Watching on the 14th Day

As I write, it's the 14th day of the 1st month. Where's the revealing of the lawless one? Where's the hoax I've been writing about? Based on what Aaron and I saw and experienced yesterday, we're far from abandoning hope. Many of you aren't forsaking hope either, and we commend you for your faith. Not for faith in us, as men, but truly in our Lord.

Some critics began throwing stones on the 10th day, some even earlier, actually. And, so it must be. 1 Corinthians 4 is a text for the mature and I will probably have no other response for critics. I'm willing to be a fool. I trust that the Lord is good. “Not my will but Thine be done, Lord. May it be unto me according to Your good pleasure.” For Aaron and I, this is our profession.

So, what now? We persist, forsaking nothing, watching soberly and on high alert, because this is the season where faith fails. What is this unfailing faith based on? Patience, a refusal to judge before it's time because appearances are deceiving. Is this simply a stubborn denial of reality, Pollyanna-ism or blind optimism? Are we channeling Annie: “The sun'll come out tomorrow”? Are we just trying to save face? Hardly. This is not my first rodeo, so to speak. I've been bucked off and crushed into the dirt before. I endured, with much mercy learning some valuable lessons along the way. Aaron has not been seasoned through those same seasons of experience, but he has been strengthened through seasons of severe trial to be able to endure, and our present situation suggests why the rigorous endurance training has been necessary.

This post is not our version of a pep rally, but we hope you are encouraged, having genuinely sought the Lord and received His comforting touch and embrace, as we ourselves have. Aaron and I saw signs while on watch yesterday that spoke loudly to us as models of the revealing. Right after Noon (Pittsburgh time, when sunset ended the day in Israel), Aaron prayed, and then, beginning to reflect on the day, he received a revelation insight - and immediately we witnessed what could only be interpreted as a confirming sign that the model was masked in an elaborate way. I noted the time, 12:21. The mirrored time numbers. The same numbers we had been seeing stamped on almost everything.

If this watching was easy, or, if everything relevant could be casually marked on the calendar and then ignored until the time came, we would not be directed as we are in Matthew 24. Some will know when the Lord comes, like Noah knew when the flood would come. It was 7 days in advance when he got the certain word. He never abandoned the work. Even knowing what we have learned about the times and epochs, we are instructed to maintain vigilance. The Lord has made it obscure to prove us.

42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. 45 “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47 Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ~ Matthew 24:42-47

“For this reason you also must be ready.” If Aaron and I have served food at the proper time, receive this also. Stay on the alert. Hold fast to what you have been given. In due time, you will receive your reward. Those who endure to the end will be saved.

Based on some previous modeling, which hasn't been made public but that we've been reflecting on regularly since it happened, we're anticipating confirmation on the 15th day. That model happened when Aaron was hospitalized in January, and that stay was markedly different from all the other times he's been hospitalized in recent years. The 15th day also happens to be on the Pesah pattern, and Noah pattern, 1 week before the 21st.

This is a prophecy of our time, where the Bride is being modeled by the only one who can stay awake.

39 And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. 40 When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” 43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. 45 When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, 46 and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 47 While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him. ~ Luke 22:39-47

Are you tempted to sleep from sorrow?

We watch, patiently, enduring. The Lord is faithful, who has promised. Let us pray for each other.