Pool of Bethesda

The Pool of Bethesda, Part I

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In this article, I would like to study about the pool of Bethesda with you. Let us refresh our memories of this story recorded in John 5: “After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep [market] a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.” Verses 1–4.

A Myth

Do you believe that the troubling of the water at this pool of Bethesda, about which the people gathered for healing, was of God? No! It was not God’s ordained method of healing. Something is so essential in one of these verses that lets us know this. A myth had been built around this situation. Notice, in verse 4, that the Bible says, “For an angel.” It does not say, an angel of God.

Let us look a bit closer at verse 4. “For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.” It says that whosoever was first in entering the troubled water was healed. What do you think about that? Is that God’s method of dealing with His precious souls? No, God is no respecter of persons. God is not about the business of the survival of the fittest.

If a pool such as the one at Bethesda was located near you and everyone in the area knew that at a certain time an angel moved the water, and whatsoever disease an individual had, if he or she just got into the pool first, they could be healed of that infirmity, do you believe the grounds around that pool would be overflowing with people? Oh, yes, most definitely!

Quick Fix

You might not think this is so, but there are hundreds of people who gather at large auditoriums where ministers simply wave their hands over the individual or blow their breath upon the individual and a supposed healing takes place. You have perhaps seen such a service on the television. Many people seek out a quick solution that requires no sacrifice on their part. That is what they want. They want the benefits without the effort.

What do you think would be the response if I could take the eight principles of health—godly trust, open air, daily exercise, sunshine, proper rest, lots of water, always temperate, and nutrition—and capsulate them, put them in a bottle with a brand name on it, and tell people, “Take three godly trust capsules a day, and it will bring you close to Jesus”? This might seem to be humorous to you, but it is not an over-simplification of the truth, because people love quick fixes; they love pills. They are looking for methods that require no sacrifice.

In the Book of Jeremiah 30:12, 13, we read: “For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise [is] incurable, [and] thy wound [is] grievous. [There is] none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.”

Testimony

The apostle Paul always gave his testimony every place he went. He would tell of how, while walking on the road to Damascus, there was a light. (See Acts 9:3.) God has given us each a testimony. It does not have to be a dramatic testimony. It does not have to be, “I almost fell over the cliff, but the angel pulled me back, and I gave my heart to the Lord.” It does not have to be that at all. Many of us, in the quietness of our hearts, have been touched by God. Some of our experiences are dramatic, but whether dramatic or not, we each have a testimony.

Forty-one years ago, when I was clinically dying with arthritis, which lasted for ten years, my career as a professional basketball player was ended. As I look back in retrospect, I thank God for arthritis. Not that I glory in the pain, but I would not be where I am today if it was not for arthritis. That is the only way God got my attention to slow me down, so He could put me in the position where He could fill me with His Spirit. He had to take a basketball out of my hands and put a Bible there. He had to keep me from going up and down a hardwood court. He had to say, “Jackson, I have a job for you going up and down on the court of earth.” I did not premeditate these things. It was the farthest thing in my mind to be doing what I am doing today, but God put a call in to me, as He puts a call in to you.

I remember my junior year in school when one professional basketball team was putting out its feelers. During that time, very few college players were going from college to the pros. It was virtually unheard of for a high school student to go into professional ranks, such as LeBron James, who was the first round draft pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland, Ohio, in 2003. He instantly became a very wealthy 19-year-old, signing several endorsement deals totaling nearly 100 million dollars. When I was coming up, the highest paid player was Wilt Chamberlain; he made $100,000, which was like a million dollars during that time.

Search for Relief

As I searched for relief from the arthritis, I remember my doctor looking me in the eye and telling me, “Young man, yes, you play pretty good basketball, but unfortunately there is no known cause or cure for your arthritis.”

I stayed on anti-inflammatory drugs for almost ten years, when those drugs lost their effect. This created a condition that led me to take other kinds of drugs that the doctors did not have to prescribe. It was only by God’s grace that I am here today.

