A GOLDEN NUGGET: Missing Puzzle Piece Revealed
March 3, 2022 1:12 AM
Averine Pennington
3-02-22
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I was deep into God’s Word today and after chasing down a few rabbit trails as I often do when cross-referencing scriptures, I had the most amazing AHA MOMENT! Now, I will admit that I am not a Bible scholar as some may be who read this. Many of you may have already discovered this wonderful GOLDEN NUGGET, but for me it was a new revelation. Just in case this has been a hidden mystery for some of you also, I thought I would try to trace my trail of scriptures and share my discovery. I hope I will have the clarity of mind to explain it to you the way the Holy Spirit explained it to me as I was reading. I was so excited when I found it, I had to share it with my husband. He didn’t seem to get it! I have a tendency to be better at writing my thoughts on paper than explaining them in a conversation so here goes . . . I hope you will be just as excited as I am about this very important missing puzzle piece.
I almost exclusively use the King James Version, but I have recently acquired a copy of The Interlinear Bible with Hebrew, Greek, and English translations side-by-side. While reading my KJV, if I want to further investigate a particular scripture, I bring out the Interlinear. Sometimes, it sheds a little more light on a subject. Anyway, I have been studying in the book of Hebrews this week and became intrigued by some of the scriptures in Hebrew 11 . . . what we sometimes refer to as the HALL OF FAME OF FAITH. In this post I will bold type & underline what was ‘highlighted’ to me by the Holy Spirit [see PDF] which led me to the conclusion I now share with you.
Here’s where I started my journey: FAITH . . . the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen . . . by it the elders obtained a good report. Hebrews 11 talks about those heroes of the faith who had a testimony that pleased God. It first mentions Abel who by his more excellent sacrifice obtained witness that he was righteous. Abel was slain by his brother, Cain and became the first martyr. His blood cried out to God from the ground (Gen. 4:8-10 & Rev. 6:9-11). Enoch walked so closely with God that he did not see death but was translated. Before his translation he had the testimony, that he pleased God. Noah obeyed God’s warning and prepared an ark to the saving of his household and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Next in the line-up of heroes we find Abraham. He left his father’s home, not even knowing where he was going, but obeyed God’s call to go into a place which he should afterward receive for an inheritance. By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tents with his son Isaac, and grandson, Jacob who were the heirs with him of the same promise. Then I read this intriguing verse: 10) “For he (Abraham) looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” This immediately brought to my mind the ‘New Jerusalem.’ I immediately flipped the pages and read Revelation, chapter 21. Keep in mind that in the days of the Heroes of the Faith which were listed, the Apostle John had not yet written the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 11 continues speaking of the faith of Abraham and his wife Sarah to believe God’s promise even in their old age that ‘of Abraham’s seed’ . . . from the promised child, Isaac, would spring forth so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. Verses 13 through 16 continued with the intriguing thread . . . “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. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.” Did you catch that? They were looking toward a heavenly country with a city prepared for them by God Himself, where God is not ashamed to be called their God!
Continuing my study of Hebrews, I came to the verses in chapter 12 which tell of how those brought out of Egypt led by Moses, were called to meet with God at Mount Sinai. When the Lord spoke to His people, they were terrified and told Moses they could not endure it. These verses jumped off the page: 18) “For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest. 19) And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the Word should not be spoken to them any more: . . . 22) BUT ye are come unto mount Sion [Zion], and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23) To the general assembly and church of the FIRSTBORN, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24) And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 25) See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven: 26) Whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.”
One of the cross-reference scriptures suggested to go along with verse 22 comes from Psalm 68. This is one of my favorite chapters. Back in 2019, a few months after ‘my awakening from slumber,’ I received a banner vision with the #1332. From Strong’s Concordance in the Hebrew, this means ‘daughter of Jah’ . . . further research, ‘JAH – the sacred name, the Lord most vehement.’ The reason I turned to this Psalm 68 in the first place, was to read verses 7 & 8 – “O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah: The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.” These verses are a reminder of what happened at Sinai, a retelling of a past event to help explain the actual event to come that is being prophesied by David. Look at verses 16 & 17 – “Why leap ye, ye high hills? This is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever. The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels; the Lord is among them, AS IN SINAI [likened to what happened at Sinai], in the holy place.” Oops, are you thoroughly confused by my logic yet? Maybe this will help. Look back to the very beginning of the chapter to get a glimpse into what this coming event really is! I can’t type all of it here or this piece would be extremely lengthy, but I will include my favorite verses I spoke about in the beginning of this paragraph: “But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice, before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Sing unto God, sing praises to His name: extol Him that RIDETH UPON THE HEAVENS by His name JAH, and rejoice before Him.”
