Using Bullinger’s King James Version Companion bible (Kregel)
This study relates to certain actions conducted by the well known prophet named Elijah. “Elijah” translated into Hebrew means “God is YHVH”. YHVH is our Father’s sacred name.
He did have a son as well, whose name is Elisha. Elijah would assume the role of a prophet of God after Elijah is taken up in a “whirlwind”, never experiencing death of his body. “Elisha” in the Hebrew tongue means “God has salvation”.
As a biblical numeric, One Hundred Fifty Three (153) means “Fruit Bearing”.
It is worth knowing how Elijah practices often involved the use of “thrice” or “threes” to make an effort completed in his efforts for God. It will be true for the aspect of “153” as well, as the number 153 is indeed equal to “3 times 51”.
The 3’s of Elijah –
Elijah started 3 prophet schools, one school at each of these locations: Bethel, Jericho, and Jordan.
Bethel means “the house of God“, Jericho means ” place of fragrance“, Jordan means “the descender“.
Elijah prayed 3 times to God to revive the lifeless body of a mother’s young son that he laid upon his own bed. The son then regained his life and he was able to return to his mother. 1 Kings [17:21].
Elijah would encounter 3 separate groups of men sent forth by a corrupt idolatrous Judean king, named Ahaziah. Ahaziah was a son of Ahab and Jezebel who themselves were among the very worst rulers in the history of Judah’s monarchs. Ahaziah became very ill and instead of seeking any help from YHVH, he instead wished to seek a life saving healing from a Baal idol located in the town of Ekron. “Ekron” means “torn up by the roots“. 2 Kings [1:3].
Elijah would challenge the priests of Baal to see if their own god or the true God YHVH would be able to start a fire at their own alter. After many attempts by the false priests to cause any fore at their calls to these fake gods and failing miserably, Elijah decided to make his own altar and he chose 12 stones to hold the fire that would come down from heaven as he called upon YHVH to make the altar fire startup. He had the firewood drenched 3 times with water to soak the wood before calling YHVH to ignite the altar’s wood. 1 Kings [18:33].
Regarding the number “153” it s useful to read how king Ahab and his wife Jezebel have assumed the rule over the 10 Northern tribes of Israel, and people thereof are encouraged to remove YHVH from their lives and instead begin to use grove worship and other false religious practices. The land is, spiritually speaking a wasteland. Elijah will now appear and curse (from God) the land and the people there.
I Kings [17:1]
“And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, ‘As the Lord Go of Israel liveth, before Whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.‘ “
[ed: “Gilead” means “rocky region“. ]
[ed: Elijah stands before the living God, just like a candlestick. Ahab and Jezebel have made Israel an unholy collection of filthy religious practices.
Jezebel is a Kenite from Zidon and introduces “grove” worship and Baal religion to the 10 Northern tribes of Israel Therefore God will punish Israel for this since the leadership is guiding people deeper into these evils. Elijah (by God) will bring about a drought in the land, and spiritually speaking the same will happen in the last days as mentioned in the book of Amos. Famine will occur next once the water is short. Pray for water from heaven, even the latter day rain. ]
I Kings [22:52] “And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father [Ahab], and in the way of his mother [Jezebel], and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. “
I Kings [22:53] “For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.”
[ed: “he” is Ahaziah. This documents Ahab’s son named Ahaziah’s choice of god. Baal worship is Satan worship as Balial is Satan. His mother, Jezebel was from Zidon, an area of known Kenites (descendants of Cain). Baal was her god and he did learn and trusted in Baal as well.
God is not happy when leaders take up false gods as this often leads a whole nation into idolatry – away from God’s truth and God’s love.
On to 2 Kings … ]
II Kings [1:2]
“And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, ‘Go, enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.‘ “
[ed: Ahaziah sends messengers to ask the priest of Baal-zebub whether he would recover from this fall. In Hebrew, Baal-zebub means “lord of the flies”.
[ed: When Ahaziah became ill, he went straight to Baal for help. The Northern 10 tribes were often referred to as Samaria. Samaria means
“Watch mountain” or “Watch tower”. Ahaziah is raised in a family that has led his own personal family and the nation of Israel towards respecting dead idols with the worship of an evil spirit, Baal. Ahaziah learns nothing of the true God VHVH. ]
[ed: These dispatched messengers are going to be intercepted by Elijah (below) before they reach their intended destination of the Baal idol at Ekron. ]
II Kings [1:3] “But the Angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, `Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron ?‘ “
[ed: Elijah is instructed to enquire of Ahaziah’s messengers why they are heading to Ekron’s god, essentially asking why Ahaziah did not ask YHVH about his condition, and even to ask for help. Note that the Captain does not know Elijah is a “man of God”, nor does Elijah cause any harm to them after instructing them to return to their king with the message from God. ]
II Kings [1:4] “Now therefore thus saith the Lord, `Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone, but shalt surely die.‘ “
[ed: The messengers are told by Elijah what Ahaziah’s fate will be. ]
II Kings [1:5]
“And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, ‘Why are ye now turned back ?‘ “
II Kings [1:6]
“And they said unto him, “There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, `Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.’ ” “
[ed : This first group of 51 men have returned back to Ahaziah as Elijah told them to do. They are turning towards the false god of Ekron, then returning back as instructed by YHVH (via Elijah). Soon thy will once again be dispatched out to meet Elijah, essentially provoking him and God. This captain and his men can’t seem to make up their mind about what they should do for following Elijah’s God or Ahaziah ‘s god .
