John the Baptist knew about "the BRANCH" who the Jews refer
to as Messiah ben Joseph. Two thousand years ago the Jews, who were living
in the Holy Land, referred to him (MbJ) simply as "that prophet"
who was to come in the "end of days."
John 1:21 (KJV)
And they (the priests and Levites from Jerusalem) asked him (John the
Baptist), What then? Art thou Elias (Elijah)? And he saith, I am not.
Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
John the Baptist may have known that he had the spirit of Elijah on him
but he knew he was not Elijah in the flesh who shall come again at the
"end of days" as it was prophesied. And he knew that that was
the "Elias" who they were asking about.
Now as Christians we have always read this passage as meaning that John
(the Baptist) was denying he was Elijah the prophet that shall come in
the last days. But that is not what is being said here. The "learned
men" from Jerusalem knew that in the "end of days" there
would come three individuals who were anointed and sent out by God.
1. Elijah - They have looked for him at every Passover for nearly three
thousand years.
2. That Prophet - Someone other than and separate from Elijah.
3. Messiah - This to stand for Messiah ben David (i.e. Jesus)
Now "Elias" (Elijah) we know and "Messiah" we know
which leaves some one hidden so well in scripture that here he is referred
to as only "that prophet".
These men sent from Jerusalem were not satisfied with asking John just
once. They knew that there was only three men who had Heavenly authority
to streigthen out the mess men had made of serving the Lord. If John was
not one of theses men then what power (authority) did he have to begin
to straighten things out. They were no doubt worried about their tithes
and offerings not coming in.
John 1:25 (KJV)
And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou
be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
Since they couldn't find a prophecy referring to him as John the Baptist
they were there as representatives of the Temple structure to call him
into account. They thought that they knew prophecy which they proved at
this time that they did not know, because John the Baptist was fulfilling
the prophecy:
Matthew 3:3 (KJV)
For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice
of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make
his paths straight.
John knew who he was so he informed them:
John 1:23 (KJV)
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight
the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
At another time men who thought they knew the prophecies tried to make
Jesus into "that prophet" instead of who he really was, the
Messiah. It happened after the feeding of the five thousand with the loaves
and the fishes:
John 6:14 (KJV)
Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said this
is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
This is a case in which they were trying to make Jesus less than who
he really was, "that prophet" being less than "Messiah".
Then when Jesus realized this mob was going to try to force him to fulfill
a prophecy (of reestablishing of the throne of David back in Jerusalem)
decided to leave, he knew he was not the one to do this and it was not
the time to fulfill that prophecy.
John 6:15 (KJV)
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force,
to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
Another place that speaks of "that prophet" and we have been
trained to read it to mean Jesus is:
Acts 3:22-23 (KJV)
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God
raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in
all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 23And it shall come to pass,
that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed
from among the people.
We have been taught that in 70 AD this destruction of the people that
would not listen to Jesus was destroyed in fulfillment of Moses words.
It is true in 70 AD a lot of Jews were destroyed by the Romans. But look
around you there are a lot of Jews in the world today. So either the Deuteronomy
Ch. 18 prophecy was not fulfilled at that time or theirs been a lot of
busy Jews since then. This "destruction" from "among the
people" was not to take place until the "end of days" during
the time of "the BRANCH" (Messiah ben Joseph/"that prophet")
when he:
" Ascends the Temple mount to end World War 3
" When he confronts the Antichrist as the "man from the tribe
of Ephraim"
Although it was said in Josephus that in 70AD the Romans killed so many
Jews that that they were wearied with killing and put the rest (which
was most) on the world slave market.
Why must Messiah ben Joseph appear before the return of Messiah ben David?
The "BRANCH" has several things that only he must do:
" Gather all the tribes out of all the nations.
" Return the two great houses (House of Judah, House of Israel) to
the Holy Land.
" End World War 3 from the Temple Mount.
" Be the "Prince of the Congregation" that receives the
New Covenant from the Lord in the Valley of Jezreel (Jeremiah 50:5, Ezekiel
16:60, Isaiah 59:21, 61:8
" Israel was divorced (Hosea 1:5) the House of Israel must be brought
back to the Valley of Jezreel (the place they were divorced from the Lord)
to be rejoined with Him (Hosea 1:10).
" Build Ezekiel's Temple (the Third Temple) Jesus cannot build it
when He comes because antichrist defiles it, how can antichrist defile
it wile Jesus is standing their?
" He expands the borders of the Nation to reach from the Euphrates
River to the Nile River. Messiah ben David kingdom covers the whole world.
" Egypt and Assyria serve the Lord God during the Kingdom of Messiah
ben Joseph (Isaiah 19:25).
" Messiah ben Joseph is beheaded at the hands of antichrist before
the arrival (second) of Messiah ben David (Daniel 11:22 (KJV)
And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him,
and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant) Jesus is not
broken on his return by antichrist.
This article shall change from time to time!
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