, they are able to pluck it and benefit from it; they see Jesus. You are useful.
God talks about talents in Matthew 25:14–30. Every person has at least one talent. You might not be familiar with your talent; you might not know what it is, but you can ask God to reveal it to you. If you do not use that talent, it will be taken away from you. It will be useless.
Usefulness—whether it is playing the piano or playing the violin, do it to God’s glory. If it is working on the computer, do it to God’s glory. If you are working on automobiles, do it to God’s glory. Be useful!
Healing Waters
The true healing waters are described in Ezekiel 47:12: “And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.”
Inspiration tells us, “After the entrance of sin the heavenly Husbandman transplanted the tree of life to the Paradise above; but its branches hang over the wall to the lower world. Through the redemption purchased by the blood of Christ, we may still eat of its life-giving fruit.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 288. There is healing in those leaves; those leaves are the type of promises of God’s Word.
Instruction for the attire of Aaron as he served in the sanctuary included, “A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.” Exodus 28:34. If you have eaten a pomegranate, you know that it is rather hard on the outside, and it has a lot of seeds on the inside. They are edible seeds, and they are encased in a juicy, red substance. Have you ever tried counting the seeds of a pomegranate? I have. I counted up to 300 or 320 seeds and I stopped counting. I gave up! It seemed an impossible task to count all of the seeds.
Why do you think the pomegranate was used on the hem of the priestly robe? Why not a mango or a kiwi? The pomegranate is a virtual seed basket.
Luke 8:11 explains, “The seed is the word of God.”
Peter said, “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.” 11 Peter 1:2–4. Every seed contains the promise of God. Every seed of the pomegranate is encapsulated in red; every promise of God is backed by the blood of Jesus. You can bank on those promises!
Healing Waters
In the sanctuary, the colors of blue, scarlet, and purple were used. The blue represents loyalty. “The children of Israel, after they were brought out of Egypt, were commanded to have a simple ribbon of blue in the border of their garments, to distinguish them from the nations around them, and to signify that they were God’s peculiar people.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 473. They were to be commandment keepers. Blue represented obedience. The sky is blue. God wrote His law on sapphire; that is true blue. Blue represents loyalty and obedience.
Scarlet represents sacrifice. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18.
In Leviticus, an example is given of the cleansing sacrifice. “And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.” Leviticus 14:49–53. One bird was killed. The live bird was dipped into the blood of the dead bird and then set free. The blood of the dead bird represents the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ. His blood sets us free. Scarlet represents sacrifice.
Royalty is represented by the color purple. The Saviour was mocked. A crown of thorns was placed upon His forehead and a purple robe was placed about Him as His accusers saluted, “Hail, King of the Jews.” (Mark 15:17, 18.)
Purple represents royalty. Blue represents obedience. Red represents sacrifice. God is a master artist. What two colors do you put together to get royalty? red and blue. When you mix obedience with sacrifice, the result is royalty.
God wants people with obedient hearts, hearts of sacrifice.
“Sin brings physical and spiritual disease and weakness. Christ has made it possible for us to free ourselves from this curse. The Lord promises, by the medium of truth, to renovate the soul. The Holy Spirit will make all who are willing to be educated able to communicate the truth with power. It will renew every organ of the body, that God’s servants may work acceptably and successfully. Vitality increases under the influence of the Spirit’s action. Let us, then, by this power lift ourselves into a higher, holier atmosphere, that we may do well our appointed work.” Review and Herald, January 14, 1902.
We do not need to be at the pool of Bethesda. All we need is the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thomas Jackson is a health evangelist and Director of Missionary Education and Evangelistic Training (M.E.E.T.) Ministry in Huntingdon, Tennessee. He may be contacted by e-mail at: godsplan@meetministry.org or by telephone at: 731-986-3518.