The writing committee
C/O EZF
The Watchtower
25 Columbia Heights
Brooklyn
New York, 11201 USA

1995Nisan25

Dearest brothers of Jesus,

Please accept my greetings. I hope you felt the weight of my previous letter. Under law the true God prescribed 40 strokes, not 6 or 12. I am not in a good mood because I have fallen in love with someone and my affections for God are divided as Paul counselled in 1Corinthians7. Nonetheless God created the whole universe as a forum in which to express his love. And he gave us the capacity and the desire to do the same. There is no greater pleasure than this expressing of love for him and our brothers and sisters and neighbours, but how you parcel it out between them I do not know. This is the big Camel, the rest is all gnats. I do not intend to sidestep this test on me, I intend to take it and learn from it, and enjoy it! But it's the hardest test for me that I have ever taken. The last time I was in love was 20 years ago.

Look! I want to freely confess my sin to you, it's true I am divided. Of course to fall in love is not a sin, but to allow this love to seriously compete with one's love for God is idolatry. But thereagain Paul was divided between his flesh and his spirit even without a wife. In any event, as a result of my emotional state, this letter will not be what it might have been. Please accept my apologies for this. Perhaps you would like to make up for my weakness yourselves? I am not superman. May the true God himself make up for all of our weaknesses, through Jesus. If he doesn't we are finished. And as I write to you we are about as low as it gets. But our God will not forsake us. Have you spies not yet not caught up with my chariot? Can you not catch up with the running of Elijah, you kings? Look! I have been sent ahead for the preservation of life, why don't you come down, you sons of Jacob, I have so much food.

I never would have thought that this could happen to me, especially not at this stage in the timetable. But the test on me is nothing compared with the test that you now have as regards the memorial. Let me lead you through the maze so that you can pass this test please. I wish you could do the same for me - really! For though my affections are divided, they are nonetheless greater for you now as a result of my over the top attitude that I find myself displaying towards this woman. You know that Jesus is in love with you, his fiancee, I tell you. Do you know how it feels to see someone you love throwing herself at another man? You feel sick in the stomach. I hadn't sworn [allbeit out of anyone's earshot] for 2 years, until that day. Do you know how it feels to know that she is doing it to get at you, because you are obeying God's principles?? I appreciate that you will have to think back a little while!

Do you know that this is precisely how you are making your fiancee, the Christ, feel right now? Dammit I am feeling like Ezekiel here, do I have to suffer for the fornication of spiritual Jerusalem? [I think I suffer for my own desire more likely, but the parallel is there!] If Jesus is madly besotted with you and if you ignore him and go jumping on every good-looking alternative rather than following the one whom he has sent to you to mediate a reconciliation, to turn back the heart of sons towards fathers, to turn away ungodly practices from Jacob, to restore all things, how do you think he will feel? Why are you putting him through this?

But then, when the woman shows regret, wow! you feel so fantastic. So brothers, the emotions of your saviour are lying in your hands. He has given his heart to you, and you are trampling all over it, you are kicking it around his house, Look! he is dwelling on the corner of your roof! You can make him feel so wonderful and you can make him feel so awful. So which is it to be brothers? Or putting it the way the first Elijah put it:

How long will you be limping upon two different opinions? (1 Kings 18:21).

We are going to piece together 1Kings17, Exodus12, 2Chronicles30, the 3 gospel accounts of where to celebrate the last supper, and various accounts of rivers drying up with waters either side at the appearance of Elijah. This will lead us through the maze to the exit, to life actually, because the firstborn have to get the passover right or they die, being blunt, and you are all firstborn.

All antitypical Elijahs, and there have been four, namely John the baptist, Paul, Russell and Ritchie, have the cleanliness to baptise in water, independent of any cleanliness of any previous congregations. They all are able to perform, 'the baptism of John', the baptism into the name of the father Abraham, to be his sons, the baptism in the Euphrates if you like, for his sons are merely his co-covenanters in the Abrahamic covenant. John, Paul and I have have been able to sanctify as well. Paul performed a similar function to me in the first century which I am not allowed to go into until such time as you ask me to. I am not the antitypical Paul in any general sense, but there is one who is closer to that than me today, another Roman, he resides with you.

