What the Lord Is Saying on Covid-19. Part III

•Good morning, everyone.

•First I must thank you for staying tuned, having already thanked the Lord for His amazing grace through which He continues to speak.

•In Part I,

What the Lord Is Saying on Covid-19. Part I

I emphasised that Jehovah is omnipotent and can keep us safe in the midst of this turmoil as he had done severally over the past 6 000 years for our forerunners. I also emphasised that it is non-negotiable that we:

i. #haveJesus.

ii. stand firm in Jesus.

iii. evangelise in whatever form.

•In Part II,

What the Lord Is Saying on Covid-19. Part II

I recommended that we

i. praise Him, since He inhabits the praises of His people.

ii. take refuge in His Name.

iii. evangelise to the ends of the Earth!

•Yes, I am yet the one speaking. So I realised recently that the story the Lord gave me insight on, Mark 5: 1-20, is also in Matthew 8: 28-34 and Luke 8: 26 – 39. I also realised that the insight I got would not have made sense – at least to me – if I had not been led to Mark’s account. As the Lord put it, they are one event, three stories!

•So the Lord asked me to compare and here’s what I found:

In Luke‘s, we learn that:

1. Verse 27:

(i). the man was a citizen of that city. He was renowned in Gerasa until the problem struck.

(ii). the problem had been for a long time before The Intervention. See also Verse 29.

(iii). the man had been rendered naked before The Intervention.

(iv). the man had also been rendered homeless.

(v). the man actually lived in the tombs.

2. Verse 29: the man was often led into the desert.

3. Verse 32: “the swine” was actually on “the mountain”.

4. Verse 35: the restored man sat at the feet of Jesus.

•In Matthew‘s, we learn that:

1. Verse 28:

(i). there were in fact two men, but only one stood out!

(a). only one ran to Jesus for help.

(b). only one did obeisance to Jesus.

(c). only one sat at the foot of Jesus.

(d). only one wanted to go with him.

(e). only one was told to proclaim the gospel.

(ii). they were exceedingly, i.e. unusually, fierce.

(iii). they instilled fear in everyone’s heart.

(iv). they barricaded a vital route to the sea port.

(v). they deprived the city of Gadara the economic potential of that route.

•In addition to what we already know from Part II, we may infer from the foregoing, from past to future, that:

1. The crisis came in through the action or inaction of a renowned “person” – or country.

2. In the course of the crisis, the “person” became stripped of their comfort: unclad, homeless.

3. There were prolonged periods of hunger, thirst and scorching heat as found in the desert.

4. This deprivation did not lead to death by exsanguination or sepsis; somehow the “person” not only survived but became stronger. I would speculate that the trips into the desert were indeed rejuvenating.

5. There was violence as a result of this deprivation. This is different from the post-Intervention violence.

6. This violence culminated in restriction of movement of the affected person and others not affected.

7. This restriction heralded a partial economic downturn; pre-Intervention economic events.

8. Jesus came all the way just to intervene; that was the only thing Jesus did in that country.

9. Jesus did not arrive early in the crisis; the crisis had been “a long time” before He docked.

10. “The swine” are the Elite – political? economic? religious? – who feel safe in their own eyes and outside of Jesus.

11. Jesus’ Intervention caused economic collapse for the “custodians of the swine” and not for everyone.

12. This collapse was the basis of the unity of the people and the consequent rejection of Jesus.

13. The other demoniac who benefited from the Intervention rather sided with the “mob”. Not everyone who is saved from this crisis will join the Church; such ones would have been healed but not restored!

•This brings us back to the necessity of evangelism! #haveJesus #firminChrist

•The Lord has said to encourage those of our brethren who feel the prayers and praises offered so far to quench this scourge must be enough to move the Almighty: there is a period, a process and a purpose. And we can never really praise Him enough!

•In this Part we have examined more closely the events before The Intervention from the perspective of the afflicted. In Part IV, by His grace, we shall examine the same period from the other perspective.

Whereas most scripture quotations are from the Authorised (King James’) Version 1611, heavy reliance has again been placed on The New Testament in the Original Greek 1881 by BF Westcott and FJA Hort as reproduced in The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures 1985 by the New World Bible Translation Committee.

•

©Ayk • 22 April 2020

Again, this work may only be shared whole

My prayer remains that we #qualify. Matthew 24: 13; Acts 20: 24.