We read in the book of Genesis that God put the stars and the sun and the moon in the sky, to give us signs and seasons, hours, days, and time. So that's an aspect. And I found out that that's where the number twelve came from, ok. So we're going to deal with twelve as a part of this year. The first aspect of twelve that the Lord asked me to tell you is that He is celebrating this year, 2012. And I went, what do you mean? And he said, "Well, symbolically, I was twelve years old when I discovered I was the Son of God". And it hit me. You know, you're right. The only recorded words of Christ in his growing-up years was "Don't you know that I should be about my Father's business?" And the Lord went on to share with me as I was meditating on this, that he came to Jerusalem with the women. It was a tradition for the women, when it was time to go to Jerusalem for the high festivals, to leave early in the morning with the children and the young men who had not gone through bar mitzvah, or who had no gone through becoming a man of the law. And this year was the year of Jesus becoming the man of the law, 2000 years ago, symbolically. I don't know, you know, some people say he was born 3 BC, some right on zero, you know there's all this debate, 4 AD, but for the sake of this discussion, the number twelve, the Lord said to me, He is celebrating the fact that it was the women who brought him to his revelation that he as the Son of Man found out that he was the Son of God, the dual nature of our Messiah, Jesus Christ. And as our pastor has already illustrated to us, I think it was October 1st, that this year we're coming in to, or already begun because of Rosh Hoshonah, is the year of the women. The women are cleaning up things, they're organizing the house, they're taking care of things. Well, in the case of Jesus, they were responsible for bringing Him to His revelation in the year 12 of his life. Amen, that is just so awesome!
Ron Whitehead, speaking at Daystar Church of Atlanta, GA, New Year's Eve 2011, starting about 6 minutes in
Well. that's something...odd. How about if we look at this passage, since he didn't read from it.
lk.2.41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. lk.2.42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. lk.2.43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. lk.2.44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. lk.2.45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. lk.2.46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. lk.2.47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. lk.2.48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. lk.2.49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? lk.2.50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. lk.2.51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. lk.2.52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man
Brown, David; Fausset, A. R.; Jamieson, Robert (2011-06-02). Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary on the Whole Bible (best navigation with Direct Verse Jump) (Kindle Locations 165844-165861). OSNOVA. Kindle Edition.
Let me give an excerpt from this same commentary, about a part of this passage.
44. sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances — On these sacred journeys, whole villages and districts travelled in groups together, partly for protection, partly for company; and as the well-disposed would beguile the tediousness of the way by good discourse, to which the child Jesus would be no silent listener, they expect to find Him in such a group.
Brown, David; Fausset, A. R.; Jamieson, Robert (2011-06-02). Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary on the Whole Bible (best navigation with Direct Verse Jump) (Kindle Locations 69929-69931). OSNOVA. Kindle Edition.
Now, I don't know where this Whitehead guy got that part about Jesus going up to Jerusalem with only the women. The passage is plain that He was with both of His parents, and likely also traveled with quite a few other people there and back. Also, here's another bit from this commentary, about the festivals themselves.
42. went up — "were wont to go." Though males only were required to go up to Jerusalem at the three annual festivals (Ex 23:14-17), devout women, when family duties permitted, went also, as did Hannah (1 Sam 1:7), and, as we here see, the mother of Jesus.
Brown, David; Fausset, A. R.; Jamieson, Robert (2011-06-02). Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary on the Whole Bible (best navigation with Direct Verse Jump) (Kindle Locations 69907-69910). OSNOVA. Kindle Edition.
Whitehead gives no verifiable source for his claim that Jesus went to Jerusalem with a group of women, except that he seems to claim that this is what the Lord Himself told him personally.
He says that it was a tradition for the women to leave early, and to take their young children with them. Leave from where? Their home towns? Would the women and young children really travel on their own, without husbands and fathers to protect them along the way? Sounds like the peak season for highwaymen and bandits.
And where were the men? Did they just tarry behind for a few days, puttering about, then rush to join the women in the city, assuming the women and children actually made it there?
Nothing in his description of them going to Jerusalem makes sense, and I've tried to record it just as he said it. It makes no sense that women and children would travel alone, unaccompanied by husbands and fathers and other male relatives who would look after them along the way.
Plus, there is the notion that Jesus did not realize He was the Son of God until this time.
We know very little about the childhood of Jesus, having essentially just this one glimpse of Him from that time, and some general descriptions of how He grew in favor with God and men. And I'll admit, there is something that for me is unimaginable about Jesus, God Himself, being taught, for example, how to walk, how to talk, how to read and write, and how to do various other things around the family's home.
The Bible says nothing about Jesus discovering that He was the Son of God at this time in Jerusalem, or that it was something that He needed to discover at all. This is a mystery here, I'll admit, one the Bible doesn't seem to clarify, but I really doubt that He ever didn't not know that He was the Son of God. How could He have lived a sinless life, if He did not know that?
However it was, we can see that what Whitehead is selling is not at all supported in Scripture. As such, then, what he's saying is whacky and simply shouldn't be taken seriously. And it's an indication of just how far from Scripture this church, it's pastor Enlow, and the whole Seven Mountains Mandate they encourage and teach really is.
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