The American Wisdom Series 
 http://www.americanwisdomseries.com

Presents 

MARK

Chapter 8

Caution to students of God's Word - Please remember two things when using our studies: #1. Our commentary is not God's Word. It is only our interpretation or understanding of "His Word" and even though we try our best to be accurate we may or may not be correct. #2. The King James translation, or any other translation, of the original Hebrew text has some words which were given different translations at different places probably because of the interpreters preconceived ideas of what they think God meant to say. For example: According to the notes in the "Dake's Annotated Reference Bible" the Hebrew word hayah in the KJV is Trans. (became) 67 times, (becamest or came to pass) 505 times, (become) 66 times, and (come to pass) 131 times, but for some reason in Genesis 1:2 it is translated (was)! That sure changes the way a person perceives the original creation of the earth, doesn't it?  Gen. 1:2 And the earth was (became) without form, ... Having said that, let us continue with our "Key Knowledge" lessons. These are pamphlets containing knowledge, we believe, you must have to fully and accurately unlock and understand the Word of God.

John 15:26
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16:13-14
[13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. [14] He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

This Bible Study was originally written by Roger Christopherson,
 published at http://www.theseason.org/ 

You can view it at the season`s web site (address above) as originally published
or here, as now edited by people at
 
The American Wisdom Series  

Without the leading by the Holy Spirit, there is no understanding of the truths, for all the truth of the Scriptures are revealed to us by God's Spirit.

 Now here is our revised study of:

MARK

Chapter 8

"Feeding of Four Thousand [1-9]."
"Teaching. Pharisees and Disciples [10-21]."
"Miracle, Blind Man [22-26]."

Mark 8:1 "In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him, and saith unto them,"

As Jesus would teach the crowd would continue to grow. As the crowd grew to such a size, the disciples became concerned for the well being of the people there. So here we are going to have another feeding and the multitude. There is another lesson in this feeding, just as there was in that last feeding of the five thousand.

Mark 8:2 "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with Me three days, and have nothing to eat:"

This crowd had been growing for three days, and there was no place that all these people could go to and eat.

Mark 8:3 "And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far."

Some of these people came from a long way off to hear Jesus and be healed. It is within this chapter, Jesus will be preparing the disciples for the time of His crucifixion. Jesus is going to be taken away from them, and the work of the gospel will be left in their hands. In that Jesus had been feeding these people for three days, we must consider the three days that Jesus would spend in the tomb, preaching to those that had died and were in the heart of the earth.

I Peter 3:18 "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

I Peter 3:19 By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison,"

I Peter 3:20 "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls were saved by water."

This happened when Christ went to the cross. Jesus preached those three days and nights to the souls that had died before the time of the crucifixion, and upon His resurrection He brought those souls back with Him into heaven. Jesus is the bread that gives the life, spiritually speaking. The fact that this multitude had been listening to Jesus three days without food, indicates that His disciples would be without Christ's presence for the three days He was in the tomb. Then it becomes more important than ever to understand the meaning that picking up the broken pieces of bread of the multitude had. The point Christ is teaching was that they do not pick up leavened [polluted] doctrines from a large crowd like that which was with them.

This is a warning to the disciples, just as it is a warning to us living today, that we watch out for the doctrines that we hear and what we accept to be true. Jesus would be with them after these three day, and remain with them for forty days. Then after the fortieth day, Jesus ascended into heaven however on the fiftieth day Jesus would send His Holy Spirit to be with us until His return at the seventh trumpet. Any time the Holy Spirit is present, you have the Spirit of both the father and the Son. The Holy Spirit came to us on the day of Pentecost, for that is what "Pentecost" means "fiftieth day".

So Jesus is warning His disciples that there would be a three day period, as well as a ten day period that Jesus would not be with them, and it would require that they use their minds without His direction. So Jesus is preparing His disciples for this time. All other times you will not be left alone, not even today, for He is always there with us through His Spirit. He promised that; "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee".

Mark 8:4 "And His disciples answered Him, "From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?"

The disciples forgot what Jesus had said and done in the past for their doubts came through in questioning Jesus' ability to do what He did before. He had only five loaves before and fed five thousand, now here there are four thousand, and He will take a small number of loaves of bread and fish to feed this crowd. Human nature causes us to forget things quickly.

