Like ants with torches

a Bashan Ministries Presentation

H

Have you ever had a dream and wondered what it was all about? Sometimes dreams are just that and need no interpretation, but on the other hand however, there are times when they can be interpreted.

Likewise,we can read the bible and see something that does not seem to make any sense. Some things seem to be plain weird and some of the characters do strange things, many of which could make a great science fiction Hollywood blockbuster, but they are there in our bibles, so what do we do about them?

Put yourself in the position of some of those Old Testament prophets who tried to describe things like sailors in a nuclear submarine, “Men in giant iron whales?”

What would they say about a supersonic jet airplane or a steam train? Would it be like a fire breathing dragon swallowing up men as it moved along? It’s all very interesting.

Many years ago, I was sitting in my office on Mount Tamborine at 4am looking down at the countryside and saw cars driving along the roads with their headlights on as their drivers were going to and fro and I asked the Lord my usual questions. I asked him how a prophet would have described what I saw and He answered, “Like ants with torches”.

How simple. It actually made sense.

Sometimes we clutter things up and make them unnecessarily difficult, but God does not want that. He wants us to have clear understanding. Since then, my approach has radically changed and is a simple one. I ask Him many questions like, “Why did you do that?” or “What did You really mean?” when He said something. I regularly ask “What do you want to show me and teach me?” or “What are we going to do today?” and it has made the world of difference for me.

With this in mind, I have prepared a simple study that may help you, bearing in mind that all I can do here is to touch on a few principles involved. If you have had dreams or visions, or come across some really puzzling scriptures, I may be able to shed some light on them if you want to share them with me. I make no rash promises of course, because everything depends on God. What I shall share now only glosses over the principles and concepts involved due to space considerations. I am barely scratching the surface, hoping to stir you somehow into digging deeper for youselves into the word of the Lord. There are things that are hidden in plain sight for us, but we’ve got to want to find them and be prepared to do some prayerful research.

We need to remember that we are dealing in essence with a Jewish God. The Hebrew language of the bible is a very succinct language and there are times when one Hebrew word can have different meanings in translation.

The word ‫( דקפ‬Pakad) for example usually means to appoint. King Cyrus said that God Charged (Pakad) him to build Him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. 1 but Pakad has other meanings. The Lord Visited (Pakad) Sarah as He had said in Genesis 21:1. It was not a physical visit, but God keeping his promise to Sarah and Isaac was born.

In Isaiah 10:12, God said that He will Pakad (punish) the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and the reference to Assryia takes on spiritual implications that affect us today.

Perhaps you can already see that things you read in the bible that may not seem to make any sense to you, do in fact have great meaning and we really do need to understand them. You do not need massive study resources, nor do you need to be a highly educated theologian to grasp truth. In fact, pure theology alone could have a reverse affect, giving you factual information perhaps, without getting the understanding or revelation of it.

All you need is an open heart and mind and a desire to know.

It is the glory of God to keep a thing secret: but the glory of kings is to have it searched out.2

The Holy Spirit will guide you on the journey. 3 1 2 3

Ezra 1:2 Proverbs 25:2 John 14:15-17, 15:26, 16:13-16

You may well wonder why we should place any importance on discovering the truths of which I speak.

If we truly believe that God has a plan for our lives and that we have an inheritance of some kind, we need to know what it all is and what is involved. Sometimes it is not what we think it means.

Roses may indeed be pretty and have a beautiful perfume, but many varities often contain thorns! With this in mind, if we look at the Abrahamic covenant, God had made a very specific and detailed covenant promise to Israel and we can get all excited about this thinking only of the blessings but, like the rose bush, the benefits also contained thorns. They had to go into slavery in Egypt before it all came to fruition. Along came Moses the deliverer who gave us, by God’s command, one of the most astounding illustrations of types, shadows and symbols we have, namely the Tabernacle.

Everything about it spoke of Jesus and God’s plan of salvation and I shall touch on that elsewhere.

It is strange, perhaps a peculiar quirk of human nature that despite a miserable life in slavery, the children of Israel were initially quite reluctant to leave Egypt. God had to assure them that His intentions are good, sayingI will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. 4

Here, and throughout Scripture, God’s main proof of His covenant with Israel is his guarantee of the Promised Land.

