Who Are The Seventy Preparing the Way For?
5 April 2016
By Mark Farquharson
I want you to put aside who you think the seventy are preparing the way for, as I present a different point of view. But before getting into who they are preparing the way for, lets look at the seventy in the light of the revelation given to me.
The other day I realized that I had not covered the coming knowledge and glory in the entries I had done about the latest date for the coming outpouring. Knowing already when the knowledge and glory came to the Israelites in the wilderness I did not think there was more I could gain by reading the verses again in Exodus 16. However I turn to the page, and noticed the last verse in the chapter before.
This verse in Exodus 15 covers the camp at Elim, which means a place of great trees, or a grove of palms. The writer here happens to mention that there are seventy palm trees and twelve wells or fountains of water, Exodus 15:27. This then connects to the seventy disciples that Jesus sends out in groups of two in Luke 10. Jesus did not just have twelve disciples, as his following grew, there were enough that he could commission seventy to go out, in addition to the twelve. Thus the seventy that Jesus sends out are represented as seventy palm trees. The twelve wells of water representing the twelve disciples or apostles. They are represent as water, because they were to be fulfilled by the living water, the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Both the seventy and the twelve represent the overcomers, the elect, the chosen, the body of Christ. However not all of the body are commission to do the same work, thus the twelve and the seventy have different commissions.
Moses had twelve princes, one of each tribe. These twelve princes each had five subordinates, for a total of sixty subordinates. The subordinates plus the princes came to seventy two, but were know as “the seventy elders.”
Going back to the passage in Exodus 15, most translations have the word "seventy" for the seventy palm trees and this is how it should be translated. However the KJV, not one I usually quote from, has it stated differently. Instead of putting seventy, it reads "threescore and ten palm trees." Note a score is twenty, thus it does add up to seventy. It also has it this way in Numbers 33:9 which covers the camp at Elim as well. This verse in Numbers repeats the information about Elim that is in Exodus 15:27. Later when the KJV mentions the elders in Exodus 24:9, the translators use the word "seventy." Note in each case it is the same Hebrew word.
This brings me to my bookstore dream and the later purchases of the books. In the dream there are three of us in a bookstore. Somehow we are released, and two go ahead, I buy two books at ten and meet up with them later. One could wonder how this connects to the number seventy as it is not even in the dream. What is in the dream is the number ten. It is not clear from the dream if the two books are ten each or ten for both. This is cleared up by the later buying of actual books. The first two books are brought for $10 each coming to $20. Thus the correct understanding of the dream is that each book is ten, coming to a total of twenty. One should now start to see how it relates to seventy. In the dream the seventy is represent by the books, two books being twenty or a score, each one is ten. Thus you have the score and the ten represented, thus representing the three score and the ten that is the seventy.
If I look at the receipts the first receipt for the purchases on May 22 2014 have the two books priced at ten dollars and under the heading "Extn," they are also ten dollars. However for the later purchase of two books on July 24 2014, the price for each book is listed as twenty, before the 50% discount, making them ten dollars each, under the "Extn," heading for a total of $20. The second purchase showing that each book can also represent the number twenty as well as the number ten. I do note that in the dream it is two books not three. Twenty being the number for redemption and ten is the number for fullness of the law & responsibility.
The number twelve is not in the dream, however it is shown to connected in a book purchase. For the first two books are brought with a $30 gift card, leaving ten on the card. On June 4 2014, I use the remaining money on the gift card plus cash to buy a book. Since the same gift card was used both times this shows these are connected. This book on June 4 had a full price of 24.99, before the 50% reduction to $12.50. The twenty four representing the elders in heaven, and the twelve representing the twelve apostles and the twelve wells of water.
In the dream you have the seventy represented not only by the books, but also by the two that go on ahead. The seventy that were commissioned by Jesus were sent in groups of two. These seventy were to prepare the way for Christ. Thus it is thought that the overcomers are the seventy that prepare the way for Christ and when Christ comes back, the way will have been prepared for him to go the nations.
However is there another way that this can be fulfilled? I am not ruling out the actual return of Jesus Christ, please understand that I am all for him coming back, and totally believe that this will occur. What I am getting at is the supposed idea that when he gets back he goes on a tour of the nations. Instead I am suggesting that this can be fulfilled another way, before his return.
For an example I use Elijah and John the Baptist. You see Elijah himself did not have to return for the prophecy to be fulfilled of his return. John the Baptist was the one who fulfilled the prophecy of Elijah's return. Jesus himself said that Elijah had already come Matthew 17:12-13. However John was not the reincarnation of Elijah, nor had Elijah actually returned to the earth, as John. It was that John was a type of Elijah, for he came "in the spirit and power of Elijah," Luke 1:17, not that he was Elijah.
Thus the seventy do not have to prepare the way for the actual Jesus Christ, the head of the body to visit the nations upon his return. For a type Christ can go to the nations, the way having been prepared for them.
All the overcomers, the chosen, the sons of God, are the body of Christ. Not only are they the body, but they are sons of God, and Jesus is the Son of God. Thus they represent Christ, and can go in his place. There will soon be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit into the chosen, making them like fountains of living water.
This is back up by the dream, for in the dream the two go ahead representing the seventy going ahead preparing the way. Later I representing the chosen, the twelve, go and meet them. This is different to what happens in Luke 10, for the seventy return to Jesus, were in the dream I go and meet the two were they are.
Just like the body of Christ is both the bride at the wedding and the guests, the chosen can both be the seventy that prepare the way and the Christ that the way is prepared for. That is not to say they are actually Christ, for he is the head and they are the body.
But what then happens when Christ actual returns, if he does not go to the nations? In brief, because this entry is not about that, the chosen, the body are taken away. That is not to say they are taken away before a seven year tribulation, for there will be no seven year tribulation. For more on his return refer to this article: The Day Of Lord
Copyright © Mark J Farquharson 2016