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This sly sister is not only jealous, but she also has a very treacherous heart; so much so, that she has already tricked many people into believing that she is still the true Bride and the Chosen One, but this is the furthest thing from the truth. If it were possible, she would even try to steal her sister's Wedding Garment and Bridal Veil so that she can be given in marriage to her own prince; that is why the true Bride must be very careful. The Lord warned His true Bride of these very things when He said:

"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."


Exactly what does the Lord mean by keeping our garments? In the Biblical context, the word "keep" has two meanings. In this New Testament verse, it is derived from the Greek word "tereo", pronounced tay-reh'-o, the primary meanings of which are to attend to carefully, to take care of, or to guard. As we can deduce from my earlier explanation of what this garment actually signifies, that is, that it is our Garment of Salvation, in one sense, keeping our garments means to lay hold upon Eternal Life, by remaining free from sin through our faith in Jesus Christ. Only in this way can we be found without spot or blemish in the Lord's Eyes. Consider the following verses:

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses . . . Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."


"That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:"


In a second sense, which is really an extension of the first, keeping our garments also means that we need to take care of our Wedding Garment; and the way we do this is by keeping ourselves clean and unspotted, or uncontaminated, from the things of the world. We keep our garment clean. I have spoken about this in quite a few other articles. Allow me to emphasize this point by sharing the following verses with you:

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."


"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."


"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"


"That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;"


"I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:"


"No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."


"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."


"Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless."


"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."


According to the second Biblical definition of the word "keep", keeping our garment also means that we need to guard it and keep it safe. As we saw in part two, this means that we need to keep it safe from our jealous sister who wishes to steal it from us in any way she can. Because of her own pride, and her stubborn, foolish heart, she has not been found worthy of the Wedding Feast, because her nakedness has been discovered; therefore, she is going to try to con us out of our garment. Jesus offered similar counsel when He shared the following Parable with His followers:

"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept, And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."


Being as our jealous sister has thus far been unable to rob us of our Garment of Salvation, our Robe of Righteousness, and our Bridal Veil, just as the five foolish virgins were unable to refill their lamps with the oil of the Spirit from the five wise virgins, she has made some plans of her own, and they are not nice! As we saw in part two, part of our sly sister's plan has been to pretend that she has still found favor in the sight of the King, even though she has rejected the King's Son, the Prince of Peace, for the past two thousand years. In order to hide her rejection of the Son, she has even made the wild claim that the Prince of Peace who came so long ago was an impostor; and this is where the danger lies!

You see, because she lives in a total state of delusion, brought on by her own sins, our jealous sister still awaits the arrival of the Prince of Peace. She still expects to be given in marriage to him in the very near future. The only problem is, is that when her husband-to-be arrives, he won't be the true Prince of Peace whatsoever; he will be a wicked impostor; he will be the Prince of Darkness; who has been foretold to arrive before the real Prince of Peace a few short years later. With help from the evil Red Dragon who lurks in the sea, he is going to deceive the jealous sister, and many others in the world as well. His evil deception will be so powerful, that he will even be able to sit in the Holy Place claiming that he is actually the kingly Father Himself. The Apostle Paul was fully aware of these things, and thus he wrote:

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."


While I have been speaking in allegories, I am sure that you understand the Biblical truths that I have been sharing with you. The King is none other that God the Father. The Prince of Peace is of course Jesus Christ His Son. The Prince of Darkness is the Antichrist; also known as the Jewish false messiah Moshiach ben David. The Red Dragon in the sea is of course Satan. But who is the jealous sister? This sly sister who would dare to steal our Wedding Garment and Bridal Veil, is none other than Babylon the Great Whore, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth! She is a false religion, and a false system!

In contrast to we, the obedient multiple Bride of Christ who delight in bearing spiritual children for our Husband, as I point out in such articles as "Who is Babylon the Great?", I am currently of the belief that this wicked woman who has foolishly despised her true Husband, the Prince of Peace, and who has refused to bear Him spiritual children, is none other than Jerusalem herself, who is symbolic of the Jews. In part two of this series, I mentioned that just like Michal of old, this jealous sister has been struck barren by the Lord because of her refusal to submit herself to Him as she should. Please consider the following.

A careful study of the Word of God reveals that throughout the Bible, trees are sometimes used as symbols of people, worldly leaders and nations. It is commonly believed that the fig tree is symbolic of the nation of Israel. One clear Scriptural example in which we find Israel represented by a fig tree, is found in some of the Lord's Endtime sermons. For example, in prophesying how Israel would become a nation in the Latter Days just prior to His Return, Jesus said the following:

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


However, in the Gospel of Mark, we find another example which demonstrates that, due to her unbelief and rejection of the one true Messiah, Israel has fallen under the Lord's disfavor, and is thus unable to bear children of Light:

"And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: 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. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it . . . And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away."


So you see, in a spiritual sense, the Lord has indeed struck Israel barren; due to the fact that she has fully rejected her King, Savior and spiritual Husband. As Jesus said in the fifteen chapter of the Gospel of John:

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me."


Sadly, as we have already seen in our allegory, the story does not end there. When Israel chose to reject the Prince of Peace two thousand years ago, rather than be left alone, she gave herself to another prince; that is, to the Prince of Darkness. It was by the inspiration of this wicked demon, who is also jealous of the King's Son, that she slew the true Prince of Peace. Not only that, but she has also been bearing children of hell by her false husband of darkness. While my words may appear strong to some of my readers, they are nevertheless the Scriptural Truth; for as Jesus Himself said to the rebellious Jewish rulers of His day:

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."


