God Always Prepares A "Place" Ahead Of Time For His People (part 1)

Examples Of God’s Preparations:

1.   Creation (Genesis 1) – God creates the earth first, then the sun, moon and stars, preparing a place for mankind to dwell in safe and secure.

• Day 1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

• Day 4 – On this day, God created the sun, the moon, and the stars.

• Day 6 – God creates man in His own image, after preparing a place for us to dwell in.

• Hebrews 11:1-3 – The worlds ([165] – “an age, a period of time, the worlds, the universe”) were prepared ([2675] – “to make fit, equip, prepare, put in order, arrange”) by the word ([4487] – “that which is spoken, a word; a statement, command, instruction”) of God, such as “Let there be,” when God created, and it came into being. This “hall of faith” chapter is filled with God’s witness of those who heard, and then did what they heard. (There’s more on this further below.)

2.   The “Promised Land” – Canaan was prepared for the Israelites. Original inhabitants conquered. They were given the responsibility to occupy the land by driving out the current tenants. So are we.

3.   The Pilgrims – America was a prepared place for the Pilgrims, but like the children of Israel, they too had to be made ready first through their time of testing in their own wilderness of sorts. The original inhabitants of our land would also have to be overcome through warfare. Like the Canaanites, their worship was of a pagan nature. Other Europeans would come and treat the American Indians horribly, not introducing them to Christ as He intended for them to do, but instead they took possession of their lands through evil means, including our government leaders. Because of their wicked intent, they would not possess the “promised land” of eternal life in Christ, while some native Americans who accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior would. (More on the Pilgrims journey further below.)

4.   Jesus is preparing a place for His followers (John 14:1-6; more below).

5.   God prepares a table for His children in the presence of our enemies (Psalm 23:5; more below).

6.   A place prepared in the wilderness for “a woman clothed with the sun…” (Revelation 12; more below)

Giving Thanks To The Lord

Psalms 42:1-4

1          As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God.

2          My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?

3          My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"

4          These things I remember, and I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, with the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

(NAS)

Psalms 50:14-15,23

14        "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving [see the “thank offering” note below], and pay your vows to the Most High;

15        And call upon me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor me."

23        "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me; and to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God." [NIV; “…and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."]

(NAS)

Psalms 69:30-31

30        I will praise the name of God with song, and shall magnify Him with thanksgiving.

31        And it will please the LORD better than an ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs.

(NAS)

Psalms 95:1-3

1          O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.

2          Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

3          For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods,

(NAS)

Psalms 100:1-5

1          Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.

2          Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing.

3          Know that the LORD himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4          Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name.

5          For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations.

(NAS)

Philippians 4:6-7

6          Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7          And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

(NAS)

Colossians 4:2

2          Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving…

(NAS)

(AI Overview on the “thank offering”)

“In the Bible, a thank offering was a voluntary, peace offering made out of gratitude for God's goodness. It involved both a meat sacrifice and specially prepared breads, and it was unique because the offerer, along with their family, the priests, and the poor, would eat a portion of it the same day it was offered as a communal meal. The offering was an expression of thanks and joy for blessings, distinct from other sacrifices meant for atonement.

Key aspects of a thank offering:

• Voluntary and spontaneous: It was not a required daily or regular sacrifice, but was offered when the occasion arose from the offerer's own heart and gratitude.

• A communal meal: The act included a celebratory feast where the person, their family, the priests, and the needy shared the meat of the sacrifice.

• Made with specific breads: In addition to the animal sacrifice, the offerer presented unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers brushed with oil, and leavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil.

• Eaten the same day: The law specified that the meat of the thank offering must be eaten on the day it was offered, with none left until the next morning.

• A sacrifice of praise: Unlike other sacrifices, the primary purpose of the thank offering was not atonement but to express a joyful and thankful heart for God's provision.

• A New Testament parallel: The New Testament concept of a thank offering is described as a spiritual sacrifice of praise, specifically "the fruit of our lips" and continual thanksgiving to God through Jesus Christ.”

The Pilgrims; A Prepared People Led To A Prepared Place

The following insights in this study pertain to God’s chosen people in this moment of history in God's providential timing. There is another pilgrimage of a few Christ followers that has been happening for a few years now. They have been used to prepare a place for others who will soon be led out, as the Pilgrims were, from a religious system that has become corrupted by the ways of man.

• This study was taken from the book “The Light And The Glory” by Peter Marshall and David Manuel; subtitled “Did God Have A Plan For America?”