Mark 8:5 "And He asked them, "How many loaves have ye?" And they said, "Seven."

Remember that this is a parable of the feeding, and we find in Matthew 16:11, 12 that Jesus warned them specifically that a lesson was being taught by the feeding.

Matthew 16:11 "How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?"

Matthew 16:12 "Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."

As you walk amongst the Pharisees and the crowd, be careful what doctrines and teaching you pick up while you are there. There are all sorts of traditions and teachings that men have formed in their minds that may sound right but go against the Word of God. Basically that is what Jesus is warning His disciples about. In the number "seven" in biblical numerics, it means "Spiritual completeness". In Jesus Christ you have spiritual completeness. You do not need the traditions of men when you have the Word of God.

Mark 8:6 "And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and He took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to His disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people."

Jesus is now going through the same order that was given in the first feeding of the five thousand. The people are divided into groups for the feeding, asked to sit, and then Jesus asked the Father to bless the food. The Father blessed the bread and as Jesus break the bread, the bread and fishes expanded by God's blessing to where the entire crowd was satisfied.

Notice again that Jesus did not serve the people with the blessed food, but it was the disciples of Christ that fed the crowd. The feeding of this crowd was no problem for God, for remember back in the wilderness, God provided the daily diet for the entire nation of the Israelites, several million of them for forty years. God fed them with manna from heaven, which is to say, angels' food. Our Heavenly Father is in control all the time of all events and happenings.

If you are going to thank the Father for any bread, let it be first the bread that is His Word, and His body. Jesus is the living Word, and That is the only bread that give us eternal life, blessings and peace of mind. Christ did not feed these people, He gave the bread to the disciples, and instructed them to feed the people. When Jesus gives the gift of Pastor or teacher to someone through His Spirit, He expects them to do the teaching, on a level to where the person being taught will understand it completely. Then those that are being taught are responsibility to pass the Word on to others. Christ doesn't do it, you do it.

Mark 8:7 "And they had a few small fishes: and He blessed, and commanded to set them also before them."

Remember from Mark 6:35-44 that we discussed what the word "fish' in the Greek represented. Using the Greek letters, "fish" spells out "Jesus Christ Son of God Savior". This is why the fish was used as the symbol of Christianity. This is why when we see this symbol left on the rocks from centuries past even from ancient times, we know that Christians have left their marks.

Mark 8:8 "So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets."

This time they took up seven baskets of the unused meat. Seven being the symbol for spiritual completeness, and here it is meat, and not bread fragments that are gathered. There is enough meat of God's Word that will go to all those that will partake, with enough left over. These is no shortage of instruction in God's Word, and no matter how well you think that you know the Word, God has something more for you to know.

Christ is saying, if I give you bread or divine intervention that comes directly from God, it is because you can't feed four thousand people with seven loaves and a few fishes. God's bread is the Word and it is pure and you can trust what I tell you through My Word. Then if you give men time to fool with it and mess with that divine intervention of instruction, which are the broken pieces that are left over from the instruction, be careful what you take up. Why? Because man will always mess up what he tries to redo and change. This is a direct criticism to those that choose not to study directly from the Word of God.

Today the common practice is to study from books that are remolded in the frame of a man's mind, which do not follow the Word of God in a chapter by chapter, and verse by verse study. Be careful, [Sunday school quartilies included] because somewhere in the book it will be polluted. Check out what any man says, and that includes this study here. The point made here is, are you able to tell that which is polluted or not? Be careful of the doctrine of men, and their traditions.

Seven stands for "spiritual completeness" in biblical numerics, yet after the bread or Word has been handled by the multitude, it will not be spiritually complete. It will be fragments reshaped by the hands of men and it will come back in an polluted form. The seven baskets then are not the real thing, but pieces of the real thing with dirt, mistranslations and other things mixed in from the handling amongst the people, and it becomes not fit to eat. The lesson here: "Be careful of the doctrine funneled in after any man has handled the meat of the Word."

Mark 8:9 "And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and He sent them away."

Jesus now sent all this massive crowd away, back to their homes.

Mark 8:10 "And straightway He entered into a ship with His disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha."

