Christian Media

Communiqué

THE GOOD COUNSEL OF GAMALIEL?

Part II

In the last installment of the Communique, we introduced the story of how the Apostles of Jesus Christ narrowly escaped Death at the hands of the priestly council of the Jews – known as the Sanhedrin – and they were preserved because of the urging of the Pharisee Gamaliel. 

The account is set in the early days of the assembly of the Christians, shortly after Jesus had ascended to our Father in heaven. Peter and John had proven they had the authority of the Lord by healing a lame man in the temple, and the uproar the miracle caused caught the attention of the Sanhedrin. The priests had heard the rumors that Jesus was risen from the dead, but they assumed the tales of the Lord’s resurrection were untrue, and they surmised the disciples must have stolen His body from the tomb.

Shortly after Jesus was not found in the tomb, the soldiers which were assigned to guard it came to the priests to tell them the great stone closing the tomb was miraculously removed, and the grave was empty.

“And when [the chief priests] were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money to the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept” (Matthew 28: 12, 13).

Because Roman centurions would face harsh penalties for falling asleep on the job, the priests said if there are repercussions for the soldier’s false statements, in addition to the bribe they were offering, they promised to defend them before the governor if it became an issue.

“If this comes to the governor’s ear, we will persuade him, and secure you: So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day” (Matthew 28:14, 15).

By the time the healing of the lame man by Peter and John occurred, the Jewish leaders thought they had put the claims of Christ behind them by arranging His execution, but now they were again challenged by the actions of the followers of Jesus Christ. Worse yet, the man that was healed was standing with the disciples, when they were hauled before the Sanhedrin.

“They conferred among themselves, Saying, what shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. And beholding the man which was healed, [he was] standing with them, [so] they could say nothing against it” (Acts 4:15, 16, 14).

The priests decided that they would simply release the disciples, because if they were to prosecute them for wielding supernatural power, it would bring too much attention to the fact that they had arranged the crucifixion of Jesus, when He was innocent of any crime. Before releasing them, they threatened them against further preaching in the name of Jesus.

“But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And [they] commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:17, 18).

Needless to say, the disciples continued to tell people about Jesus, and the assembly of the believers continued to rapidly grow. The faith of the people was magnified, and as more and more people were healed, the Sanhedrin realized the Christians were replacing them as Spiritual leaders in the eyes of the people.

This is precisely the issue today, but now a stunning Role Reversal has occurred, because it is the “Christians” who malign and slander those who
recognize the true disciples of Jesus have been translated into the genuine “Israel,” as the Lord has ordained it.

“Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees) and were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison” (Acts 5:17, 18).

As we pointed out in last week’s installment of the Christian Media Communique, it was at this point the priest’s council had planned to hold a trial, and intending to kill the Apostles, they invited the parliamentary body of the Jews to their deliberations to provide a political cover for their malevolence.

“The high priest came, and they that were with him [the Sadducees], and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought…[because] they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them” (Acts 5:21, 33).

Then a popular member of the opposing party of the Sanhedrin – the Pharisees – spoke to the assembled priests, and cautioned them concerning their intentions, because he said God might be with the Christians!

“Then stood up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel…and said unto them…let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it” (Acts 5:34, 39).

Most would agree that God Himself brought this about, in order to preserve the early church – yet this perspective ignores the Spiritual dimension concerning the way the factions were configured. It is apparent the Disciples of Christ welcomed the persuasive oratory of Gamaliel, who is also portrayed in a somewhat favorable light later in the New Testament.

The truth is, God rescued the Apostles that day, and although Gamaliel was his instrument, Jesus had already sternly warned the Disciples about the negative consequences inherent in the Spiritual output of the Pharisees.

“And Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6)

As we’ve repeatedly noted, the Pharisees were known for their compromises and their hypocrisy, in that they had agreed to share religious power with the Sadducees – even though the Sadducees taught there is no resurrection, no such things as angels, and they were willing to kill to preserve their political power.

The Pharisees willingly agreed to share power with the apostate Sadducees, even though they sharply disagreed with them in a religious sense. In this regard, they acted as hosts for the Spiritual powers of the Triuniverse that the New Testament reveals.

In what we’ve dubbed the Perdition Engine, the primary “powers of the heavens” (Matthew 24:29) have been unmasked through the Word of God. The two Spiritual entities of Death and Hell – which are identified in the Bible through their characteristics – are the two forces that form this mystical iniquity machine.

“And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him” (Revelation 6:8).

When the Spiritual configuration that emerged as the vessels of Life – hosted by the Apostles of Jesus Christ – were added to the triune equation, it is evident the Sadducees were inhabited by Death and the Pharisees manifested the Spirit of Hell.

Furthermore, because Gamaliel was used by God to preserve the Disciples at one specific point in time does not vitiate His sinful nature before the Lord, and Jesus said as much.

“He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad” (Matthew 12:30).

According to this Scripture, in the Triuniverse, there is no neutral standing, yet that is precisely the position taken by those moving in the Spirit of Hell. , manifested by the Pharisees. In fact, Christ says He would rather you were actually against Him, rather than seeking to straddle the middle ground that Gamaliel occupied.

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15, 16). 

In fact, Gamaliel has the greater guilt because he was exposed to the magnificent works of God, and there is no indication that he ever heeded the call to salvation. For example, we learn that the Apostle Paul studied the laws of Moses under Gamaliel, but when he invited Jesus Christ to be His Lord and Saviour, he considered the knowledge he had gained as a Pharisee to be worthless.

Known as Saul of Tarsus before he was translated into Paul the Apostle, he freely confessed his former flesh and blood behavior, as well as his tutelage as a Pharisee, was of no value. 

“[I was] circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee…brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel…But what things were gain for me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:6, Acts 22:3, Philippians 3:7).

Paul indicated that his faith as a Pharisee could not save him, and those who rely on the Old Testament law for righteousness before God have made a tragic error.

“I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:8).

In our studies on the Perdition Engine, we’ve learned that the Spirit of Hell leads to Death, and these characteristics are found in numerous euphemisms for Death and Hell. Perhaps the most misunderstood alias is in the two beasts of Revelation – commonly called Antichrist and False Prophet. The first “beast” –- Antichrist -- may be identified as the opposite of Christ, who is clearly Life.

“And after three days and an half the Spirit of Life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet” (Revelation 11:11).

Since Christ is Life, Antichrist would obviously be the opposite of Life, which is Death, which leaves the figure of the False Prophet to be inhabited by the entity identified as Hell. Moreover, the imagery associated with the “False Prophet” leads the Flesh and Blood inhabitants of the earth to embrace Antichrist/Death by rejecting the Life in JESUS CHRIST.

“And he [the Spirit associated with the “False Prophet”] causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the [Spirit of Death nested in Antichrist]” (Revelation 13:12).

Thus, in the triune Spiritual configuration of creation, along with all the other Pharisees, Gamaliel was acting in accord with Hell, making the Death driven Sadducees more appealing to the people who were ruled by the two-part formation of the Sanhedrin.

“Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem…ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement…Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone” (Isaiah 28:14-16).

 

 

James Lloyd