"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves."


Thus we see a picture of foolish Israel, who in her state of rebellion, has scorned her true Husband, and bred generation after generation of wicked children of darkness, by her evil lover the Prince of Darkness. As if that weren't enough, she has also mocked and despised her faithful sister, the Church who for years now has reached out to her in love. Because of her sins against the Lord, in Revelation chapters seventeen and eighteen, we are told that Israel, and Jerusalem in particular, will soon be chastised and burned with fire by the Beast and the Ten Kings who form an alliance with him:

"And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."


"And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled."


Notice that in the second set of verses, John tells us that the Beast and the Ten Horns will make Babylon naked. This is a very interesting point, because as I mentioned earlier, in the Lord's eyes, Jerusalem, and thus the Jews, are already spiritually naked; because they have not put on the Garment of Salvation through their acceptance of Jesus Christ. The problem is, that because of the net of deception which the Jews have cast upon the world, many people do not know this yet. Because they do not read and understand the Scriptures, they still believe that the Jews are the Bride-Elect, and the Chosen People of God. However, the Lord knows the true score; and that is why Israel will not be allowed into the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, until she repents, and puts on the proper wedding attire. The Lord issued a similar warning to one of the seven churches in Asia, as can be seen by the following verse:

"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:"


Remember, in the verse I quoted earlier from the Book of Revelation, the Lord specifically warned us about walking naked. He said "lest he walk naked". While many Christians have already fallen for the evil lies of Babylon the Great Whore, as I point out in many other articles, the level of deception is going go grow much worse. The time is coming when the Jews will rebuild for the third and final time, their beloved Temple in East Jerusalem on the top of Mount Moriah. Because they have despised and rejected the final Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, they will reinstitute the daily sacrifice; that is, the continual burnt offering. All of this will be in preparation for their false messiah; that is Moshiach ben David. The orthodox Jews are so deceived, that when this evil impostor arrives, they will honestly believe that he is God returned in the flesh for His Bride; but he will be a false messiah, just as they are the false Elect.

What is truly sad about these events, is that there has never really been any need for them to happen. They could have easily have been avoided if our sister Israel, had accepted her true Husband almost two thousand years ago. Instead of doing this, as they had done throughout the Old Testament time and time again, the vast majority of Jews rejected Christ when He revealed Himself to Israel. As we are told in the Gospels:

"He came unto his own, and his own received him not."


"And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,"


"Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?"


"I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you . . . But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham."


The reason the Jewish leaders sought to kill Jesus, is because He exposed them for the false bride that they were, and are. Instead of accepting the Garment of Salvation, the Robe of Righteousness, and the Bridal Veil which He offers them through His own Blood shed on the Cross, they want to be cloaked in their own righteousness. Like the man who was cast out of the Wedding Feast due to his lack of a garment, they too think that their own good works, their own religion of Judaism, and their observance of the Mosaic Law and the rabbinic writings of the Talmud will save them. This is the garment that they wish to wear; but Jesus utterly exposed their nakedness when He said:

"If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin."


The same Veil which has given us Christians spiritual sight, liberty and Salvation, has left our sister blinded to the Truth of the Holy Scriptures. While our Bridal Veil has been lifted, and we will soon be kissed by the King's Son, our Prince of Peace, at the coming Marriage of the Lamb, our sad sister continues to walk in blindness, and spurns His love; and thus angers Him to such a degree, that she may soon perish, unless she repents of her unbelief. Consider the following very interesting verse found in the Book of Psalms:

"Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."


If only our sister would forsake her pride, and realize that through His Sacrifice two thousand years ago, the Prince of Peace has broken down the wall between us. Now, we both have access to the Father, as well as to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb; if we will only accept the Garment of Salvation, and the Robe of Righteousness that He offers us. If we, by faith, accept the Son's Act of Love, we can all be a part of His multiple virgin Bride without distinction. We can all be clothed in the righteousness which has already been paid for by the Veil of His flesh; for as the Apostle Paul wrote:

"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."


And that brings us to the end of this tale of the kingly Father, the Prince of Peace, the Virgin Bride, the jealous sister, the Prince of Darkness, and the Red Dragon in the Sea; and every single word of it is true. I hope you have enjoyed it.

So tell me; are you one of the called, chosen, faithful and few? Are you part of the Bride of Christ? Have you prepared yourself for the wonderful Wedding Feast which will one day soon be held in the great Halls of Heaven? Have you put on your proper Wedding Garment and Bridal Veil? If not, it still isn't too late. Please accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour today! Even now He is lovingly knocking at the door of your heart, just waiting for you to invite Him into your life. Consider what He says to you in the Book of Revelation:

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."


Please don't turn Him away; you may not get another chance; after all, your life is but as a flower that fades, or as a cloud which briefly appears in the sky, and then disappears in the distance:

"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."


"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."


I pray that this very true tale has been a blessing and an inspiration in your life. Will it have a happy ending for you? I sure hope so! Will you be ready when the Prince comes for His Bride?

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this serie. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

As a Thief in the Night? Not for Me!
Biblical Cafeteria, Or the Whole Course?
Dracula: Fighting Fear With the Word, Faith and Love
From Armageddon to the New Earth
Is God a Racist?
Is Jesus the Only Begotten Son of God?
So You Really Think You Are So Humble?
The Gospel of Thomas: Introspection or Heaven-spection?
The Great Tribulation and the Rapture
The Urantia Book: Attack on the Blood Atonement
The Woman in the Wilderness and the 144,000

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