• “The right people, the right place, the right time.” (p.154) – The providential guidance of God on an imperfect people for a specific purpose and time is witnessed through the journey of a small band of “Separatists” we have come to know and cherish as the Pilgrims.

The Church of England

• Presided over by the House of Bishops.

• They were alarmed at the growth of two movements of “fanatics” (around 1600; p.108)

• The “Puritans” – The larger of the two groups. They claimed to be dedicated to “purifying the Church from within.” Submitted to church authority.

• The “Separatists” – The Bishops considered these people much more dangerous.

“These were radicals who held that the Church of England was already corrupted beyond any possibility of purification. Moreover, they believed that the Church could only be under the headship of Jesus Christ, and hence no person, not even the Queen, could take the title “Head of the Church.” They chose to separate themselves from the Church, and conduct their own worship. And given their way, these “Separatists” would reduce worship to primitive preaching, teaching, singing, and free praying, which would do away with 16 centuries of established liturgical tradition.” If left unchecked, the Bishops could lose control!

• These two groups are VERY similar to what is happening in our day! Years ago, a small group of "separatists," led by the Holy Spirit, began their pilgrimage out of the religious harlot that dominates Christianity in the West.

The Persecution To Force God's Plan 

• James the I took the throne and let the Bishops have their way with these 2 groups.

  
  

“Now the Separatists were hounded, bullied, forced to pay assessments to the Church of England, clapped into prison on trumped-up charges, and driven underground. They met in private homes, to which they came at staggered intervals and by different routes, because they were constantly being spied upon.” (p.108)

• “Some Puritans, because of the persecution, joined other Separatists who had already sought religious asylum in Holland. In the city of Leyden, they were forged together by adversity” (p.109). (William Bradford was here also, the future Governor of Plymouth.)

• The King's edict of 1618 – It decreed that all Puritans not willing to conform to ecclesiastical authority had to leave the country.

• Due to the extreme hardships of living in Holland, the Separatists came to believe that America was the place to which God intended them to go.

• John Robinson – Their elected pastor was praying for a deeper revelation of WHY they were going. (p.110) Did God have a special purpose for them? He began to perceive that God was calling them to “a new Jerusalem,” to build His temple anew, with themselves as its stones: “Now as the people of God in old time were called out of Babylon civil, the place of their bodily bondage, and were to come to Jerusalem, and there to build the Lord's temple, or tabernacle... so are the people of God now to go out of Babylon spiritual to Jerusalem... and to build themselves as lively stones into a spiritual house, or temple, for the Lord to dwell in.”

• The Lord has some pilgrims today that He has, once again, sent out of a corrupt religious system (Revelation 18:4-5) to start a “new thing” that will be used to help prepare His sons and daughters for His return, and the persecution that is coming to America, which has in fact already begun and will continue to increase. It will force many to join underground gatherings of God’s people. Pressure from God will be used to move us into the place of His choosing (Deut. 12:5, 11, 14, 18, 21, 26).

The Mayflower and the Speedwell

• Mayflower, a hired crew, Speedwell (an old freighter) purchased like a used car with little money.

• August 5, 1620 – Started their journey, 3 days later forced back due to problems with the Speedwell. 1 week later tried again, forced back again to Plymouth, England. Decided to sell the Speedwell. It made some of them rethink their decision to go, about 20 dropped out.

• William Stoughton – “God sifted a whole nation, that He might send choice grain into this wilderness.”

• William Bradford – “Like Gideon's army, this small number was divided, as if the Lord, by this work of His providence, thought these few were still too many for the great work He had to do.”

• Others came also, the ROUGH trip over bonded them together for the pressures that awaited them on the other side of the ocean! They (102 Pilgrims) spent 7 weeks together, below decks with no hatches open because of continuous storms (see Math. 8:23-27)! It was a rolling, pitching, stinking inferno. “No matter how ill they felt, or how grim the daily situation, they continued to seek God together, praying THROUGH despair and into peace and thanksgiving.”

• November 9, 1620 – “Land ho!” (p.119) Finally, the words they had been waiting for! They had been blown off course, 100 miles to the north to an area the fishermen called Cape Cod. They recognized this as Divine providence and settled there instead, not being under the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company. They quickly drafted a compact, the Mayflower Compact, covenanting themselves together.

• “While the Pilgrims had no idea how significant this document was to be (it embodied the same principles of equality and government by the consent of the governed which would become the cornerstones of American Democracy), it marked the first time in recorded history that free and equal men had voluntarily covenanted together to create their own new civil government.”