“Thou hast no healing medicines.” I am not saying that there is not a place and time for medicine, but I do know that in my situation, medicine was not improving my condition. It was not until God put me flat on my back that I looked up and cried out to the most powerful Person in the universe. I did not cry out to be healed physically; I cried out to be healed spiritually, because I did not know that there was healing physically in His Word. But God is the Chief Physician. He knows how to heal, but if He chooses to not heal, as He chose not to heal Paul, He promises that, “My grace is sufficient.” 11 Corinthians 12:9.

You see, in Jeremiah 46:11, it says, “Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; [for] thou shalt not be cured.”

That is what I did for ten years. I tried many medicines, but I was not cured. I was in the pool of human philosophy, seeking man’s method for human dilemma. There is only one solution to the human dilemma—the gospel of Jesus Christ.

House of Mercy

The word Bethesda means, “house of mercy.” Look at the last three letters of that word. God’s people, His true people, should be the balm in Gilead. Is there a balm in your area?

People should be coming to us for the healing of their souls and for the healing of their bodies. We should be the head and not the tail. (Deuteronomy 28:13.) “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.” Jeremiah 8:20, 21. Am I black? When God says that He is black, He is not talking about being black in color. It denotes that He feels the pain, the sorrow. The Bible says that He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. (See Hebrews 4:15.) When nobody else understands our pain, there is One who enters into our suffering, and that is God.

Jeremiah 8:22 continues, “[Is there] no balm in Gilead . . .?” A balm is an herb; it is medicinal. God is saying, “My people should be medicinal.” We should have healing in our attitudes, in our dispositions; our very lives should testify of the mercies of God. His mercies should be seen in the way we treat one another and in the way we speak. Even when we are under provocation, we should not retaliate. “A soft answer turneth away wrath.” Proverbs 15:1.

Jeremiah 8:22 goes on to say, “. . . [is there] no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” Why is there suffering among God’s people?

People Types

I want to share with you that at the pool of Bethesda there were four types of people. We read in John 5 that there was a multitude of impotent, blind, halt, and withered at the pool. As we have already declared, the troubled water of that pool was not God’s method of healing. It was a myth built up by the leaders of that time. No angel of God stirred up the water, but it was impressed upon the minds of the people that there was something supernatural about that water, and all one had to do was get in to be healed of his or her condition. Such is the propaganda that we find in society today, which is not based on biblical and true scientific facts. We allow our emotions, our destinies, and our circumstances to move us. We grab hold of anything that sounds good, but we do not inquire, “Is this the way of the Lord?”

We may find our marriages are on the rocks, and we go to people who do not know the Word of God to give us counsel as to how to establish our marriages. That is the pool of Bethesda. When we find ourselves in financial crisis, we listen to those who encourage us to take out another loan, and we find ourselves deeper in debt, because we are still at the pool of Bethesda. We find ourselves losing our children, and in churches today we are told that the only way we can hold onto our children is to entertain them, to change the style of worship, to have music that has the beat. We are at the pool of Bethesda. We need to train our children to be servants and to minister, not to be entertained.

There is no healing in that pool, so let us investigate the people by the pool, and let us see where our hope lies. First, consider the following one word definitions: the word impotent means, “powerless”; the word blind means, “sightless”; the word halt means, “motionless”; and the word withered means, “useless.”

Four types of people were found around the pool and are found in God’s church, but do not drop your head in despair. The story has a good end, because there is hope. We need to know, however, where we are. Are we powerless? Are we sightless? Are we motionless? Are we useless? Let us investigate.

Powerless

Read 11 Timothy 3:5: “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

Recently, several of us were sitting in the cafeteria at M.E.E.T. Ministry, and we were discussing a particular issue. Someone stated that the way to tell whether or not a man is living up to the truth or has the truth is to observe his life and visit in his home. Now, I know the fact is that a life should be in harmony with the truth, but I cannot determine the truth based on a person’s life. A person may be preaching truth but not living the truth. That does not negate the truth.