Editor's Note: This is on the west coast of the sea of Galilee, which we call the "West Bank of the little country [which is made up of a mixture of descendants of the ancient Israelite tribes of Judah and Benjamin from the "House of Judah" and descendants of Cain who mixed with them while they were dispersed in Babylon "The Kenites" This is a reference to the House of Judah, not the House of Israel. The House of Judah was taken to Babylon during the conquering of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzor in 586BC, 135 years after the House of Israel was captured by their Assyrian conquerors! ], we call Israel today. When Ezra and Nehemiah went back to Jerusalem, they took with them only a REMNANT from the House of Judah. The rest of Judah, the majority of them, went north over the Caucasus Mountains with the other tribes from the House of Israel and to this very day most of true Judah and Israel do not know who they are.
Though they basically comprise the Christian nations of the world, in their ignorance they call themselves gentiles.

[Don't confuse the above group with the 10 tribes of the "House of Israel" plus tens of thousands of Jews (also from the "House of Judah") who were used by their Assyrian conquerors 135 years earlier as a buffer state to ward off any advances by the Medes. in 745-721 B.C. after being taken captive and relocated below the Black and Caspian Seas,] 

Live Link to- "Do you know who you really are?"  

Are you a Israelite?  

(Maybe you only think you're a Gentile!)

Mark 8:11 "And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with Him, seeking of Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him."

This sounds exactly like the religious community today, they are trying to temp Christ and set Him up to fall into their traps. That is what the traditions of men are all about. It doesn't matter what is truth, or is not truth to them, but what is important is that their traditions are protected. This happens especially where Kenites have filtered doctrines into their midst, and try to do their translating for them. Remember that they took over the teaching of the house of Judah, and many of the other tribes of the world. They took over the teaching and records keeping for Judah coming out of Babylon, then hid themselves within the records of the house of Judah. This is why it is important for you to understand who they are, and where they came from. Two of the seven types of churches of the end times know who these Kenites are. Jesus is speaking of the church of Smyrna in Revelation 2:9 for they could identify the Kenite and his or her teaching when one came in their midst.

Revelation 2:9 "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art rich), And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan."

Editor's Note: Read all of Rev. 1-3 (Live Link below) But, pay special attention to the one common think JESUS HAS TO SAY TO BOTH THE CHURCHES OF PHILADELPHIA AND SMYRNA ABOUT THE JEWS..

Live Link to- Revelation 1 through 3

These Kenite Pharisees are tempting Jesus and asking Him for a sign to prove that He is what He says He is. They are tempting Jesus for the sake of tripping Him up. Remember that these Kenites are word smiths, and just like Satan their father, they like to take what you say, twist it and add a word here and there for their tradition, and make it a lie. There is nothing new under the sun. This is as it has been from the time of Cain their father, the first murderer, and it is as it is today.

Mark 8:12 "And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and saith, "Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, "There shall no sign be given unto this generation.' "

Jesus saw right into these Kenites' minds and he sighed deeply in His Spirit. Jesus asked them directly, Why do you seek a sign? Then He told them outright, "There shall no sign be given to this generation."

If you have to ask why Jesus would not give a sign, then you have missed the entire meaning of what is being taught here. Jesus is the sign. He demonstrated that He was the Christ by raising the twelve year old child from the dead, by making the blind see, and casting the evil spirits out of people, as well as many other things. He told them whose power He had done this all in the name of, yet these Pharisees refuse to accept and to listen. They were too busy trying to trip Him up, and plot Jesus' crucifixion. Even if Jesus gave them a sign they would not be able to see it anyway, for their spiritual eyes are closed, and they just did not have the spiritual ears to hear with understanding.

What greater sign could you want than the Messiah walking amongst you and doing the deeds and teaching the lessons that He taught. This is what the religious world of that day had long looked forward to and prayed for, and when it had come to pass, their traditions caused them to miss the entire thing. Here Jesus stood before them, and these religious creeps had the gall to ask for a sign.

This is also as it is happening in our generation, the traditions of the church world are causing many Christians to miss the events prophesied for our generation. Our people have placed there traditions like the rapture theory over what God's Word has told us, and thus when Satan arrives on the seen, the church will follow their Pharisee leaders and the rest of the Kenites right into the camp of Satan. They will love every moment of their whoredoms. Why? Because by mishandling the meat of God's Word they have followed those fragments in the baskets, used and played over by men, that will lead them right to Satan, in their ignorance. These Pharisees that stood before Jesus had the greatest sign standing right before them and they didn't know it when they saw Him.