• The Mayflower Compact which included “For the glory of God, and the advancement of the Gospel,” began a covenant with God that defined the reason for the founding of America. It is my firm belief that this covenant must be reentered into by those who will be the "Finishing Fathers" of our nation. We know the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).

A Place Prepared; Further Discovery Of The Cape Cod Bay (p.124)

• They came, by way of a storm, into a harbor that was deep enough for the Mayflower.

• God has been preparing a place for us too. His perfect[ing] storm in our nation will once again be mercifully used to guide a remnant among His children into His safe-place in Himself.

The Pilgrims New Place God Led Them To:

• The soil was rich and fertile.

• A gentle open slope for an ideal place to settle, with excellent drainage.

• A good spot for muskets and cannons in case they had to defend it.

• There were not one, but FOUR spring-fed creeks close at hand.

• On the hill, a good 20 acres of ground had already been cleared and were ready for planting. For some reason, no planting had been done for several years.

• The Pilgrims named it Plymouth because Plymouth in Old England was the last town they left in the native country. They had received much kindness from some Christians there.

The Turning Point; Samoset & Squanto (p.129)

• Samoset enters their colony one Spring, quite unexpectedly. He spoke excellent English (learned from various fishing captains over the years) and had an appetite for English food. He had been sent out to explore the coast for the Council for New England, the company to whom the Pilgrims would now be applying for a patent. He shared with them the history of their area.

• The Patuxets had lived in their encampment. They were a large, hostile tribe who hated and murdered any white men who had landed on their shores. Four years prior to the Pilgrims arrival, a mysterious plague had broken out among them, killing every man, woman, and child. Neighboring tribes had shunned the area ever since, believing an evil spirit had done this!

• The Wampanoags were there nearest neighbors. Massasoit was their chief. It was here that Samoset had spent most of the past 8 months. He returns to Massasoit with gifts and soon returns with an even greater gift sent by God Himself, an Indian named Squanto.

• Squanto – He also spoke English and was of all things, A PATUXET! He had been taken captive to England and returned to his native land 6 months before the Pilgrims arrival to find none of his tribe alive! He knew the land and would be used by God to help preserve these helpless babes in a hostile and unknown world. He taught them how to plant corn, plant pumpkins amongst the corn, how to stalk deer, refine maple syrup, discern which herbs were good to eat and good for medicine, and find the best berries. He introduced them to the beaver pelt which would prove to be their economic deliverance, just as corn would be their physical deliverance.

• “Something special had been born among them in the middle of all the dying [that first year] (only four of the couples who had arrived on the Mayflower still had each other, and a number had lost children), they had shared the love of Jesus Christ in a way that only happens when people are willing to suffer together in His causes. This was what they had come to the wilderness to find, and now none of them wished to leave it.” (p.134)

The Summer of 1621 was beautiful;

• New buildings went up and there was a good harvest.

• The new Governor, William Bradford (John Carver unexpectedly died with what was believed to be a cerebral hemorrhage), declared a day of public Thanksgiving to be held in October. Massasoit was invited and brought much food with him, along with 90 other Indians! It went so well that they extended the celebration for 3 more days. (p.135)

William Brewster's prayer was a memorable moment in their celebration.

• “They had so much for which to thank God: For providing ALL their needs, even when their faith had not been up to believing that He would do so; for the lives of the departed and for taking them home to be with him; for their friendship with the Indians- so extraordinary when settlers to the south of them (Jamestown) had experienced the opposite; for all His remarkable providences in bringing them to this place and sustaining them.” (p.136)

(See the section Christians Who Suppress The Truth With An Ungrateful, Thankless Heart in the Bible study Sonship In Christ; Resting In The Middle.)

In conclusion, He will sustain us also!

• There is another group today of Christian Pilgrims who are on a journey to a place that we have never been before (Joshua 3:4). It’s the end of our journey in this age, the beginning of something new in the next (see the Bible studies The Point Of Arrival, and Preparing To Enter In… Alive).

• The way of our crossing over is now being revealed (see 1 Peter 1:3-5), a new and “living way” never known before (Hebrews 10:19-20). The summons of the Lord will test, and prove, the hearts of all Christians, revealing whether we are with or against Christ (i.e. anti-Christ). Unfortunately, the pride within many church leader’s hearts, and their followers, will keep them from passing over.

• It’s a place that has already been prepared for us, the place of His choosing, just like the Pilgrims.