Well, I then decided to go down the rabbit trail of verses concerning Abraham’s seed. Suggested further study would include Romans 4, Romans 9, Romans 11, and Galatians 3. I’ll just include a few important scriptures from these passages:
Galatians 3:16 – “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”
Galatians 3:29 – “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
I have written in past posts about ‘the plantings of the Lord,’ so this topic is familiar to me. What came to mind immediately as regarding ‘heirs’ was Romans 8. Like Romans (especially Rom. 11), the book of Hebrews also teaches about the difference between the law and the new covenant that we have in Jesus Christ . . . His law is written on our hearts! Take a moment to stop and read Rom. 8 as it will help you better understand my line of thinking. Vs. 10) “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Reminder from Hebrews: How is righteousness obtained? BY FAITH! Okay, I am going to include quite a few scriptures here, as this is the passage that opened my eyes to the Golden Nugget! I am hoping you see what I see. I’ll include verses 14-25 all in KJV, with some Interlinear translation in parentheses:
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15) For ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. 18) For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19) For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God (the creation is eagerly expecting the revelation of the sons of God). 20) Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (the creation was not willingly subjected to vanity, but through Him subjecting it, on hope: that also the creation will be freed from the slavery of corruption to the freedom of the glory of the children of God). 22) For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, 23) And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the FIRSTFRUITS of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24) For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25) But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”
Folks, this passage is loaded with puzzle pieces . . . clues if you will. Proverbs 25:2 tells us “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.” Doesn’t scripture say we will be KINGS AND PRIESTS? I’m going somewhere with all this . . . please be patient with me.
LET’S RECAP:
I talked about the FAITH in Hebrews 11 by which the elders obtained a good report and became heirs of righteousness. They knew themselves to be strangers & pilgrims on earth and were looking for that heavenly city whose builder and maker was God. They believed the promise and had hope that God would keep His promises to them. Have you ever known our God not to keep a promise! He honors his Word above His name! (Ps. 138:2)
Then I shared about the two mounts – Mt. Sinai and Mt. Sion (Zion), and the difference between the two. One was earthly, one was heavenly! We took a look at David’s prophecy about ‘Him that rideth upon the heavens by His name Jah’ and the ‘people rejoicing exceedingly.’ Have you given any thought to what that prophesied event might be? I think we can get a pretty good idea from Hebrews 12:22-24.
To all those reading this post – If you belong to Christ, and you are watching and waiting for Your Bridegroom with oil in your lamp (Matt. 25), you just may be one that will be ‘accounted worthy to escape the things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man’ (Luke 21:36). There are those who are going to actually EXPERIENCE the event the elders in the Hall of Fame of Faith longed and waited for. There is going to be a general assembly of the church of the firstborn (FIRSTFRUITS), whose names are written in heaven. If your name is on the list, you will be caught up to Mount Zion, the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, . . . and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, . . . and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant. Just a thought . . . who might the ‘spirits of just men made perfect’ be? Hint: Who talked with John on his visit to heaven when He received the Revelation of Jesus Christ? “And one of the elders saith unto me, “Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof (Rev. 5:5).” Then later, John was told, “See thou do it not (bow): for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. (Rev. 22:9). Do you not think that God kept his promises to our Heroes of Faith and they are part of the ’24 elders’? Is it possible that the number 24 is not literal but symbolic? Others have speculated so, and after this study, I am certainly leaning in that direction. Perhaps the ’24 elders’ refers to all those predestined to be heirs of righteousness by faith. That will certainly be a subject for deeper study under the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit.
I imagine you are growing impatient, so I am now going to get to the main puzzle piece I believe I have uncovered. It is certainly not something I considered before, though I have read it many times. I believe that is why the Lord continues to call His people to stay in His word. Only the Holy Spirit can interpret God’s Word in all its truth. And sometimes it is a process. As we grow in our faith and seek that deeper relationship with our Lord, our understanding can be opened to the deeper things of God, things we may not have been ready to accept at the beginning of our journey. Having said that, let’s look at Romans 8 and let me share what I have been overlooking for years. In fact, I have come to consider that these scriptures were specifically written to ‘the called-out ones’ . . . the sons (& daughters) of God . . . the heirs, if you will . . . the firstfruits of the Spirit (referred to as the church of the firstborn in Heb. 12:23). Look at Romans 8:29-30 – “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He [Jesus Christ] might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30) Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified.”