Mark 8:13 "And He left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side."

Mark 8:14 "Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf."

Here we go again to a lesson with the bread.

Mark 8:15 "And He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod."

It wasn't very long ago that these disciples had a lesson on the leaven in bread. It takes just a little leaven in a loaf of bread to contaminate the entire loaf. If you allow just a little lie or falsehood get into the teaching of the Word of God, it can absolutely turn the person and send them into the wrong direction. Again remember the passage from Matthew 16:11, 12; as given above. The disciples understood by this time exactly what Jesus was talking about; He was talking about the doctrine of the Pharisees and scribes, which are the traditions of men.

Mark 8:16 "And they reasoned among themselves saying, "It is because we have no bread."

After Jesus had just reminded these disciples, they turned around and asked Him the very same question, indicating that they had not heard one word that Jesus had said. This is why Jesus would sigh and groan in disgust in the Greek.

Mark 8:17 "And when Jesus knew it, He saith unto them, "Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?"

In disgust Jesus asked them the questions in this verse. Jesus is asking His disciples: Are your eyes still closed? What does it take to open your mind? If you sat in and witnessed all these miracles taking place around you, with the feeding of a multitude of people twice, it seems that you would put two and two together and know that something out of the ordinary was going on. However, it still didn't register in the minds of disciples.

Live Link to-"What happens when His Word is received into your mind?" Does it fall upon deaf ears, void of understanding?

Mark 8:18 "Having eyes, see ye not, and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?"

Jesus went on to ask three more questions of the disciples; as to why they could not understand what He was saying. Seven questions in all. If you ever feel like things are just not getting through, read these two verses and it will sharpen you up.

Mark 8:19 "When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?" And they said unto Him, "Twelve."

Jesus is now reminding his disciples of the meaning and breaking the meaning down for His disciples here in private. This word for "fragments" in the Greek "klasma" or "broken pieces". How many broken pieces did you pick up? Of course the answer is twelve baskets full. If you could take this to the spiritual sense, they had picked up twelve different segments of untruths after the feeding of the five thousand. This is a type and of the spiritual nature, twelve untruths are a lot of false doctrine mixing in with the teaching of Christ. The truth can be stretched way out of shape in many ways with twelve lies mixed in with those teachings of Christ.

Mark 8:20 "And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?" and they said, "Seven."

Jesus is bearing down on the fragments of broken pieces of "meat" of the truths of God's Word that were mixed in with the truth. Of course the disciples picked up seven baskets of fragments at the last feeding of the multitude.

Mark 8:21 "And He said unto them, "How is it that ye do not understand?"

Now after these disciples had seen the feeding take place, and collected the fragments, and Christ had explained exactly what they represented, they still didn't understand the lesson that He was teaching them. Jesus doesn't answer it for them, for He had already taught them, but it was for them to figure it out in their own minds, and put it together for themselves. He taught them what the three days represented when he was teaching the four thousand, that it was the time that they would be mixing with the multitude without His presence. And that during that time they would be picking up leaven or false doctrine of the Pharisees and many of the traditions that would go against God's Word. At some point the disciples will have to add it all up and see the lesson that Jesus was teaching them.

It is important that we see this lesson today, for we are living in the final generation, a time when there will be a famine for the bread, which is the Word, and the only truths that exist will be what is stored in your mind for understanding. If you fail to put it all together and you fall back to the traditions of men, you will be deceived by the false christ and those leading you to him.

Amos 8:11 "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord."

Amos 8:12 "And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."

The famine that is spreading around the world today is for the hearing of the Word of God with understanding. The traditions that are spread that are being called the Word of God, are the fragments that have been contaminated at the hands of so-called scholars, the Pharisees of today. This is why it is important to know exactly what the Word says, and have it sealed away in your mind.

Upon the arrival of the Antichrist at the sounding of the sixth trumpet, you will either be sealed in your mind [forehead] or you will not. If you do, God will give you His protection, however for those without the truth sealed in their mind, Satan, the Kenites and the fallen angels will have a field day with your minds. In Revelation 9:4 Jesus was giving instruction to Satan as to who he could touch and who they had to keep their hands off of when he comes to earth at the sixth trumpet.

Revelation 9:4 "And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither the green things, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads."