It is very important to understand this, because many of us judge the truth based on the life of a person, when it is unfortunate that the person is not living up to the truth. Nevertheless, that is truth, if it agrees with the Word of God.

Inspiration warns of many preachers who look to the souls they have baptized, but they were not living according to the truth. In spite of these unconverted ministers, God is moving upon the honest hearts. (See Early Writings, 98–102.)

What is the lesson from this? I can have truth in the intellect, and I can be theologically correct, but if this knowledge does not impact and change my life, I live a lie to that truth. When Jesus spoke the truth, His life testified of the power of the truth. As a body of people, God does not want form; He wants substance.

Impotent

From a medical viewpoint, the word impotent means, for a man, that he does not have the ability to produce. There is no power.

In Genesis 17, we read about Abraham. God came to Abraham, after the birth of Ishmael, and declared that he would give to him a son. “And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah [shall] her name [be]. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be [a mother] of nations; kings of people shall be of her.” Verses 15, 16.

What was Abraham’s response? “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall [a child] be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!” Verses 17, 18.

But God responded: “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed after him.” Verse 19.

Continuing in Geneses 18:11–14, we read: “Now Abraham and Sarah [were] old [and] well stricken in age; [and] it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” Abraham was past the time of producing.

Notice Romans 4:17: “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, [even] God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” Do you understand this principle? That which we do not see, God sees as it is.

Verses 19, 21 say: “And being not weak in faith, he [Abraham] considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb . . . And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”

God of the Living

Let us continue to see the mighty goodness and wonderful works of God. In Hebrews 11:11, we read: “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” God can take a dead womb and bring life out if it. God can take a spiritually dead person and bring forth power, if we believe.

I am so glad that God is not God of the dead. He is God of the living. If we have not the power to overcome our inherited or cultivated habits, then we need to realize that God has power to give us victory. The only reason that we are not enjoying the victory is because we do not believe.

Abraham asked, “Lord, how can I produce a child? I am past age. My sperm count is gone.” But God reminded him that He made the womb. God is not bound by biology; He created it.

We do not know the God we serve. There is nothing too hard for Him. From where do the banks get their money? It comes from the resources that God made. The water we drink comes from the very fountains of God. This is why we, as Christians, though we find ourselves challenged and faced with discouragement, must never, never doubt that God is able to keep us. Everything and everyone belongs to God, and He needs people into whom He can put His power.

Castration

You, I am sure, are familiar with the background of Daniel. As teenagers, he and his companions were taken hostage. Daniel, whose name means, “God is my judge,” was from the tribe of Judah. He was in the line to be progenitor of Christ Himself—the seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and Jacob, and right on down the line.

Nebuchadnezzar the king, “Spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring [certain] of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; Children in whom [was] no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as [had] ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.” Daniel 1:3, 4.

Something very important is stated in verse 3. What is a eunuch? It is a castrated male. God has said that there will be some made eunuchs for the kingdom, born eunuchs. (Matthew 19:12.) That means that such a man does not have the ability to reproduce or procreate.

Read 11 Kings 20:17, 18. This is speaking of the days of Hezekiah. Hezekiah showed all of his goodness to the heathen kings, and God was going to deal with that, but in verse 17, the Bible says, “Behold, the days come, that all that [is] in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.” This is the prophecy of the captivity of Babylon. Verse 18 continues: “And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

So, is Daniel 1:3 telling us that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego were made eunuchs? Yes, they were. What a terrible ordeal to experience, especially a male Hebrew! That eliminated all probability of them being the progenitors of the seed of Jesus Christ. The devil was trying to stop God’s plan.

Intimate Relationship

These young men were castrated, but not cast away. The devil is seeking to castrate you and me. He is trying to immobilize us; he is trying to make us impotent. But God is looking for a people that will conceive His character. The Bible says, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3. That word know indicates an intimate relationship.

