Interpretation of Scripture

Apostle Michael Petro | May 27th, 2021

This week, we had a meeting with Margaret Barker – she’s a graduate of Cambridge University and is widely known amongst theologians for her work on the Early Church Fathers. She said that without the traditions of the Early Church, the Kingdom of Heaven cannot come. The traditions that she spoke about are exactly what we have been teaching here at our ministry; the traditions speak of the secrets of the kingdom. These were mysteries that were not written down for the most part. These are teachings that the Lord gave me through visitations. I just started reading the Early Church Fathers in the last five years and have found revelations the Lord gave me twenty years ago in their writings. I can see clearly that the way the Early Church interpreted the scriptures has been lost to most churches today.

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul took a physical event that happened in the Old Testament and revealed the spiritual meaning of it. Paul showed that the crossing of the Red Sea was symbolic of baptism, and the cloud that followed them by day was also a type of baptism. This shows that we can’t just read the Bible as a history book; we have to interpret it spiritually like Paul did. The secrets of the kingdom can also be referred to as tradition. This apostolic tradition was how the apostles interpreted the mystery of the scriptures. 

In John 6, Jesus revealed that the manna that came down from heaven was really His body. What is it called when we eat the body of Christ and drink His blood? It’s called communion. The Early Church taught that communion was the teaching of the secrets of the kingdom. Jesus said that His body is bread, and the bread is also meat. Paul said that the veil is also the flesh (Heb. 10:20). So when we are eating the body of Christ, the manna, we are really eating through the veil. If you’re eating through the veil, the veil will eventually disappear. Once the veil (flesh) disappears we’ll be walking in the glory of God.

 Let’s remember it was only the high priest who went behind the veil. We can intercede and worship all day long, and it doesn’t matter. A priest is required to study and learn how to die to himself and teach others the same process. The priests who go through that process are the priests who are going to be able to cross over into the Kingdom Age.

When Jesus taught the multitude that they needed to eat His flesh and drink His blood, the teaching was so hard to understand that many of Jesus’ own followers left him. Thousands walked away and followed Him no more because they thought Jesus was talking about cannibalism! He did not make it easy for them. He offended His own disciples and did not chase after anyone who wanted to leave. 

Origin, one of the greatest teachers of the Early Church, taught that if we only give a literal interpretation of Scripture the way the Jews did, we make ourselves to be enemies of Christ. We think that Jesus is at war with Satan, but in the book of Job, we see that Satan goes in and answers to God. Jesus already defeated him at the cross, taking death captive. The only enemy that Jesus has is the carnal mind (Rom. 8:7). 

A sign in the scriptures is not a miracle. Instead, a sign is a mystery which reveals something that will come at a later time. When the Jews asked Jesus for a sign, they wanted to see a physical miracle. The sign of Jonah was a prophetic mystery of the resurrection that would take place – Jonah was a sign of Jesus who was to come. Every sign in the Old Testament points to something in the New Testament; every sign in the New Testament is a mystery being revealed for the age to come. The New Testament is still being unlocked. Every time we get revelation it is a sign of what is coming. 

The Lord has been highlighting the foolish virgins to me. When the foolish decided they wanted the oil, it was already too late. The Lord showed me that at this point the wise will be already going into a glorified body. As the foolish start to see the wise transition into the glory, they become desperate to learn. We need to remember that it is by our faith that the Lord moves and that we need to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Death-to-self is Him moving completely through us. It takes a lot of faith which means we trust in God to do what He says He’ll do. 

We need to be in that place of being able to forgive others quickly and to have compassion for those who are being tormented. For the Lord to trust us with His Glory, we can’t have any pride. We have to be dead to all that. We have to be dead to all the little things in our way and to the cares of this world. It takes a desire for holiness and death-to-self to be in that place.

Jesus said we need to take His yoke upon ourselves and learn of Him. Sheep are never yoked; only oxen are yoked. Oftentimes, a farmer would yoke a young ox to a mature ox to teach the young ox to be tame for the yoke. The younger ox is wild, but the older ox is stronger and more mature and no matter what direction that young ox wants to go, the older ox is going to drag it into place to plow to hit the mark. We need to be yoked to Jesus. When Jesus is taming us, there is a difference between fighting Him and choosing to submit and surrender. The more we become tame and submit, the more we’re in the process of killing the flesh. A lot of work will get done with these oxen that become tame – they become apostolic. We have to be willing to mature from sheep to oxen. Honestly, how much more time do we have? This transition is about to happen. When we get to Houston we need to be ready to run. Lord, get us ready to bring in the Harvest. Amen.

Sincerely,

Apostle Michael Petro