The seal of God is the Word of God, and it is your mind that is in your forehead. You will either know the truths of God's Word, or you will follow those traditions such as the rapture theory. Those fragments of lies that will cause you to believe a lie and in ignorance worship the Antichrist. This lesson that Jesus is teaching the disciples goes especially to us living in this finals generation. Jesus taught in the simplicity of His Word, and we are to accept those truths as they are given. Jesus will go on teaching to prepare them for the time when He will not be with them.

Remember that after Jesus ascended into heaven, the Romans filled their lions arenas with Christians as the lions tore Christians apart. The time is coming, spiritually speaking when we must be prepared for a spiritual battle like Christians have never faced. It is a time we will study of in the thirteenth chapter, and each of us had better have our spiritual armor on and in place. For the battle field that will be fought then is not in some distant land, but in our minds. It will be fought with words, ideas and concepts that come right out of the Bible, only many of those fragments [teaching and traditions] that will be presented at that time will be contaminated, and be nothing but lies.

You are given a mind, and Christ expects you to use that mind. To check up on what others teach for yourself, and know the truth from the untruth. Jesus gave His disciples visual aids to teach them the importance of protecting themselves against false teaching. He gave us His Word and the details of what we will face in our generation, yet most Christians today prefer not to take the Word of God, and run to the Pharisees of today for their instruction. It is time to wake up, for there is not much time left to our generation.

Mark 8:22 "And He cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto Him, and besought Him to touch him."

There are some so-called scholars that say that because Jesus was tired and wore out he could not heal this man the first time. What a stupid thought, they miss the whole point of this lesson Jesus is teaching here! limiting God, the creator of the universe to such a limited task. Christ had the power to do what ever He wanted to, but He is teaching us a lesson here. He wants to see if you have eyes to see with understanding. Do you? He asked them over and over, Can't you see? Don't you understand? Well let's check you out.

Live Link to-The Blind Man From Bethsaida   CHRISTIAN, CAN YOU SEE? Or ARE YOU STILL BLIND?

Mark 8:23 "And He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town; and when He had spit on his eyes, and put His hands upon him, He asked him if he saw ought."

Jesus is not even going to do this miracle in town for others to see, He took this man out of town. Then when Jesus had moistened His hands and fingers and anointed them, He put them on the eyes of the blind man. Then Jesus asked the blind man, Do you see any thing?

Mark 8:24 "And he looked up, and "I see men as trees, walking."

Some preachers would tell you that Jesus just couldn't do this for the lack of the man's faith. How stupid. Do you know what Jesus is asking this man, and the lesson He is trying to teach us? The lesson here deals with trees, the trees that go way back to the garden of Eden. The tree of life, who is Christ, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, who is Satan. Can you see the fig tree and the men filling the roles of the parable of the fig tree? The trees were not fuzzy, but they were clear, Jesus was teaching a lesson, and the lesson deals with all the lessons whereby people are used as trees.

Back in Ezekiel 31 God used trees to explain exactly what would take place in the last generation. Satan the Assyrian presented himself to be the mighty cedar of Lebanon, higher than all the other boughs or branches, and the cedars of the garden of God, he tried to hide his identity. All of the other trees admired this mighty cedar, but in the end this mighty cedar will be cut down. It was talking about our generation, and the trees of this lesson are people. Jesus as asking us, do you see the lesson that I am trying to present to you, do you understand?

This is how you gain the eyes to see, when you look at the types that are presented to you. Jesus Christ used symbols and types to teach us and give us more than He would say in Words, and those with eyes to see with understanding will look beyond for the deeper meanings.

Mark 8:25 "After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly."

"Clearly" as used here means that this man had full vision of understanding. It had a deeper meaning that what we consider clearly today. For you can see something very clear like through a telescope, yet be lacking in understand of what you see? This blind man did not need to be taught what he was seeing, for he saw with full understanding.

This is how we understand the Word of God; for when Jesus touches you with His Spirit, you will see and hear what is taught with understanding. The trees are symbolic of people and what is happening to the trees has a more in-depth meaning, as they apply to the events that we see going on today. As Jesus touches you, you will see the entire picture of God's salvation, as taught by Messiah.

Editor's Note: Now, Can you see this? Live Link to-The Parable of the Fig Tree

Mark 8:26 "And He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town."

Jesus closed that entire town off from understanding this lesson. Jesus would do no more miracles here in His ministry.