This group . . . the sons of God . . . have been tied inseparably by God Himself to His creation. Sort of like an umbilical cord that has never been cut. There is even the imagery in scripture that they ‘travail in pain together.’ Likewise, when that hoped for event occurs . . . the manifestation of the sons of God . . . the creation will be freed from the slavery of corruption to the freedom of the glory of the children of God). Hallelujah! Big Question: Have you ever wondered if prior to the fall of man, perhaps Adam talked with the animals? Just a thought . . . but the serpent had the ability to talk to Eve in order that she be deceived (Gen. 3). It is not recorded that Eve found this to be strange behavior. She carried on a conversation with the serpent as though it were perfectly normal. Might this have been ‘normal’ in the garden? I think it is more than a possibility. You may ask, WHY? Because John the Revelator saw and heard such behavior in heaven.
So now we come to my GOLDEN NUGGET . . . the missing puzzle piece that ties all these thoughts I have written about into one tidy little bundle. Let’s go to Revelation chapter 5, again. After the elder who spoke with John, assured him that there was ONE worthy to open the seals of the scroll . . . this is what we find (Interlinear version):
Revelation 5:6-14 – “And I saw, and, behold, in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, was a Lamb standing, as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, having been sent out into all the earth. 7) And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him sitting on the throne. 8) And when He took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having harps, and golden bowls full of incenses which are the prayers of the saints. 9) And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy are You to receive the scroll, and to open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood purchased us to God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10) and made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign over the earth. 11) And I saw, and I heard a sound of many angels around the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders, and their number was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12) saying with a great voice, Worthy is the Lamb having been slain to receive the power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
WAIT FOR IT . . .
13) And every creature which is in Heaven, and in the earth, and underneath the earth, and the things that are on the sea, and the things in all of them, I HEARD SAYING: To Him sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever. 14) And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshipped the Living One forever and ever.”
YES! Thank you for hanging in there with me!
Revelation 5:13 is my GOLDEN NUGGET! I hope you were able to understand my reasoning from the scriptures presented in Romans 8 that all of creation AND the sons of God . . . referred to by many names (firstfruits, remnant, 144K, God’s jewels, God’s army, harvester bride, etc.) are indeed tied together. If creation is still bound in corruption, the sons of God have not yet been manifested. However, when the sons of God are manifested by being caught up to Mount Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem, creation itself will be set at liberty also! It will be freed from the slavery of corruption caused by the fall of Adam and restoration will take place. A simultaneous event. Both the sons of God and every creature ever created in Heaven, in the earth, and under the earth will worship God before His throne and offer blessing and honor and glory and might unto the Lamb, forever and ever.
I don’t pretend to understand the entire book of Revelation, but I do believe that what John witnessed in chapter 5 is an indication of who the sons of God are and when they appear on Mount Zion. The Book of Revelation is not written in chronological order and many events overlap each other. I believe its mysteries are intentional to confuse the enemy. God through His Holy Spirit will reveal His mysteries to whom He chooses, at His appointed time. No one man holds all the puzzle pieces. We only know in part. I wonder sometime if even John understood it all, and he is the one who had the visions. I surely do not understand all of the dreams and visions given to me. We are so blessed to have this book to search out the truths God wants to reveal for these end-times. And not just Revelation. As you can see from this post, I have used confirming scripture from many other books of the Bible. God’s Word is all interconnected. The entire Bible is our instruction manual, a precious gift from God. Yes, John’s visions as recorded are somewhat confusing. Sometimes he speaks of the same or similar things in different locations, but with differing information revealed. Much of today’s literature is the same way. You may pick up a book to read that has an opening prologue giving a synopsis of the plot, but the actual chapters of the book expound upon that introduction. In this study, you can compare Revelation 14 to the scriptures I shared in Chapter 5, and you will find many similarities. I believe Chapter 5 is part of the prologue. Then, in Chapter 14, John elaborates with a bit more detail about the same group of people. I realize my viewpoint may not be agreeable to everyone else. You may even think I’ve gone off the deep end. Like I said, even my hubby had a difficult time following down all my rabbit trails with me. You are welcome to file this information wherever you deem fit, but I hope you will give some consideration to what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me.
I would like to end this post with an admonition from the scriptures included above. Those who came out of Egypt begged Moses to tell God to ‘be quiet.’ The God of all creation came down to them and they could not endure His presence. In essence, they rejected the Living God. They perished in the wilderness.
“See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven:
Whose voice then shook the earth: but NOW He hath promised, saying, . . . [Heed this warning!] –
“Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.”
My prayer for each of you is that you will have hope in God’s promises as did the elders who have gone on before us . . . that great cloud of witnesses that are cheering us on to victory. Let it also be said of us that our testimony pleased God, and let us also keep ‘looking for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.’ Be ready to rejoice exceedingly when He that rideth on the heavens by His name JAH, our Lord most vehement, shall appear to catch us away to Mt. Zion. I hope to meet you soon in the New Jerusalem!
Yours for the Harvest,
Averine