We tend to think that taking our possession in God is a foregone conclusion, but there is more to it than that.

Although Jesus made everything possible, it is up to you and to me to go in and take possession ourselves.

The people—not God had to cross over the Jordan River. The people—not God had to personally apply the blood of the Passover lamb. They had to walk around the walls of Jericho—not God. Right from the outset, God made it all possible and gave us all the help we need, but it has to be personally applied, or the promise probably does not work.

This then makes me ask the question, “Do we inherit it, or is it our heritage?” There is a difference and we do not “get it” automatically. The word for Possession in the original Hebrew is Morasha and it comes from the root ‫ שרי‬meaning to inherit, but in Hebrew this is a special word Only applied to the Promised Land.

It does not seem to apply anywhere else.

A more common word Yerusha means an inheritance. Morasha is a precious heritage.

It requires the active participation of each and every generation to preserve it for the next generation, unlike Yerusha, which is an inheritance that can be easily wasted. The story of the prodigal son explains how he wasted his.

These seemingly small and insignificant differences can and do make a difference. We can be believing one way about something and wonder why it isn’t working. It could be possible that we have not seen the full picture and form opinions and make assumptions that might not be correct. Studying it out as I do and recommend to others is how we can avail ourselves of the wonderful treasures that are hidden in plain sight for us and not from us.

The deepest levels of God’s promise are best understood when read in Hebrew and the Hebrew bible is a heritage that has survived thousands of years. Every letter and every word has a unique meaning.

The Hebrew language was often called lashon ha-kodesh that means the holy language. Some people say that it was the language of the angels and others maintain that Hebrew was the language originally spoken by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and that all of humanity spoke this until the Tower of Babel changed everything. It is often deemed to be the language God speaks, so to really grasp everything that He says to us, perhaps we should read the bible in the original Hebrew text. I understand that not everyone can do that. I am learning Hebrew myself but am far from being proficient and you might not have the resources I do, so what do you do about this? How can you find out what God is really saying and then see how it works for you in your own life? It is simple really. We ask the Holy Spirit to give us the understanding that is needed. This is why I teach as I do. I want you to be able to see and understand those things that could make the difference between living the way God wants for you or not—receiving the blessing or not receiving it—to see the principles involved and put them to work for yourselves.

T

The bible is a coded book but I say that carefully. It is inspired by the Holy Spirit 5 but I hasten to say that this inspiration really applies to the original language and not necessarily to modern translations.

When I talk about this bible code, I mean bible numerics. In simple terms, the letter A (Alpha in Greek or Aleph in Hebrew)could also be the number 1 under certain conditions. B could equal 2 and so on. What this means is that it is sometimes possible to see numbers in scripture that form patterns. For example, the number 1 represents unity; 3 is the Trinity; 5 speaks of grace; 6 relates to man; 7 describes spiritual perfection; 8 is new beginnings, abundance, fertility etc; 10 speaks of Divine order and 12 represents governmental perfection.

40 represents testing or probation. Most numbers can sometimes therefore take on certain meanings and bible numerics is a fascinating topic as is our present subject matter.

4 5

Exodus 6:8 Acts 1:16; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21

When you find a passage in your bible that you do not really understand, perhaps you could look at the numbers involved and see if there is a pattern or some significance. You may ask a question like, “Why did Jesus wait 2 days in John 11 before going to Lazarus?” I’ll give you a hint. Look at Genesis 1:4. Please consider however that you could be using a modern English version that lacks this seal of authenticity because of the translation processes and that you exercise wisdom in this.

Do not start counting up combinations of numbers trying to find things that just might not exist. I knew a man who went strange in many ways because he was looking for things like shadows in the mist and got into all kinds of problems.

One of the things he did was to stop outside someone’s home before entering and count up every possible combination of the street number and if it had a “bad number” according to him he would no go in. That poor man was certifiable!

Another method is to look at the parables found in the bible. Jesus often adopted this principle to get a message across, using something well known and readily understood to convey a spiritual message. He spoke of the sower and the seed in Mark chapter four to illustrate that the seed is the word of God. In this account, what He said was a mystery to everyone else, but He revealed the meaning to the disciples. Here is a classic example of “them” and “us”. He spoke in parables to “them” (the crowd) who never understood a thing, but He fully explained or revealed the things that were hidden in plain sight to “us” His disciples—who wanted to know the truth. We must have a desire to know.