Mark 8:27 "And Jesus went out, and His disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way He asked His disciples, saying unto them, "Whom do men say that I am?" 

Jesus is now checking His disciples out a little bit. He is asking them, Who do the people you have talked with say that I am?

Mark 8:28 "And they answered, "John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets."

Mark 8:29 "And He saith unto them, "But whom say ye that I am?" And Peter answereth and saith unto Him, "Thou art the Christ." 

So what does the word Christ mean to you? "Christ" means "the Anointed one". To say Jesus is the Christ is to say Jesus is the Messiah. Did any of the other people say, "Jesus is the Messiah?" No. They named many other names, but none of His disciples saw Jesus as the promised Messiah, even though He fit the description given throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, they all were spiritually blinded but Peter.

So now the disciples knew, especially Peter, that Jesus is the promised Messiah, without doubt. With all the prophecies concerning the Messiah, they should also know what is about to happen. The example of the prophecy concerning the thirty pieces of silver and Jesus betrayal. That concerning the potters field, and all the other prophecies concerning the Jesus death and resurrection, from Isaiah 53 and Psalms 22 and all the rest of the prophesies.

Mark 8:30 "And He charged them that they should tell no man of Him."

Jesus is instruction His disciples, now that they know that the time of the crucifixion is not time yet, however they all will be instructed in detail from this point on, as the time draws near.

Mark 8:31 "And He began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be reflected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again."

This establishes once and for all that the disciples knew exactly what would happen at the crucifixion, and that after three days He would rise from the dead. They knew what to expect from the chief priests, and scribes, and how they would trump up false charges against Him. And here again the three days comes up again. After the three days Jesus would definitely rise from the dead. Jesus is teaching them exactly that it is necessary that He be crucified, but were they prepared for what Jesus had taught them?

Mark 8:32 "And He spake that saying openly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him."

As Jesus was telling the disciples what was going to happen, Peter's mind was on defending Jesus from death, and he was planning to go to battle to stop the plans of the Kenite religious leaders. You see Satan has a way of entering into peoples minds, and Satan had a way of using Peter's love for the Lord to go against God's plan. Yes from all the back in the garden of Eden.

Genesis 3:15 "And I [God] will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman [Eve], and between thy seed [the Kenites] and her Seed [Jesus Christ]; It [Christ] shall bruise thy [Satan's] head, and thou [Satan] shalt bruise His [Christ's] heel."

Live Link to-What happened in the garden

Jesus Christ will bruise the head of Satan, at Christ's second advent; while it was Satan's children, his seed and not the brother Judah, that bruised the heel of our Lord on the cross. This was done when the spikes were driven through Christ's heel, as He hung on the cross to pay the full price for our sins, once and for all. Most men of God recognize that this verse is talking about the death of Jesus Christ, when He was nailed to the cross for our sins.

They also recognize that "seed" as used here is talking about children of the woman Eve. Yet somehow they like to spiritualize away the rest of the verse, and every thing else that happened in the Garden of Eden between Eve and the two men, Adam and Satan. "Seed" in the Hebrew is called "zirmah", and in the Greek text it is "sperma". We in the English tongue call it sperm, and in Strong's Hebrew dictionary #2233; "Posterity, carnally, child, fruitful". It can't be any clearer, The seed of Satan's posterity" are the Kenites, the children of Cain, while Adam's posterity is in Christ, and of the pure bloodline through Seth.

Not until you understand what really took place in the Garden of Eden, and why; will you be able to fully grow up and mature in the Word of God, and in true Christianity. Eve's Seed is our Lord Jesus Christ, while Satan's seed to the last generation are called the Kenites. They are the offspring that came through Cain, the first murderer, and those Kenites are the ones that sealed their father Satan's destruction when they plotted the killing and went through with Christ's death.

Hebrews 2:14 "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."

God's plan was that Christ would be crucified, whereby the rest of us would have salvation through the blood of God's only Begotten Son. That's right, from the very beginning of this earth age God's plan was to have His only begotten Son Jesus Christ born into the world in a flesh and blood body, just as you and I have. Then live the perfect life in that flesh and blood body and be crucified by Satan's own offspring the Kenites, and on the third day, rise from the dead. Every event of Jesus' birth, life and death are well recorded through prophecy, including what He would be doing while in the grave and after His resurrection, as we read above. What Peter was planning was put there by Satan himself, for in preventing Jesus death, he would have spoil the entire plan of God.