The Bible says that when Adam knew his wife, they brought forth a child. (See Genesis 4:1, 25.) When we have an intimate relationship with God, we are going to produce character, because God is going to impregnate us with His seed. He is going to put His seed in us through His word. But the devil is seeking to make the Word of non-effect in our lives. He is seeking to castrate us.

Power

Daniel purposed in his heart. The devil thought that impotency would stop God’s plan, but God is not bound by biology. God is not bound by circumstances. God said to Abraham, “You shall have a child.” God said to Peter, “When you are converted,”—not if but when! Luke 22:32. Jesus will put a positive emphasis on our lives. God will give us power.

At the pool of Bethesda, there were impotent, powerless people. They were people controlled by such things as appetite, sensual desire, pornography, and lying. Does that sound similar to today?

There is not one habit, inherited or cultivated, that God’s power cannot break. Whatever our past may be, if we cry to Him and say, “Lord, I want to be freed,” He will free us quicker than He will heal our physical infirmities.

God does not delay when it comes to delivering us from sin. However, if we pray, “Lord, take this tumor out of my body,” He might say, “I give you grace and power to endure it.”

To be continued . . .

Thomas Jackson is a health evangelist and Director of Missionary Education and Evangelistic Training (M.E.E.T.) Ministry in Huntingdon, Tennessee. He may be contacted by e-mail at: gods-plan@meetministry.org or by telephone at: 731-986-3518.

The Pool of Bethesda, Part II

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There is not one habit, inherited or cultivated, that God’s power cannot break! The reason we do not have that power is because we do not believe in that power. The reason we do not have it is because we do not access it. We do not crave it.

As a freshman in high school, I made the varsity team. I remember getting my uniform, No. 23, and the coach telling the team, “Young men, if you are going to be great basketball players, you must eat, drink, and sleep basketball.”

I was so excited to go home and tell my mother that I had made the first team. When the sun set, instead of putting on my pajamas, I put on No. 23 to go to bed. The next morning I was up, going to the bathroom to get ready for school, and I heard my mother call me. Now, when my mother wanted my attention, she did not call me by my first name; she said, “Boy!” And when she said that, I knew that I had better stop at attention! This particular morning, she got my attention, then asked, “Where are you going?”

“I am going to prepare for school.”

“What is that you have on?”

“My uniform.”

“Did you sleep in that?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Is that appropriate?”

“Well, no.”

“Why?”

“Mom, my coach said that if I am going to be good, if I am going to be great, I must eat, sleep, and drink basketball.”

She looked at me like I was stupid. She said, “Son, you have to understand what he was saying. He was saying that you must have a passion for it. That is what he meant.” Are you following this? You have to have a passion for it.

My wife has always been No. 2 in my life. She knows that. We started dating when we were 17 years of age. We went to high school together and have been together ever since. When I got out of college, we married.

When I was in high school, I thought I was something very good because I was a basketball player. My wife could not stand basketball players. That was a challenge in itself. Growing up in Chicago, Illinois, there were a lot of street gangs, but basketball kept me out of those gangs. I would play in the winter; I would play in the rain; I would play in the snow. When my date wanted to go out somewhere, I would always put her off, saying that we would do something the next week.” It always occurred that way. I do not know why she stayed with me, because she was No. 2 to basketball. She is still No. 2, but not to basketball—to Jesus now. My point is this: there is a power in passion.

Happiness

When I played basketball, I was in so much pain. The drugs would wear off; the needle would wear off; the ultra-sound treatment did not work, but I had such zeal and passion for the sport, I rose above the pain. That was for a corruptible crown.

When you are possessed by God, you do not become fanatical. No. You have a radical change in your life, but there is a balance. The fact is that you love God more than the necessary food. You love God so much that you are willing to do anything to make Him happy.
People say, “I want to be happy.” Wait a minute! When you make God happy, you are going to be happy.

