Mark, Chapter Eleven

1 ¶ And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,
2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

He is going to fulfill Scripture here.

Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

This represents the first Advent of Christ. Now in the next verse comes the second Advent;

Zechariah 9:10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

This creature represents mankind.

Job 11:12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.

He is now going to make a public statement by His actions. He is in the last week of His life on earth before the crucifixion.

3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.
4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.

Here is a lost man in type, tied up outside at a place where two ways meet, a crossroads. Either he will be saved or Christ will ride him to heaven.

Luke gives you another perspective on this;

Luke 19:30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.

You, unsaved man, are a jackass that needs to be loosed and rode by Christ. No one has ever ruled over you as you are your own god, serving Satan by your actions and thoughts, but all the while thinking of yourself as a god.

Other men loose you, giving you the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and Christ takes possession. Otherwise, you are bound for Hell.

5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?
6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.
7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.
8 And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.
9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

Jesus Christ is being publicly hailed as a king by the Jews. Of course, later, they also will cry out to crucify Him. But, here they fulfill Scripture mentioned earlier.

Luke 19:38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. 39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. 40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

If the people didn’t shout as it calls for in Zechariah 9:9 then the stones would shout. The Scripture cannot be broken.

11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

I would suspect that Jesus is seeing Titus and the Romans destroying the temple years later.

Luke 19:41 ¶ And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

Christ knows what could have been had the Jews received Him.

This would be Sunday night. We are going to count backwards from the first day of the week, our Sunday, when He rises from the dead.

12 ¶ And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

This is our Monday.

Here is Jesus, the man, hungry.

13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

The fig tree is a type of the nation of Israel at that time;

Hosea 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

Matthew 24:32 ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

I read that the fig tree produces fruit before it produces leaves so that if leaves appear the time of fruit is past. Israel has not borne the fruit that was required of it. Jesus Christ has condemned that Israel, that it will produce no fruit forever. But, now God has put Jewish people into the land and has made a new Israel. This Israel will bear fruit in the end time.

Zechariah 8:23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

Jeremiah 24:1 ¶ The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. 8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: 9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

See how fruit will be produced at the last times;

Revelation 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (Continue to read beyond this verse to see where these servants come from. They are NOT Jehovah’s Witnesses)

4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. 5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. 7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

This is the second time that Jesus has run opportunists out of the temple. He performed this feat at the beginning of His ministry, as well, reported in John 2.

17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Psalm 93:5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.

Isaiah 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

Jeremiah 7:11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.

18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.
19 And when even was come, he went out of the city.

This is our Monday night.

20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

This is our Tuesday morning.

21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

The Israel of that day had been given chance after chance to be a light to the world and had refused.

23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

As this section is linked together it is clear that he is talking about Israel and this dispensational truth is given to the Jewish Apostles. This is not a statement that can be claimed by a Catholic priest or some Pentecostal. It is so clearly embedded in the doctrinal application apparent here to the Jewish apostles who are sent forth into all the world then and in the Tribulation to come which would have come then had the Jewish leaders accepted Christ but we’ll save that for Acts. It is real simple. You must learn how to separate doctrinal truth from spiritual or practical truth. The Bible is written mostly to the Jews doctrinally. The Old Testament under the Law and before, the Gospels still under the Old but in transition, as is Acts a transitional book. Then, the church age begins with Romans and ends in slavery with Philemon, with Hebrews being a transition to the Tribulation, then the Tribulation letters, or General or Catholic Epistles as they are called, and then finally Revelation.

You can apply any verse to the Christian doctrinally from the Church Age letters and any verse from any book doctrinally to you that doesn’t contradict the doctrine in those letters. Any verse anywhere can be applied to you practically or spiritually and it is important to find out how a verse may apply to you today. It’s important to read the entire Bible over and over to see this clear division. It’s not rocket science but quite simple.

Doctrinally, specifically, the Church Age letters apply to me. Doctrinally, specifically, any other verses may apply that don’t contradict the doctrine in the Church Age letters. Every verse in the Bible applies to me in some way, usually in a practical way that helps me draw close to God if I can pray to the Holy Spirit to teach me. However, I am not called to kill Canaanites and just because I forgive someone doesn’t mean that they are right with God and I am never going to make Mount Rainier slide into the Pacific Ocean with prayer.

Literally, and doctrinally, the Mount of Olives will move when Jesus comes back.

Zechariah 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

Literally, and doctrinally, a mountain falls into the sea during the end time struggle.

Revelation 8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

You can make all kinds of spiritual applications to a Christian, making the mountain an obstacle in your life, but doctrinally you need to face facts and quit this accusing sick people of not having enough faith to be healed. This is nonsense and wickedness.

Look at verse 24 and dispensationally and doctrinally link it with another verse written for the same dispensation.

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Here’s another doctrinal “Tribulation” verse that qualifies this verse.

1Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

And another.

1 John 5:14 ¶ And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

And another.

1John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

And another.

Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

False preachers and false “Christian” denominations who wrench these verses out of the Tribulation doctrinally and apply them now destroy the faith of many. The spiritual application for a Christian in the church age is you must live in obedience to the truth that Christ has given you to have that sweet communion with God and to have any consistent answer to prayer. However, you will not physically move any physical mountains of dirt and stone with your faith.