Live Link to-Plan of God

This is why Jesus will be addressing Satan, while talking to Peter, for it is Satan that is putting the words through Peter's mouth.

Mark 8:33 "But when He had turned about and looked on His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get thee behind Me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men."

Jesus is reminding Peter that he keeps wanting to pick of the feelings of men and their traditions. This act of protection of Christ, after he knew what the plan of God was, was from the devil. Those things dealing with the things that go against the Word of God, being taught in church societies come directly from the leaven, and fragments that are picked up while walking amongst the multitudes after the feeding of the truths. Jesus is saying that if I tell you something is going to happen, it is going to happen exactly as I have told you it will.

This question can be asked of you and me living today. If you know exactly what the events of our day are going to be, why would you allow Satan to come in and cause you to question any part of those promises. This is like the clay telling the potter how it wants to be formed. Peter has been told what must happen, and the first thing that he wants to do is change God's plan.

This is exactly what is happening today, people are telling other people how to be saved and what to think through their traditions and false doctrines. They promise their church systems, rather than giving the straight forward Word of God. However there are many good teachers also, and when you sit under one of them, you are fortunate. Support him in all that you can. The point here then is to think in the Spirit according to the Word of God, and not by your flesh nature, when your thoughts goes against the Word of God. Beware of the leaven of the doctrines of men.

Mark 8:34 "And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, "Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."

The cross has only one purpose and that is to crucify somebody on. It is there to take ones life. To deny yourself is to put Christ first, you must love your father, mother, brother sister and so on less than you love the Lord. You must put Him first, even if it might cause your death, if you are going to follow and serve Him. In this final generation there will be two witness that make a stand before Satan, and they will be put to death before the entire world. However, most Christians of the sealed and elect will be called up to give answer, but their lives will not be taken. The point is to be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through you if you are delivered up.

Mark 13:11 "But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost [Spirit]."

Jesus comes first, and the Word of God is what is to direct our lives. Jesus is telling us here the sincerity that we must have to be a follower of Him.

Mark 8:35 "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it."

The word "life" as used here is your eternal soul. If you bargain away your eternal soul for the ways of this world, and allow the things of this world to have priority in your life, Jesus said you are going to lose your soul. However when you put the Word of God and the instruction that Jesus taught us first in your life, than you will save your eternal soul.

Ask yourself just where your priorities lie. Do you place the things of this world over the Word of God and the gospel? Does earning money come foremost in your life, or is planting seeds of truth in the minds of others? When one places the riches of this world over the blessings of God, in ignorance they have given up the promise of blessings for doing it God's Way, and instead of having both, they will lose both their eternal soul and the blessings.

Mark 8:36 "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

If you had the deed to all of the riches properties of this world, what would it be worth if it cost you your soul? How long will you live and just what can you do with your riches? Even if you live to be a hundred and stuck in bed, there is no pleasure with those properties for the only thing that becomes of value is your next breath. You would have sold out for just a speck of dust, as compared with the eternal wealth of the world age to come in our Lord's kingdom. Any thing that you gain in the flesh will only be passed on to someone else, unless the government takes it. In the flesh body, life is just a vapor of time, and not even comparable when taken in the full scope of eternity.

Mark 8:36 "Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Your soul is your eternal body [life], that part of you that returns to the Father upon the death of your flesh body. Jesus said in Matthew 10:28; "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him Which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." The Heavenly Father can cause your eternal soul to stop existing completely. To make it as if you had never existed even in the minds of your loved ones. Satan can not do that, nor can he even read your mind. He can tempt your mind by placing thoughts there, but until you form the words in your mouth or actions, he simply doesn't know what you are thinking.

There will be many souls that will bargain away their eternal souls and sell out to Satan. Many souls will perish in hell fire. Your soul can be eternal, while you flesh body, no matter what you do, is for this short earth age only.

Mark 8:38 "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels,"

The time spoken of here is after the second advent or coming. There is more to this than pointing to the things of the world, for even in religion, if your religion happens to be sunk in the traditions of men, your religion will cause you to lose your soul. Your ignorance of what you do while attending that church house can place your eternal soul in danger, and maybe you can gain it back in the Millennium age.