In Romans 1:16, Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation.” From 1 Corinthians 1:18, we know that the cross of Jesus is the power of God.

Romans 1:16 includes the phrase, “unto salvation.” Salvation means, to save from sin. What is sin? 1 John 3:4 tells us that “Sin is the transgression of the law.”

So, the gospel contains the power to deliver us from sin. That power is invested in Jesus Christ. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name.” John 1:12. To those who become sons and daughters, Jesus gives authority; He gives them power. We are not talking about Internet power or nuclear power; we are talking about a power that made the Internet. We are talking about a power that made nuclear. It is the energy and power that brought the world into existence. This same energy that brought the world into existence is found in God’s Word. There is power there. When we receive His Word, not intellectually only, but when it becomes a part of our lives, there will be a change in us. We are not going to be the same. The change is going to be radical. That does not mean we are instantly perfect and ready to go to heaven, but that the power is transforming.

Do Not Practice Spiritualism

God gives you power. If you have been struggling with the same sin problem, year after year after year, when you hear His voice today, access this power. You do not have to continue to be under the control of the demonic forces. You are going to have trials and tests, but that does not mean you succumb to them. The Spirit is the President; the flesh is the resident, and the resident does not tell the President what to do.
In Galatians 5:16, we read, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” It does not say that you are not going to have tests and trials, but it says that you do not have to succumb to them. Do not converse with the resident. When you listen to the resident, you practice spiritualism.

Spiritualism simply means the dead communicate with the living. Now, we definitely know that the dead are dead in the grave. We know the situation with Saul (see 1 Samuel 28), but at the same time, the average Seventh-day Adventist is not going to be caught up into believing that the dead communicate with the living. But the average Christian Adventist will be caught up if they do not get the victory over the flesh, because the Bible says, “Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin?” Romans 6:11.

So, if that flesh begins to speak to you, enticing you to do something you know you should not do, telling you that it is all right, that nobody is watching you, and you begin to converse with that flesh that is supposed to be dead, I know it might sound a bit strange, but you are communicating with the dead! Do not listen to that flesh; listen to the Spirit of the living God, who is alive and will give power to you.

We read of the power of God in Jeremiah 10:12: “He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.” We see also the words of Jesus, in Acts 1:8, promising the power of the Holy Spirit. That is what we should be looking for today, that Pentecostal power. How did the apostles receive it? They emptied themselves of themselves. A person that is already full with self cannot be filled with anything else, just as you cannot pour more water into an already full glass of water. When we empty ourselves of ourselves, God will fill us with power.

History is Past

At the pool of Bethesda, the people were waiting for the moving of the water, but there was no power in the water. That certain man had been lying there beside it for 38 years, unable to get into the waters when they were stirred. (John 5:5.) Inspiration says that the reason this man was in such a condition for 38 years was because of his own choices. “His disease was in a great degree the result of his own sin, and was looked upon as a judgment from God.” The Desire of Ages, 202. He had messed up! How many of us have fallen? How many of us have messed up? But when Jesus overshadowed that man with His dignified shadow, He did not rehearse to that man the history of his mistakes. He just asked one question: “Wilt thou be made whole?” John 5:6.

That is what He is asking of each one of us today. He says, “I know your history; I know where you have fallen. Wilt thou be made whole?” I am sure you would want to instantly respond that you indeed wish to be healed; you want that power! Do you believe that Jesus is going to give that power to you? He gave it to that man.

Too many of God’s people are struggling with the sin problem, and we are told that we will keep sinning till Jesus comes. To me, that is almost blasphemy! Calvary should be a revelation to our dull senses of what sin does to the heart of God. God hates sin. He will eradicate it, and He will get it out of us.

The Blind

There were, by the pool of Bethesda, other impotent people, including the sightless, those who were blind. (John 5:3.)