He also said that if we can understand this parable, we would understand them all!

This parable is all about the word of God. It is not about anything else. Check it out.

This is a constant principle throughout scripture. Jesus spoke about the sower and the seed; the soil, the birds of the air; stony ground; thorny ground and so on in this parable alone. Elsewhere, He used birds, trees, mustard seeds, fish, pearls and more to convey truth in a way that people could identify with those things and associate spiritual truth to them.

Before Jesus came, God commanded Moses to build the Tabernacle in the wilderness as one of the most amazing illustrations of the plan of salvation I know of, using these same principles of types and shadows and symbols.

If it were possible to have flown overhead in a helicopter, the layout of the camp was in the shape of a cross.

He told Moses to be very precise and careful in how he built it. 6 Moses was forbidden to deviate from God’s pattern and if that was of such importance then, we too should be careful in not deviating away from God’s pattern in every other aspect.

I encourage you to conduct your research into this and try to see shapes, patterns, colors, textures, materials and so on, comparing what is seen there with the various aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry. For example, Jesus is the door and the only way to God and there was only one entrance to the outer court; one entrance into the tent (that also spoke of Jesus) into the holy place and one entrance beyond the veil into the most holy place. Everything associated with the tabernacle and the worship involved speaks in some way of Jesus and the plan of salvation, even down to the ropes and tent pegs.

On entering the outer court, the first thing one saw was a brazen altar. What does this represent? Then there was the laver that also meant something, but what was it? I can tell you if you do not know, but I’d prefer you find it for yourself.

Once inside the tent itself, the golden candlestick, the table of shewbread and the altar of incense were there. You could ask what they represented. The bible itself says that this incense (not “smoke”) is the prayers of the saints.

Associated with the Tabernacle was the priesthood and again, God was very demanding in His requirements.

The priesthood as such has been abolished, although the principles are retained in various orthodox churches (incorrectly in my opinion), because Jesus fulfilled all of the requirements as our Kohen Gadol (our Great High Priest). Leviticus chapter twenty-one listed these requirements and many of them referred to the physical aspects. The priest had to be married, able to father an heir, was not to have bodily defects and so on. You may find the full description on my web site page titled Qualifications for priesthood. Click here. Why not get your bible out with notebook and ask the Holy Spirit to show you things from Leviticus 21 and compare what you see there with your local church/priest/pastor and see if or how they measure up to God’s standards. It might shock some Christians.

S

I’d like to now present some illustrations or symbols that you may be able to use, one of which we have already touched on, namely numbers. I shall continue.

6 7

Symbolic numbers can convey great scriptural or doctrinal truths. When for example you read this-

This is the third time I am coming to you.... Paul was not just telling him that he was visiting them again—he

was conveying an important message that we need to confirm things, because the verse continued withIn the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. 7 Whenever you read a verse with similar sounding text, pause for a moment and see if there is any significance.

Exodus 25 to 27, especially 25:9; Hebrews 8:1-5 2 Corinthians 13:1; (compare with Deuteronomy 19:15 and 17:6-7)

Matthew 19:28 speaks of 12 thrones judging Israel. What does this mean? We need to ask what the number 12 represents.

In Genesis 14 we see the numbers 12, 13 and 14 all in connection with Lot’s capture and his rescue.

Ask yourself what those numbers represent (13 is NOT an “unlucky number” as people think and there is no such thing as “luck”). I’ll give you a hint. It is one more than 12 and one less than14 that is derived from 2 times 7, so it is either falling short of the mark or trying to add to it. We can also ask what the numbers 2 and 7 represent.

You can see how those seemingly meaningless dates and numbers we often gloss over can convey a message and that there are hundreds of such number combinations we can draw from—too many for me to list now.

If you come across some numbers that you do not understand and cannot find an answer, I might be able to help, so please contact me.

T

The animal kingdom is used extensively in figurative expression to describe God’s purpose.

An early example is found in Genesis 3:1, 14 when the serpent tempted Eve and serpents represent subtility, deception, sin, a type of satan and some forms of natural or earthy wisdom.