• We must decide, by an act of our wills, to stay the course the Lord leads us on, the Pilgrims being our Christian model of perseverance among those who are in covenant with Christ and one another.

• This place will also be a safe haven for those coming behind us. Our perseverance in the work we have been called to will also reveal the way of escape for others who will follow. We are not alone, but are part of a company who are being raised up “for such a time as this.” As with Noah, our obedience to God’s leading now will provide a “safe-room” in Christ alone for those who will come later.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

(1 Peter 1:3-5/NASU)

Praise God who is now revealing His way of salvation in this “last time,” the appointed time of His “complete preservation” of His people; “spirit, soul, and body” (2 Thessalonians 5:23). May we all be encouraged to hear and do what the Spirit is saying to the church in the last call to repent and make ready the way of the Lord.

A Place Prepared By Jesus

John 14:1-6 – Jesus comforts His disciples, then and now, declaring that He would, and now has gone ahead of us and is preparing our “place” in the Father’s house. He then promises to come back and take us there.

1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare [2090- “to prepare, make ready”] a place [5117] for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take [3880- “to receive near, to take with oneself”] you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

4 You know the way to the place where I am going." 

5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

NIV

NT:5117 topos (top'-os)

(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)

apparently a primary word; a spot (general in space, but limited by occupancy; whereas NT:5561 is a large but participle locality), i.e. location (as a position, home, tract, etc.); figuratively, condition, opportunity; specifically, a scabbard:

KJV - coast, license, place, plain, quarter, rock, room, where

(Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

place

   1.   properly, any portion of space marked off, as it were, from surrounding, space

      a.   an inhabited place, as a city, village, district (Luke 4:37)

      b.   a place (passage) in a book (Luke 4:17)

   2.   metaphorically,

      a.   the condition or station held by one in any company or assembly (1 Cor. 14:16)

      b.   opportunity, power, occasion for acting (Acts 25:16)

Psalm 23:5 – See the note below. (This is also in the Bible study Meeting In The Air. See Psalm 110:2.)

5 You prepare [6186- “to arrange, to set in order”] a table before me in the presence [5048- “before, in the presence of, in the sight of, in front of”] of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.

NASU

A table is a place of fellowship, communion, and of provision. When David says “before me,” he is saying that it is right in front of him. It’s also right in front of his, and our enemies. The definition for the Hebrew word interpreted in English as “presence” is “before, in the presence of, in the sight of, in front of.” They too will see what God has prepared for those who love Him and there will be nothing they can do. There is a mystery, I believe, in this passage that also needs to be spoken of.

In his second letter to the church in the city of Corinth, Paul speaks of being “caught up” to the third heaven. The first heaven is what we can see around us, and beyond. The second heaven (i.e. mid-heaven), I believe, is the unseen realm between God and mankind that the devil now possesses because of our downfall. The third heaven is where God’s dwelling is. Man’s disobedience opened the way for the devil to take dominion over us. He is now the “middle man” between the first and third heaven that must be removed in order for us to gain full access to the third heaven, without his interference, restoring our relationship and our line of communication with the Lord. This could be why he has some type of access before God, as spoken of in Job 1:6-12. It’s interesting that it was the “middle man” among the threes crosses at Calvary (i.e. Jesus Christ) that restored the possibility for communion with God through His death.

I believe that at Christ’ return for His bride and her attendants, when we “who are alive and remain” on earth, in the first heaven, are caught up in the clouds to meet Him “in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17), that it is here, in the second heaven, in the very presence of our enemy, that we will meet Him at His table prepared for those who love Him and have made themselves ready, by faith, through consecration (see the Bible study Meeting In The Air). What a feast, fit for a King and His subjects, that will be!

While speaking to the crowds gathered around him about John the Baptist, Jesus said, “For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.’” (NKJV; also see Malachi 3:1) John was a forerunner of Christ. His message was one of repentance, preparing the hearts of His people for His coming. It made it possible for them to see and believe when Christ came that He was the Messiah. God prepared them beforehand. He is doing it again, this very moment, right before His second coming. Through this we can see that God prepares a table for those who prepare His way within them. A prepared people are a purified people. He cannot come to meet, in the “middle,” those who are not turned toward Him, facing Him in their “middle” (i.e. soul), with an expectant heart, eagerly looking for His return.

The first time the Lord comes it will not be all the way to earth, but He will meet us in the “middle heaven,” “in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Not until the very end of this age will He come all the way down to earth in judgment of all that is wicked. He will then reign, along with His righteous ones, for the next one thousand years from His throne that has been established in Jerusalem.