Verse 25 and 26 are more verses that are misused. This is doctrinally applicable to the people in the Tribulation who are waiting for Christ’s immediate return to take over the world. They are now true if you want that fellowship with Christ that fills you with His glory. However, you are already forgiven as a Christian.

You are forgiven and are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Read Ephesians through very carefully. Even if you don’t do one single work because you are a lazy, useless Christian.

Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

If, after being saved, you get conned out of your faith by a charismatic individual or the education your parents have sacrificed you to and/or you become confused about what you believe. Remember, Christ’s Spirit is in you and you are sealed, as you saw in Ephesians.

2Timothy 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

Many young Christians have been sacrificed through the fire to Molech in a figurative sense by being sent to government schools for brainwashing and propaganda and grow up and out of their faith. Their parents will answer for that at the judgment seat of Christ if they themselves are indeed saved.

One of the greatest sins of modern Christian pastors and teachers and the reason why the greatest impediment to real revival in our churches is usually the pastor himself is their forcing the Bible to contradict itself because they are unable or rather unwilling to rightly divide the word.

2Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

27 ¶ And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,
28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

This is the essential problem of mankind. Modern man does things justified by his own authority. Those worshippers at the feet of humanism, scientism, and naturalism have their final authority as themselves. Jesus is my final authority through His Book, the King James Authorized Version of the Bible. To the fundamentalist who upholds the originals, the Textus Receptus (which one?) and the Second Great Rabbinic Bible aka the Masoretic Text, which he nor anyone he knows has ever seen, he is still his only authority because he would have to translate the Greek or Hebrew original and his translation would have to be the authority.

You can’t get around it. The fumbling fundamentalist comes to I Corinthians 15:55 and;

1Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Now, when the modern fundamentalist comes to this verse he sees that grave is translated from the word, Hades, which he refuses to translate but rather transliterates. In doing that he renders the verse meaningless. What is Hades in context? What about this verse?

Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Once again, our brave scholar will refuse to translate Hades as hell or anything else. He will simply transliterate Hades. Hades, as a word, means nothing unless it is translated. Now, you can’t have it both ways. Either, God had His hand in the AV’s translation and it is His word and you can trust it as your final authority or any one of the other 200 or so versions based on Egyptian manuscripts are equal in authority in which case you have no authority but your own choice “du jour”.

I know the AV is true and the word of God if for no other reason than that reading it over 46 times has changed my heart and even removed specific desires for and enjoyment of specific sins in my heart and mind. If you say to me that the NKJV, the NIV, or the NASB are equal to the KJV in power then I ask you, how many times have you felt compelled to read one of them? In fact, I don’t know anyone who has been drawn into a book so intensely, outside of the KJV, that they have felt a hunger for it like this. But, I know many people who claim that they have read the KJV dozens of times and continue to read it and will read it until they die and that doing so has changed them dramatically. In fact, I know of one old preacher who insists he has read it 175 times + in his many years.

Okay, Christian, you say you believe in the “fundamentals” of the faith? By what authority do you believe these things? By your own heart? By your own reasoning? By some unseen force you think came into you while you prayed? Without the word of God you have no authority other than your own imagination to believe anything. Do you have the word of God? The actual words of God? If you don’t have the actual words of God that He wants you to have, then what do you have? A reliable translation? No, you have your own presumption and self-worship, and worship of someone’s intellect, perhaps other than your own.

You are not a Sudanese Christian who has never seen a Bible and can only stand firm on his faith in Christ and die for it or be enslaved. We are a literate culture with literally hundreds of millions if not billions of Bibles in print. Do you say that none of them are the actual words of God and that God’s actual word is something that is unavailable to us? Then, how do you know anything by faith? By what authority, Christian? By what authority do you believe these things?

29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.
31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?
32 But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.

He has put them in a quandary. They realize that either way they answer the question will be politically unacceptable. So, I ask you, where does my faith and trust in the Authorized Version come from? If from Satan, then does Satan call us to cease from drinking “spirits” so we can drink of one Spirit? Does Satan call us to renounce pornography in all of its forms and chasten us when we stumble and sin? Does Satan have us read a Bible, any Bible 46 times? Does Satan remove our wicked lusts and desires and replace them with a hunger for God’s words as we feel physically ill at our sins? Does Satan impress upon us a strong “No!” when we think of wanting to sin? Would Satan want us to memorize dozens and dozens of verses and recite them every morning on our knees? Does Satan give us a heart for the lost and dying? Do you who believe in any Bible as being valid do these things? If not, where does your authority NOT to do them come from? Who is telling you it’s not important to memorize Bible verses or to read the Bible over and over or to trust its promises or to delight in its words? Who is your final authority? If you say it is Jesus Christ, would He say that His words weren’t important for you to be filled with? Are you sure you are serving the Risen Saviour? Or are you serving your own imagination and reasoning? Your desire to be spiritual? Your longing for transcendence? Is Christianity merely another self help philosophy with the added benefit to you that you’ll “go to a better place” when you die?

33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.