See also Revelation 12:9; John 3:14 and Matthew 10:6. Asps and adders usually describe false teachers.

Contrasting this is a lion or a lamb and you know of course that we can see Jesus represented there, along with other things. Horses represent power and swiftness. Eagles describe swiftness of flight, keen vision, strength and the ability to weather out storms.

Locusts can describe the presence and activities of evil spirits; ants might speak of industrious people and wisdom in making preparations for the future; fish speak about men’s souls; ravens represent famine or evil spirits, whereas doves speak of gentleness and of course the Holy Spirit.

Just about everything in the animal kingdom can have a spiritual significance of sorts and it need not be a living being either. Milk for example, describes spiritual immaturity and foundational teachings, sadly where many believers remain, whilst meat (especially good steaks) speak of maturity and so on.8 When you read something in the bible such as Matthew 10:29-31 when Jesus spoke about the sparrows, don’t just gloss over it, but ask what those sparrows represent.

Psalm 102:6-7 for example saysI am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.

I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.

A sparrow speaks of something that men think is of little value or insignificant, but God does not think like that about you.

He thinks that you are of much more value than a sparrow. Read about these things in the Beatitudes. Pelicans, by the way, represent people who think that they are lonely ones. I am speaking to someone right now. God’s got you covered!

Owls are a peculiarity. In Job, 30:29, he thought of himself as an owl and for a man who God regarded very favorably, it was strange indeed, but we need to remember that Job had opened a porthole in a submarine and allowed the devil to do what he did to him with all kinds of mostly self-inflicted dramas 9.

The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.

This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. Isaiah 43:20-21

Owls are night birds, frequenting darkness and so speak about evil. In Isaiah’s reference, God was declaring that even evil spirits and demonic forces and dragons (the devil and all antichrist forces) would honor Him. These are all birds, so how about a feather? Well, a feather describes a covering, protection and flight as seen in Psalm 91, so all such things can be symbolic and when we understand the symbolism, we can understand those strange sounding phrases.

You could look at every creature in the bible, starting with every letter of the alphabet and find some kind of reference that could relate to every issue in life. God has everything covered, but although it is there, it is hidden in plain sight and it is up to you and to me as individuals to find out what He is saying.

I

If you have wondered why people did and still do certain things, sometimes God uses various actions of men to tell us something. Remember, as with all types and symbols, that there might not be any significance at all, so symbolism may be implied as well as specific. With the actions, manners and customs of man, many need no interpretation. Adultery is still adultery, but it does speak of being unfaithful to another and God regards straying from Him as an act of spiritual adultery. In Isaiah 54:5 for example, God said that He, the Maker is our husband. James 4:4 can thus make sense to a Christian whose relationships are a little shaky.

8 9

Hebrews 5:12-14 Job 1:1, 8: 3:25

Baptism represents immersion into the new life or burial of the old lifestyle.

Circumcision is a sign of entering into covenant relationship with God.10 The act of breathing talks of the impartation of life.11 Running often describes zeal, such as running in the race of life.12 References to entering into the Lord’s rest or sitting, refer to ceasing from labor and a finished work13 but sweating on the other hand, talks about human effort, works and so on.14 Sometimes our activities take on symbolism with regard to physical directions. We talk about backsliding as spiritual regression. Going downward has much the same idea.

The points of the compass are very significant. North speaks of the place of God’s throne or His judgments.

South speaks of a place of refreshment 15. The east means more than the dawning of a new day—it is the place of God’s glory and Cheribum are linked to that point of the compass.16 West of course is where the sun sets and so it represents a settling, or settling down. 17 This now brings us to actual physical places. Countries, regions or cities can take on special significance. You will readily understand what the garden of Eden represents. Egypt of course is often linked with sin or sinful nature, bondage or even satan’s works.

Jerusalem is God’s holy city and speaks of many things. In the Hebrew, Yerûshālaim (‫ ) ִםַלָׁשּורְי‬is derived from two other words, one of which is yārâ that means to flow like water, to shoot or throw and this word is also derived from another that may sound familiar to you. It is Torah that means teaching. The other is shālēm that means to be complete or sound, to shoot or throw and this is also linked to another word you may have heard. It is shalom basically meaning peace.