The time has now come for me to say to you, King Ahab, with the contentious wife, 'Jezebel, the one who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and misleads my slaves to commit fornication' (Rev 2:20), I say:

As Jehovah the God of Israel before whom I do stand is living, there will occur during these years neither dew nor rain, except at the order of my word! (1 Kings 17:1).

The rain comes from the heavens and is the baptism with holy spirit, there has been no such baptisms other than the one to be Nethinim or princely deputies or the antitypical Solomon since 1991Tishri, and we are now 3.5 years on in 1995Nisan. I have not given the order for such baptisms to occur but I have nonetheless made you aware of their occurrences. The dew is the water from the ground and stands for cleanliness in the flesh. I have all authority in this matter, so I say to you now: you are no longer clean to baptise in water, in fact your water baptisms have been failing for quite some time. I am the only man alive who can do this generally although my two brothers the princely deputies can do this to people who have not been baptised by you. This might sound like a superfluous qualification but it isn't.

This is the power that Elijah has. It is granted by God. This is the cleanliness that God grants when we 'restore all things' (Mark 9:12). My initial concept that the great crowd was called into water baptism in 1922 was wrong. There are no calls to water baptism, calls refer to blood baptism. From the day that Russell was sanctified, this being in 1884Tishri, he was clean to water baptise, since Jesus came with the water and the blood, not just with the blood. Babylon was clean to water baptise too until it fell, I believe.

So now I have split the waters of the Jordan, or rather God has done this and I am showing you how he has done it. There are your waters on one side, and there is my water to come on the other side. Right now we have dry land, no water, no baptism, a failed water baptism.

Then Elijah took his official garment and wrapped it up, and struck the waters, and gradually they were divided this way and that, so that both of them went across on dry ground (2 Kings 2:8).

I am showing you a tightly wrapped up version of my official garment now. Maybe some of you can guess at some more of its hidden glory. Elisha here is the Nethinim who get my spirit as head, the same way that Jesus got Michael, the spirit, as a head when he was baptised. The same way that the anointed remnant, the wife to be of the Christ, got the Christ as their head in 1914Tishri. Although he will not become their king until he ceases being a prince.

Here we are standing on dry ground, we have no water. As regards the exact day when you lost your ability to water baptise, this is a judgmental matter which needs a request from you.

The purpose of the above was to establish the identity of the man carrying the 'earthenware vessel of water' in Luke 22. For he is the key to the correct celebration of the current passover. He can guide you through the maze. The parallel account in Matt 26, refers to the instigation of the passover wrought by brother Russell, and the account in Mark 14, refers to the new passover celebration in the first century that was instigated by Paul. I am not explaining why, I am just showing you the route at this time. These three accounts are the three new passover celebrations that follow from the first new passover celebration which was the literal meaning of all 3 accounts in Matthew, Mark and Luke. There is one further symbolic fulfilment per account.

To fully understand the hidden meanings one has to play spot the difference on all three accounts. We will not do this here.

The day of the unfermented cakes now arrived, on which the Passover must be sacrificed. And he despatched Peter and John saying: Go and get the Passover ready for us to eat. They said to him: Where do you want us to get it ready? He said to them: Look! When you enter into the city a man carrying an earthenware vessel of water will meet you. Follow him into the house into which he enters. And you must say to the housemaster of the house: The teacher says to you: Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And that [one] will show you a large upper room furnished. Get it ready there. So they departed and found it just as he said to them, and they got the Passover ready (Luke 22:7-13).

Partial symbolism of Luke 22:7-13:  

My letter of 1995Nisan10 was Jesus telling you: 'Go and get the passover ready for us to eat' (Luke 22:8). This letter is Jesus saying to you: 'Look! when you enter into a city, a man carrying an earthenware vessel of water will meet you. Follow him into the house into which he enters...' (Luke 22:10).

So here I am with an earthenware water jar, your heavenly-ware water jar has run dry. Your jar was always partially heavenly-ware, because of the remnant. Even now, the water jar still has some heavenly-ware in it. But fear not, this is all for the glory of God. Paul was heavenly-ware but he actually carried a fully earthenware vessel in the first century, the primary members of which were Stephanas, Crispus and Gaius, people with Roman names. Now my two brothers, who are a part of my earthenware vessel, and I, did not celebrate the passover on Nisan14 this year. Because we want to celebrate it with you on Iyyar14. So the question is:

Where is the guest room in which I may eat the passover with my disciples? (Luke 22:11).