Very soon another fake, desolating god named satan will appear on Earth and just as people reach out to dead wood or graven idols of their own making, people will flock to the false shepherd hoping for peace and prosperity by his Mystery religion. ]
II Kings [1:7] “And he said unto them, ‘What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words ?‘ “
II Kings [1:8] “And they answered him, ‘He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins.‘ And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
[ed: Ahaziah asks the captain about this man they had met. Elijah being a prophet of God is to wear animal skins for clothes, rather than fine woven clothing. ]
II Kings [1:9]
“Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: And, Behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, ‘Thou man of God‘, the king hath said, `Come down.'” “
[ed: The captain is ordering Elijah to “come down” and in doing that is also disrespecting God who has told the messengers (and in turn to their king) that they should not proceed with seeking help from Baal’s priest. The words of the captain, “man of God” look to be done in mocking as you can see in the very next verse that Elijah states if he really is a “man of God” that these first group of 51 will be consumed by fire. ]
II Kings [1:10]
“And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, ‘If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and they fifty.‘ And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.”
[ed: fifty-one dead men – consumed by fire from heaven (lightening). Mocking and disrespecting God has brought this upon them. Elijah really does hope this single incident will cause people to change their heart back to God. This will also happen yet again in the future as fire from the 2 witnesses will consume those who wish to have satan as their god.]
II Kings [1:11]
“Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty.
And he answered and said unto him, ‘O man of God‘, thus hath the king said, `Come down quickly.‘ “
[ed: Stubborn Ahaziah is dispatching yet another group of men, group #2 consisting of another 51. The captain reaches Elijah and then makes making a taunt to him and thus to God, even worse than said by the first captain. of God. ]
II Kings [1:12]
“And Elijah answered and said unto them, ‘If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty.’ And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.”
[ed: Yet another fifty-one dead men – consumed by fire. Ahaziah still won’t give up though. ]
[ed: Below the king will dispatch a 3rd captain who recognizes that the previous 2 groups of 51 men were destroyed and he does not wish to suffer that same fate. ]
II Kings [1:13] And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, ‘O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.‘ “
II Kings [1:14] ” ‘Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. ‘ “
[ed: Another group of 51 men is sent out to meet Elijah by king Ahaziah , a third group, but this group will behave differently when they come upon Elijah. They will become contrite and respect Elijah’s God given authority and message. Note how the captain refers to his men as “thy servants”. ]
II Kings [1:15] “And the Angel of the Lord said unto Elijah, ‘Go down with him: be not afraid of him.‘ And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.’
II Kings [1:16] “And he said unto him, “Thus the Lord, `Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of His word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.‘ ” “
[ed: God tells Elijah that he will be safe and should travel back to he king Ahaziah with the 3rd captain and his group of 50 men. Elijah tells Ahaziah why he will die, for seeking out his dead Baal idol will now lead to his own death. ]
II Kings [1:17] “So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.”
[ed: 3 groups of 50 men, plus a captain, or 51 men total. 3 groups of 51 would be 153 total. Each group alone is 1/3 of the total of 153.
2 of the groups do not respect God, and lose their lives. 1 group does respect and honor God and humbly turn away from reaching out for Baal, a dead god.
Speaking of 153, weren’t there 153 fish counted of the story in John 21 ?
As a biblical numeric, One Hundred Fifty Three (153) means “Fruit Bearing”
The total of the “153” brings one to remember the story of how some of the disciples had fished all day and night without much success of actually netting anything despite such a great effort. As this fishing event would involve Jesus’s third appearance after his resurrection, it is an important teaching for us to understand.
As they fished without success, Jesus would come towards them on the lake shore and he gives instructions to fish out of the right side of the boat. Doing so, the boat’s nets become full of fish, so heavy they can’t be brought up into the boat, so they drift towards shore where Jesus has been making a meal of fish and bread.
John [21:2] “There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of His disciples.”
[ed: The men in the boat, not catching a single fish all day and all night. Then Jesus appears to them.]
John [21:6] “And He said unto them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.‘. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.”
[ed: Y’shua (Jesus) is assisting and giving out some specific instructions so they will hopefully now be able to fill their net. ]
John [21:11] “Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.”
Note that fish and bread were the same food provided to feed the multitudes a meal after the Sermon on the Mount, which was Jesus’ very first public teaching as shown by Mathew [14:19], Luke 9:16] and Mark [6:41]. ]
John [21:9] “As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.”