Scriptures like Isaiah 2:1-5 and Micah 4 thus make sense. Putting all of this together, we can see that God’s intentions are to provide solid, sound teaching, throwing one truth against another, not to tickle itchy ears but to bring His people into a good state of existence, knowing and applying truth. Once we really know this truth, we are free and blessed indeed. 18 Babylon describes confusion. Canaan is interesting in that it can speak of promised inheritances as well as spiritual warfare. 19 The Red sea represents separation or division and baptism.

Mountains are often mentioned in the bible and it can depend on what mountain as to its meaning. Mount Sinai obviously talks of The Law, but it goes a little deeper speaking of covenant, commandments, fear, bondage and legalism (see Exodus 19:1-6; Galatians 4:24-25 and Hebrews 12:18-21).

Mount Zion is often used to depict kingdom matters. It speaks of David’s throne, praise and worship (especially in regard the Tabernacle of David), priesthood and the new covenant (see 1 Chronicles chapters 15-16; Amos 9:9-15; Acts 15:15-18; Hebrews 12:22-24 and Revelation 14:1). Mount Ebal is the mount of cursing, whereas Mount Gerizim is the mount of blessing. Mount Moriah relates to sacrifice, substitution, the Temple site and some scholars believe that it is also Golgotha’s ugly hill.

O

Our own human bodies can convey an exceptional amount of information. No doubt, you would understand that our bodies are classed as the temple of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and of course the place where our own human spirits reside. We tend to think that we are physical beings that have spiritual experiences, whereas the reverse is true. We are spiritual beings who reside in a physical body and the link between the two is our soul that comprises the mind, the will and our emotions. Certain aspects of our bodies can thus express spiritual truths. The human breast or bosom speaks of the place of love, affection and intimacy as seen in places like John 1:18, 13:23; Luke 16:22 and so on. Our eyes speak of insight and vision (see Daniel 10:6; Revelation 1:14) and our ears describe our capacity to receive faith and impartation as per Matthew 13:9, 15-16, 33 and that classic, Romans 10:17. Our feet describe our walk in life, humility and so on. When the bible associates our feet with someone’s neck, it usually describes victory over our enemies. Our hands express many things, like what we do, the ability to welcome, bless or judge and even our hair can convey meanings.

Hair is describes as a woman’s glory and white hair describes wisdom.

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Genesis 17:1-14; Jeremiah4:4; Colossians 2:11-13 Genesis 2:7; Ezekiel 37:9; John 20:22 Isaiah 40:31; Hebrews 12:1; Ephesians 5:31 Psalm 110:1; Ephesians 2:6; Hebrews 10:11-18 Genesis 3:19; Ezekiel 44:18; Luke 22:24 Psalm 126:4; Song 4:14 Genesis 3:24; Ezekiel 43:1-2; Revelation 7:1-2 Psalm 103:12; Isaiah 59:19 John 8:31-32, 14:17 Joshua14:11; Psalm 105:11

There is much more, but this gives you an idea of what can be gleaned. If you see something in the bible that seems to be a bit of a mystery, ask the Holy Spirit to tell you what it means.

I must add here that our bodies are also used creatively. For example, Noah used his hands to build the ark, that as you know, is a type of salvation, but he also used his eyes, not just to see what he was doing but to “get the spiritual vision”.

Bread, that we make using our hands, speaks of the bread of life, our Lord Jesus Christ. A cup can express blessing or judgment. Jeremiah 23:29 speaks of a hammer that we use with our hands, but here it can describe the powerful ability or action of God’s word. If you see a house in a dream, it might represent a church, or the dwelling place of the Lord.

There are all kinds of things that can sometimes have enormous significance.

A ship’s anchor can speak of our security in God. If you have a dream of a bed, think of resting in God. Again, as I said in the beginning, I can only but scratch the surface in all of these things but may be able to help you in interpreting things.

My intention in presenting this document, is to show you that the bible is far from an ordinary and sometimes boring book and, yes, I did say boring. Before I was born again, I had a small belief that the bible was a holy book that I should read and so I tried. When anyone reads a book, we usually start at page one and so I did, but once I got past those first few verses that talked about creation and then got onto all those boring genealogy parts when a man lived to a certain age, then begat someone. Then he begat someone who lived for a certain age and he begat someone else. What is this begetting stuff?