Revelation 3 directs us to the Laodicean church, which is rebuked for its lukewarmness, and then, in Revelation 3:17, another element of this people is described:

“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” [Emphasis added.]

This is not speaking about other churches, but about God’s people, of which there are those who are blind, spiritually blind. This is why God counseled: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” Verse 18.

“I counsel thee to buy of me . . .”; to whom is “Me” referring? It is definitely not referring to man or to a church. God holds the resources. Isaiah 55:1 tells us, “Every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” How are we going to buy or otherwise acquire power from Jesus? We cannot buy it; all He wants is our sin in exchange for His righteousness. He just wants to hear: “Lord, here I am. I recognize that I am wretched, miserable, and poor. I am blind, God. I have failed, and You have promised me that You will give to me, if I come and buy. The only thing I can give You is my sin.” What kind of a deal is this, when God says, “Just give Me your sin; I will give you My righteousness”?

Read again Revelation 3:18. The “gold tried in the fire” is understood to be faith and love, faith that works by love and purifies the soul. It goes on to state, “Anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” The anointing of the eyes is that the Holy Spirit wants to awaken us to the reality that we might see our need. We need eyesalve so that we may see how we look. We need to pick up and look into the mirror—the perfect law of liberty—to see in what kind of condition we are. As we draw closer to Jesus, we will continue to see our wretchedness.

God is not going to save us in our sin; He is going to deliver us from our sin. The more we behold Jesus, the more we see our need. But the more we behold one another, the more we think that we look pretty good. We must behold Christ, and the more we see ourselves through the eyes of Jesus, we are going to cry, as did the apostle Paul, “O wretched man that I am.” Romans 7:24.

We need the eyesalve to help us to see our wretchedness, and then we need the other eye anointed so we can see the needs of our fellow human beings. We need to see ourselves the way we are and know that God can clean us; then we need to see that our fellowman needs our help. We must turn our eyes from ourselves, from me and mine. There is no healing in the pool of Bethesda for that, but Jesus said, “I counsel thee, . . . anoint thine eyes.”
“I will bring the blind by a way [that] they knew not; I will lead them in paths [that] they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.” Isaiah 42:16. God said that He would take the blind, and lead them out of darkness. All we need to do is ask.

To be concluded . . .

Thomas Jackson is a health evangelist and Director of Missionary Education and Evangelistic Training (M.E.E.T.) Ministry in Huntingdon, Tennessee. He may be contacted by e-mail at: godsplan@meetministry.org or by telephone at: 731-986-3518.

The Pool of Bethesda, Part III

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Have you ever considered that the seven days of creation are a revelation of the steps of becoming a converted person? Each day represents a step in conversion! If you study just Genesis and apply the principles of Genesis, you will get into heaven. Every word is a revelation of God’s plan to restore His image in the soul of man.

For example, on the first day, God said, “Let there be light.” Genesis 1:3. Where were you before God touched your life? You were in darkness, without shape or form. God said, “Let there be light,” and that light came into your heart and lighted your path. Christ is the Light of the world. (See John 1:6–9.)

Allow me to clarify this for you. On what day did God create the sun? Did He create the sun before He created the plants? No, He created the plants before He created the sun! (Genesis 1:11–19.) The sun was created on the fourth day, but many people have believed that the light of the first day, when God said, “Let there be light,” was the sun. That was not the sun, because the sun that we see in the sky depends upon the Light of the world, the Son of righteousness who comes with healing in His wings. (Malachi 4:2.)

Matthew 5:14 says, “Ye are the light of the world.” Jesus is the Light, and if you have Jesus in you, then you are going to be the light. No darkness will be there. As soon as you step into a place, there is going to be light. Insects are drawn to light; they are rather pesky creatures. Considering this, consider that when you are filled with the Light, you are going to attract a lot of folk that you will perhaps want to put your foot on and squash, but they are God’s creatures. If you are not attracting individuals of every type, something is wrong with you; you must have Light.

