What If?

There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. Luke 21:25

Recently I watched an interview of Perry Stone by Sid Roth. The topic discussed was the book of Revelation. Perry Stone stated that one needs a good grasp of the Old Testament in order to understand this most unusual book of the bible. As an example he used the woman clothed with the sun, crowned with twelve stars with the moon beneath her feet. According to Perry Stone this is a reference to the Jewish people. How did he draw that conclusion?

Genesis 37:9 describes one of Joseph’s dreams. In it the sun, moon and stars bowed down before him. His family particularly his father Jacob understood the dream’s meaning and they were less than excited about this prospect. As nomadic herdsmen the idea was preposterous but that’s not the end of the story.

Circumstances beyond his control placed Joseph as a slave in an Egyptian prison, hardly a place to rule and reign. With Divine intervention, overnight Joseph went from the prison to the palace. He became second in command of Egypt; only pharaoh was higher in authority. At this time there were bountiful harvests but things were about to change. God warned Pharaoh in a series of dreams and Joseph was the only one able to interpret their meanings. Now he was in charge of preparing Egypt for what lay ahead.

When the famine hit, Joseph oversaw the food distribution. People from all over came to Egypt to buy grain. Joseph’s family was affected and eventually his brothers made the trek to purchase supplies. They found themselves in the presence of Egypt’s second most powerful man and paid him the appropriate respect by bowing down. Joseph’s dream was now coming to pass.

God hides nuggets of truth often in plain sight. Scriptures have several layers of meaning so I’ll throw out a “what if” here. What if the scripture in Luke doesn’t just refer to signs in the natural heavenly bodies? What is if it also a reference to the Jewish people?

Revelation eleven describes two witnesses who will appear for 1260 days in Jerusalem. They’ll possess supernatural, wonder working power which won’t endear them to earth’s residents. Some scholars believe they are Moses and Elijah – the law and the prophets. Others think they may be Elijah and Enoch, the only two men in Heaven who didn’t die a physical death. No matter whom they may be, they will be an attention getting sign.

Revelation seven and fourteen tells of 144,000 Jewish witnesses who will also appear. They’ll be radical and capture people’s focus. They’d qualify as signs too.

My purpose isn’t to provide an exhaustive Bible study, but an admonition to us all to pay more attention to what we read. So much is woven into God’s Word that just a casual reading could cause us to miss those instances where we’d say… “what if?”