The remnant’s rising up and gaining of God’s glory is when we retake the middle ground, the second heaven. It’s the place we will take back possession of from the devil, causing him to lose his position over fallen mankind and be cast down to the first heaven for the last three and a half years of what is known as the tribulation. As the current tenant of that which has been declared to be ours, we must, IN CHRIST, drive him out by standing firm in our middle (i.e. the soul) at the end of this age. It is in the soul of man that the victory will be won or lost, individually and corporately. (See the Bible study The Point Of Arrival for a more complete, and I believe, necessary understanding of the spirit, soul, and body.)

(The following passage is taken from the Bible study The Point Of Arrival.)

Preserved Complete; Spirit, Soul, and Body

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 – See the note below.

23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify [37- “to make holy”] you entirely [3651- “complete to the end, perfect”]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved [5083- “to attend to carefully, take care of”] complete [3648- “complete in all its parts, entire, whole”], without blame [274- “faultlessly, blameless”] at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. [This means we cannot bring it to pass. Apart from Him we can do nothing to cross over.]

NASU

• Man is made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27; “image” – “statue, image, copy, semblance”, “likeness” – “likeness, shape, figure, form, pattern”).

• Man is tripartite (“divided into or composed of three parts”); spirit, soul, and body, like God (trinity).

• God’s order: spirit to soul to body; inside to outside (Ezekiel and the temple, Matthew 23:25-28, Genesis 6:14; “…coat it with pitch inside and out.”, for their/our “entire preservation”)

• The devil’s order: outside to inside; external appeal to the flesh

In his first letter to the church in Thessalonica, Paul declares the order for the complete preservation of our spirit, soul, and body at the end of this age. The process of God for preparing those who will be alive on earth when Christ returns, and then “snatched away” to meet Him in the air, is being revealed to us now; through sanctification, setting apart Jesus Christ as Lord. As we’ll see, Noah is the type given to us. This is our destiny in Christ, the way to be “preserved complete” (i.e. our perfection). It’s our “Christ-likeness” (Romans 8:29) being fulfilled so that we are “without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (see 1 John 3:2).

Jesus said in Luke 17:33, “Whoever seeks to keep his life [i.e. soul] will lose it, and whoever loses his life [i.e. soul] will preserve it [“be preserved complete”].” The Greek for “life” is psuche (psoo-khay'), the word interpreted “soul” in many passages. This same Greek word is used in Luke 21:19 where Jesus said, “By your endurance [“a remaining or abiding under (i.e. “lordship”), endurance; a patient, steadfast waiting for”] you will gain [“to acquire, get or procure a thing for oneself, obtain, possess”] your lives [i.e. souls].” The Greek for endurance is defined as “a remaining or abiding under [i.e. “lordship”], endurance; a patient, steadfast waiting for.” Per Jesus, endurance, remaining under His lordship over you, is the “way” to be preserved complete at His coming. This is why the “once saved, always saved” doctrine is a lie. It says once you’re in and you can never be out, even if you don’t endure until the end. This would mean that Jesus was just using a figure of speech, that He didn’t really mean what He appeared to have said.

At one point in Matthew 24, while answering the disciple’s question regarding the sign of His coming and of the end of the age, Jesus explained;

“At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures [see def. right below] to the end, he will be saved [“to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction”].” [Also see Matthew 10:22 where Jesus said the same thing.]

(v.10-13; NASU)

The Greek for “endures” is defined as, “to abide under, to remain in a place instead of leaving it [i.e. falling away with an apostate heart; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12], to bear bravely and calmly.” Because of the extremely difficult situation on earth at the end of this age (2 Timothy 3:1), we will all need to be encouraged by these words of truth so as to be able to endure to the end, and be saved. By our leaning upon the strength of the Holy Spirit we can, and will be rescued from all danger and destruction being poured out on earth at that time.

In a conditional statement, Paul used the same Greek word in his second letter to Timothy;

“If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us [i.e. “I never knew you.”]”

(2 Timothy 2:12/NASU)

To deny is, by definition, “to disown, to refuse to acknowledge, to renounce, to reject.” It becomes very clear that to be saved, and to reign with Christ in His approaching 1,000 year reign on earth, we, Christians, must “endure to the end,” standing firm in Christ, not falling away from our devotion to Him when many do so at the end of this age. Otherwise, He will deny/disown us as His children. It is that serious...

(continued in part 2...)