The Halt

A third type of person was at the pool of Bethesda. John 5:3 identifies the impotent, the blind, and the halt. When you think of the word halt, you perhaps think of lame, but I would invite you to consider another meaning for it: “to stop or to be motionless.”

Ezekiel 37:1–5 reads, “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which [was] full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, [there were] very many in the open valley; and, lo, [they were] very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.”

If God can take a valley of dry bones with no motion and put life into it, what can He make with that which already has life, just not the life that He wanted it to have? God can take nothing and make something out of it.

I want so much for you to understand this, because we have a work to do. The devil has come down with great wrath. He is angry with the woman, and he is to make war with the remnant of the seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:17.) The devil is angry at no other church but this church. He is angry at this church because God has entrusted this church with the light. As long as the devil can keep us deceived and fighting among ourselves, he is happy.

The Bible continues, in Ezekiel 37:6, 7, “And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking.”

When God puts His people together with truth, there is going to be a shaking. In fact, the shaking is already here. All those sinners in Zion will be shaken out, and God will have a people. He will put life into those people.

“Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds.” Verse 9.

You see, God is holding back these four winds until He puts His seal upon His people. (See Revelation 7.) We are in the sealing time now. The sealing time is the settling into the truth, both spiritually and intellectually, so that you and I cannot be moved, that we might have that final seal. It is a settling in that we cannot be moved with every wind of doctrine.

Motionless Prey

The way the devil catches prey is to paralyze it with a roar. The ground trembles; the prey feels the tremble, and it becomes paralyzed. It does not know which way to go. It becomes motionless, and the devil can easily trap it. A moving target is difficult to catch! When people are not witnessing for the Lord, they are motionless. They are spiritless. They have no Spirit.

The gospel commission is given in Matthew 28. When you look at the word gospel, what are the first two letters? G and O. God is telling us that we must go. It is time to work. We need to roll up our spiritual sleeves and go to work for God. We need to get out of the pews and stop being motionless. We need to ask God for His Spirit so we can go to work for Him.

This action is not brought about at the pool of Bethesda. It is only brought through the power of the Holy Spirit. When it falls upon His church, it will be on fire for the Lord. As soon as you come to know God, you have got to tell someone about it!

The Withered

The last representation we read about at the pool of Bethesda is the withered. I am certain you have seen a withered celery stalk or a withered carrot. It has lost its quality. It is limp; it is useless.

In 11 Timothy 2:20, 21, we read: “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, [and] prepared unto every good work.” God is telling us that in His house He has different vessels, and He wants to prepare them for His use. In every house, in every church, in every ministry, God wants people He can use.

It is not how long you live that matters, but it is how well you live for the Lord. I am a young 58. I am not youthful, but I am useful. Those people who are 40 years of age and older are not youthful, but they are going to be useful. Those who are younger than 40 years are youthful, but they can be useful too. The Bible says, “The glory of young men [is] their strength: and the beauty of old men [is] the grey head.” Proverbs 20:29.

Matthew 5:13 states: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

What is the purpose of salt? It is used for seasoning. When you put the salt on the food, does the salt become the food? When you season something, the salt adds flavor to it. It is mingled with the food, but it is distinct. It gives flavor.

God said, “You are the salt of the world.” Therefore, as Christians, we are not to become like the world, but we are to give flavor to the world. We are to provide the right impression that God wants the world to have.

We should give the right impression to the world that the God who created heaven and earth is a God of mercy and love, but He is also a God of particulars. He is not going to save us in our sin.

If the Christian is watching pornography, how can the Christian teach the world not to watch pornography? If the Christian, in a business transaction, uses an unjust balance, how can he or she testify to being a Christian while not being fair in trade?

A Christian should be transparent with nothing to hide. It has been said that character is what you do when nobody else is watching or will find out. In other words, what you do when no one else is around is character.