Let's say that you worship the false christ that appears as the True Messiah in ignorance. Your teachings that you picked at church led you to Him, for Satan is coming very soon. The final generation started way back in 1948, when the Jews, both the good and the bad figs, returned to Jerusalem to reestablish their nation. This is the parable of the fig tree;

Matthew 24:32 "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:"

Matthew 24:33 "So likewise ye when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors."

Matthew 24:34 "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."

Live Link to-The Parable of the Fig Tree

The count down of the final generation started in 1948, and all the events since then are tied up in the prophecies of the end times. This is our generation we are speaking of in dealing with the prophecies dealing with those things spoken of in bother the Old Testament, like Amos telling us that the famine of the end times will be for the lack of the understand of the Word of God, and all those things mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

Jesus speaks of two women working in the field at this end time, the first one taken was not taken by the True Christ, and the entire chapters of Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 is warning you, Don't be that first one taken. The Rapture theory that is taught in most churches is preparing you to be that first one. Do you see how serious this matter of false doctrines, the traditions of men, and the fragments that you pick up while walking amongst the multitudes in this final generation has become? It is a matter of what you seal away in your mind as being truth, and what you cast out as being polluted. The first on taken, in the parable, is taken by Satan!

Today most commentaries teach you to just believe, pray and fly away, however that is not what this is talking about. The Word of God is talking about deception that will come by the mixing of man's polluted thoughts with the pure Word of God. Jesus warned His disciples, "Take heed that no man deceive you." If somebody tells you that Jesus is here or there, and you are still in your flesh body, they are lying. You will not see the true Christ while any flesh and blood exists on the face of this earth. Paul warned us of this in I Corinthians 15:50, and this is a reminder given before in a prior chapter, but it is important.

I Corinthians 15:50 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."

Souls will not exist in their flesh and blood bodies in the Millennium age, that time when Christ will be here on earth reigning over His kingdom.

I Corinthians 15:51 "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed,"

Paul is revealing to us a mystery that Christ had revealed to him. A time is coming when all souls living in the flesh body will not die [sleep], but in an instant all souls will be changed. Thats right, changed into their new incorruptible bodies. The bodies that they will be living in for the next thousand year period, the time of their testing and discipline. For those of the elect that are sealed in their minds and hold true to Christ and were not deceived by Satan, it will be a time of rewards. For those that do not, it will be a thousand year boot camp, and at the end, a time of judgment by their works alone that they have done during that thousand year period.

Live Link to-The Seventh Trump

I Corinthians 15:52 "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

This sums it all up, for as fast as you can wink your eye, when the last or seventh trump sounds, the change will have taken place. Instantly at the sounding of the trumpet, you will be in your incorruptible body, and the next thing you see is Jesus Christ coming with His angels, and those dear saints that have died and returned to the Father.

The point made here, is that when others tell you that Christ is anywhere, and you are in your flesh body [Prick your finger;If you still bleed], don't go with them for they are leading you to the false Christ, who is Satan. Religion itself will drag you to Satan, and if you do not study the Word of God but rely on others to do your thinking for you, you are in danger of being deceived. These religionist will run to Jesus, later, at His actual return and say, "I healed in your name, I cast out demons..." and all sorts of things. But Jesus will say to them, "Get out of my sight, I know you not."

Live Link to-Endure til the end

The point of this whole chapter of Mark is Jesus asking you here and now, Why didn't you study all of my Word, chapter by chapter and verse by verse for the entire Word, instead of letting the fragments of the Pharisees direct your thoughts? You listened to the traditions of the elders of your "Christian" church, instead of my Word, and you were deceived. Going to church and doing what the preacher says is not excuse before the Father, when you have His Word.

Live Link to-Church is not Christianity. God's Word is Christianity.

                        
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.  We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.


The American Wisdom Series

isPublished by:

Rhine Publishing Co.
E-mail address - americanwisdomseries@verizon.net


Here at the American Wisdom Series our goal is to make you think about and question the wisdom of the current:
doctrine of many of our Christian churches, (The Man on a White Horse)
political direction of our country, (The Man on a Red Horse)
economic direction our country has taken, (The Man on a Black Horse)
 and teaching of our schools and media, (The Man on a Pale Horse)

The Four Hidden Dynasties of the New World Order Revelation 6:1-8
"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
Did you know all four are being ridden by Satan?