Oh my! It was like chewing dry sawdust and it often seemed to contradict itself. It was a book of riddles and so I laid my bible aside for some time gathering dust until I felt “guilty” and tried again to no avail.

When I was born again, everything changed.

My spirit man could now “tune into the author” so to speak and the bible became alive.

There is so much more to share and I could present a book one inch thick on these matters, but will stop here.

My purpose is to stir you up and want you to get hungry. Some of you are in the ministry whilst others are not, so the “need” may be different (but is it really?). Nevertheless, each and every believer does have a relationship with the Lord that can always improve. In fact, we should never settle for where we are. We must listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and He is talking big time in the Church today. Just because we once said the sinner’s prayer and came to the Lord is not enough. One thing that the Holy Spirit is saying today is “How saved are you?” Never assume that you will automatically go up in the rapture. Is the love affair still what it was when you first met Him, or have the flames dwindled to smoking embers?

I met the Lord 50 years ago at the time of writing and am discovering how little I really know and how much I am only now starting to discover. As an example, way back in the 70’s, folk asked me about the following passage of scripture taken from the time Jesus spoke to the churches.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. Revelation 2:17. Emphasis mine

The first part should be self explanatory, but what about that white stone and the hidden manna? I knew that the hidden manna spoke of revelation in the word, but the meaning of that white stone eluded me. I asked the Lord what it meant and did not get an answer...then! I’m closing with a key principle here that will help you if you put it to work.

Decades later, when I was alone not long after moving to Mount Tamborine, the Lord took me by surprize and asked me, “Do you remember asking me what it meant?” as He reminded me of that time. I had forgotten it—but He had not.

He never overlooks such things and He will always give an answer if we are genuine enough to want to know the truth.

We tend to want things instantly, but that’s not always the case. I do not know why He took so long in answering, but He did and something good happened to me that day that changed the way I approached everything.

sk A

The principle I want to share with you is so simple. It is one little word like “Ask” as emphasized in the following. In Genesis 32 when Jacob was wrestling with the “man”, he told that “man” that he would not quit until he blessed him. Jacob asked a very important question, “What is your name?”

His whole life was changed and that incident affects us now.

In 1 Kings chapter three and 1 Chronicles 1:7, God told Solomon to...“Ask” and you know the outcome. In 2 Kings 2, Elijah told Elisha to...“Ask” and moments later that fiery chariot took him.

In Psalm 2:7-8, the Lord said-

I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

In Isaiah 7, Ahaz was told by God to...“Ask” and although the man did not, God told him about the birth of Jesus.

In Isaiah 45:11, God said-

Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

When many people talk about “revival” they quote this-

Ask the LORD for rain in the spring, for he makes the storm clouds. And he will send showers of rain so every field becomes a lush pasture. Zechariah 10:1

In Matthew 6 and 7, Jesus told us to...“Ask”. James tells us to ask when we need wisdom and to ask in faith expecting an answer. John said-

...And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. 1 John 3:22-24 ...And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

1 John 5:14-15

What I am trying to encourage you to do is to ask God for wisdom and understanding, for illumination, for the ability to “see” what He is saying in His word—and to expect an answer. I did not say to ask for material possessions. That is a different matter. By the way, He told me in His own good time (when I was ready to receive it) what that passage in Revelation meant concerning the white stone. In summary form only, it means that God has pronounced us not guilty of any charges laid before Him, because the Blood of Jesus Christ, His son...hath (past tense) cleansed us from all sin.

That’s the starting point. We must keep walking from then on.

So my friends, I must bring this to a close. I have not been able to share everything I could with you because of file size and because there is still so much more to it. I hope that I have encouraged you enough however to want to learn more and want to get a greater understanding of some of the principles of God and put them to work for you in your own life and circumstances. That is my objective.

Oh, yes... I forgot... Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth who would reveal all the truth to us.

John 14:15-27; 15:26 (notice the references to asking Him in that chapter); 16:7-15. ...And when that time comes, you will ask nothing of Me [you will need to ask Me no questions]. I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that My Father will grant you whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I AM].

Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete. John 16:23-24

Blessings Robert

Bashan Ministries | PO Box 1552 Victor Harbor South Australia 6211 | email info@bashanministries.org web site www.bashanministries.org