Jesus said, “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” John 15:5. When you abide in Christ, you not only bring forth fruit for yourself, for when fruit appears on the tree, it is for other people to pluck. When people see fruit in your life, they are able to pluck it and benefit from it; they see Jesus. You are useful.

God talks about talents in Matthew 25:14–30. Every person has at least one talent. You might not be familiar with your talent; you might not know what it is, but you can ask God to reveal it to you. If you do not use that talent, it will be taken away from you. It will be useless.

Usefulness—whether it is playing the piano or playing the violin, do it to God’s glory. If it is working on the computer, do it to God’s glory. If you are working on automobiles, do it to God’s glory. Be useful!

Healing Waters

The true healing waters are described in Ezekiel 47:12: “And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.”

Inspiration tells us, “After the entrance of sin the heavenly Husbandman transplanted the tree of life to the Paradise above; but its branches hang over the wall to the lower world. Through the redemption purchased by the blood of Christ, we may still eat of its life-giving fruit.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 288. There is healing in those leaves; those leaves are the type of promises of God’s Word.

Instruction for the attire of Aaron as he served in the sanctuary included, “A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.” Exodus 28:34. If you have eaten a pomegranate, you know that it is rather hard on the outside, and it has a lot of seeds on the inside. They are edible seeds, and they are encased in a juicy, red substance. Have you ever tried counting the seeds of a pomegranate? I have. I counted up to 300 or 320 seeds and I stopped counting. I gave up! It seemed an impossible task to count all of the seeds.

Why do you think the pomegranate was used on the hem of the priestly robe? Why not a mango or a kiwi? The pomegranate is a virtual seed basket.

Luke 8:11 explains, “The seed is the word of God.”

Peter said, “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.” 11 Peter 1:2–4. Every seed contains the promise of God. Every seed of the pomegranate is encapsulated in red; every promise of God is backed by the blood of Jesus. You can bank on those promises!

Healing Waters

In the sanctuary, the colors of blue, scarlet, and purple were used. The blue represents loyalty. “The children of Israel, after they were brought out of Egypt, were commanded to have a simple ribbon of blue in the border of their garments, to distinguish them from the nations around them, and to signify that they were God’s peculiar people.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 473. They were to be commandment keepers. Blue represented obedience. The sky is blue. God wrote His law on sapphire; that is true blue. Blue represents loyalty and obedience.

Scarlet represents sacrifice. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18.

In Leviticus, an example is given of the cleansing sacrifice. “And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.” Leviticus 14:49–53. One bird was killed. The live bird was dipped into the blood of the dead bird and then set free. The blood of the dead bird represents the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ. His blood sets us free. Scarlet represents sacrifice.

Royalty is represented by the color purple. The Saviour was mocked. A crown of thorns was placed upon His forehead and a purple robe was placed about Him as His accusers saluted, “Hail, King of the Jews.” (Mark 15:17, 18.)

Purple represents royalty. Blue represents obedience. Red represents sacrifice. God is a master artist. What two colors do you put together to get royalty? red and blue. When you mix obedience with sacrifice, the result is royalty.

God wants people with obedient hearts, hearts of sacrifice.

“Sin brings physical and spiritual disease and weakness. Christ has made it possible for us to free ourselves from this curse. The Lord promises, by the medium of truth, to renovate the soul. The Holy Spirit will make all who are willing to be educated able to communicate the truth with power. It will renew every organ of the body, that God’s servants may work acceptably and successfully. Vitality increases under the influence of the Spirit’s action. Let us, then, by this power lift ourselves into a higher, holier atmosphere, that we may do well our appointed work.” Review and Herald, January 14, 1902.

We do not need to be at the pool of Bethesda. All we need is the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thomas Jackson is a health evangelist and Director of Missionary Education and Evangelistic Training (M.E.E.T.) Ministry in Huntingdon, Tennessee. He may be contacted by e-mail at: godsplan@meetministry.org or by telephone at: 731-986-3518.