[ed: As it has been said before, in the Greek Language, take the first letter of each of the words “Jesus Christ Son of God Savior” and it spells the equivalent of the word “fish”. When you use the sign of the fish it means that you are a Christian.
Makes one think about the 3 groups above being related to the 3 groups that stood apart in the 1st Earth age – 2 Peter [3:6] and Jeremiah [4:26]. As we know 1/3 of the stars of Heaven were removed by the Dragon’s tail. These are 1/3 of God’s children rebelling with satan against God. God could have decided death to these children as well as satan received his sentence, or he could start another Earth age so some may overcome their mistakes and choose to follow God again. Some say that another 1/3 stayed with Father to make a stand with Him. Then the last 1/3 did not make a choice. Not staying with God is death for the soul. ]
Revelation [12:4] “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born.”
[ed: What about the 1/3 that stayed with God in the first Earth age?
over to Zechariah … ]
Zechariah [13:8]
“And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.”
Zechariah [13:9]
“And I will bring a third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.”
[ed: So here are 1/3 of God’s children falling away from Him, and also another 1/3 of God’s children being saved away and getting past the fire of God. So we have a definition of 2/3 of God’s children.
That leaves 1/3 who did not stay with God, nor fall away from God and follow satan in the rebellion against Father. Such are fence sitters, and they may even change their mind so often they can’t make a decision. Such indecision will become a trap for that person, just as if you built a house on sand. That condition is not good to obtain eternal life with our true eternal God. Hopefully, many of the 1/3 who chose to follow satan or the indecisive 1/3 who did not make any choice in the 1st earth age, will return to God. Each “fish” or person soul will be the “captain of their own ship” and make such an important choice for themselves and which God they will love.
Even if 2/3 of God’s children have made unfortunate decisions in their life so far in that regard, it is still possible that all “153” and should be the ultimate goal if God’s help in fishing for men is used. Could be saved if they choose to follow God. With God’s spirit working through the Elect, this is certainly the goal. ]
II Kings [2:1] “And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.”
[ed: “Gilgal” means “rolling” or “a wheel“. ]
[ed: Elijah had founded 3 schools for teaching prophets, 1 at Bethel, 1 at Jericho, and the 3rd at Jordan. Elijah and Elisha would visit each school along the way, and eventually reach the Jordan river. ]
II Kings [2:8] “And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.”
[ed: just as Moses was able to use God’s strength to cross the Red Sea, Elijah is also able to cross the Jordan with dry feet. Jesus would meet both Moses and Elijah on the Mount of transfiguration later on during his own ministry in front of 3 of the disciples: Peter, James, and John as found in Mathew [17:2] and Mark [9:2].
Those that follow Elijah’s efforts in the Last days will not drown in a flood of lies, but live because of God’s salvation offered to those who choose wisely for living for and loving with the true God. ]
II Kings [2:11] “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”
[ed: Elijah is taken up via a “whirlwind” which is a flying vehicle from God’s domain. Afterwards, Elisha would then use the mantel left behind by Elijah to recross over the river and continue in a reverse order back to visit each school along the same travel path as when he accompanied Elijah earlier. Elisha revisited the same 3 towns then on back to Mt. Carmel of Elijah’s residence. ]
Malachi [4:5] “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
Malachi [4:6] “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
[ed: Elijah is named as being 1 of the 2 witnesses shall in the very last of the days of this pre-Millennium tribulation time.
Elijah will give instruction to the God’s Elect and they will understand while the others, even those who listen somewhat, will not.
In reality, there are 2 fathers with children, those who have YHVH as their heavenly father and those who intentionally or unintentionally have satan as their father. ]
Rev [11:3] “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. ”
Rev [11:4] “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. ”
Rev [11:5] “And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. ”
Rev [11:6] “These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. ”
Rev [11:7] “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. “
[ed: So in the very end of the latter days, these 2 witnesses will be able to control the rain and the fire. This would be spiritually applied to those who wish to resist, mock, obstruct or otherwise interfere with the effort by them to bring about change to the people of the Earth. They are to prepare a way for the return of Christ.
To conclude this study, let’s take a good look at one of Jesus’ parables concerning the fishing of men towards God. ]
Matthew [13:47] “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:”
[ed: So making one as a fisher of men that will bring forth many people from across the globe (sea of all kinds of people). ]
Matthew [13:48] “Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good fish into vessels, but cast the bad away.”
[ed: This sorting of good and bad fish (people) will be at the very end of the Lord’s day (at the end of the millennium – a 1000 year period that will provide teaching the truth of God and His ways. ]
Matthew [13:49] “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,”
[ed: Again at the end of the Lord’s Day – which is the end of this current second Earth age with the third and final earth age to begin thereof. ]
Matthew [13:50] “And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
[ed: This will be the final fate of anyone who refuses to overcome, anyone who is judged to be “wanting” on the scale of their works of salvation (faith cannot alone save anyone during the Millennium, only good works instead. ]
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