Therefore when you come together to one place, it is not possible to eat the Lord's evening meal (1 Cor 11:21).

Finally we return to the original passover in Exodus 12 and 2 Chron 30 and 1 Cor 11 to define as precisely as we can the correct way to celebrate this festival. I will do this backwards if I may, and state how I believe things should go and then attempt to prove my assertions from the scriptures. This letter gives a bit more detail than my previous one. This is the best that I can do at the minute brothers.

1. Only sanctified brothers and sisters should attend
   
   

2. These brothers and sisters must be examined under scrutiny, we do not want foreigners polluting the cup or the body
   
   

3. Roast lamb, unleavened bread and bitter greens for all
   
   

4. Some unleavened bread should be blessed and broken and handed by the blessor, the breaker, to any ones of the bride class, individually during the meal. The blessor must be a heaven bound brother
   
   

5. Some wine should be blessed after the meal and drunk by all, it can be blessed by any invited brother, since they should all be sanctified having all been examined under scrutiny. This wine should be in only one cup, there is no precedent for a multiplicity of cups, this cup should be passed around the whole congregation attending. I guess one could bless the wine in the cup and the rest of the wine in the bottles, and then keep returning the one cup to be refilled?
   
   

6. A big effort should be made to determine who are truly Nethinim, sanctified in the third baptism, they should partake of the wine.

Things do not stop here, however. Starting on Nisan15 we have the 7 day festival of cakes, which should be celabrated in its greater meaning. This is:

1. For 7 days bread with no pharisaical leaven should be eaten. In other words the bible itself, the concordance and lexicons may be read, but no written interpretations may be considered. No Watchtower should be opened. Leaven makes bread easier to digest, but for these 7 days we eat straight scripture, with no digesting aids, such as the reasoning book or any other publication from the society which is not straight scripture. The purpose of this wonderful festival is manifest. It is to make a distinction between God's word and man's lies.
   
   

2. The first and the last days are sabbaths. On these days no congregational duty, no organised meetings, no field service, no hall cleanings, no official witness duty should occur at all, anywhere on the planet. The purpose of this is to distinguish not between the teaching of God and man, but between the authority of God and of man. For man's authority over the land vanishes on the sabbath, and man's teaching vanishes during 'cakes'. Of course one can work secularly as normal. The greater law is a purely spiritual law.

Please read for yourselves Exodus 12 and 2 Chronicles 30. The former is a symbolic account of all passovers, there are five, instigated by Moses, Jesus, Paul, Russell and Ritchie, this is why it is so repetitive. The latter is a symbolic account of what we should do on Iyyar14. Really there is not such a big need for me to explain 2 Chronicles 30 to you, you can read it for yourselves, and fulfill it. I thought that this fulfilment would be last year, but I jumped the gun a bit there. If you truly seek, then the true God will give you his interpretations, I have asked him to on your behalf. Look at the opportunity he is giving you! This one you should take.

And they must take some of the blood and splash it upon the two doorposts and the upper part of the doorway belonging to the houses in which they will eat it (Exodus 12:7).

Three applications of the blood of the lamb. Three baptisms, the first, which is split into two halves, the baptism of spiritual Israel, the upper part of the doorway, the baptism of Leah. The second, which was instigated by Paul in the first century, in fact symbolised by Bilhah, and the third which is already instigated, who is Rachel (Zilpah was the baptism of Babylon, some of them were anointed but not to be wives of Christ, this is the solution to the ambiguity of the dragnet and the wheat and the weeds). Look we have two Roman pillars holding up the upper beam of spiritual Israel.

In case an alien resident resides as an alien (what else would he do?) with you and he will actually celebrate the passover to Jehovah, let there be a circumcising of every male of his first. Then he may come near to celebrate it, and he must become like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised man may eat of it (Exodus 12:48).

Circumcision could not be done twice, it was a once only cleansing process, it therefore symbolises the baptism in holy spirit, for Jesus' blood can likewise only be applied once. Whereas the bath of the flesh can be applied as many times as the candidate is disfellowshipped. So no unsanctified man should attend or partake at the memorial. Also there were two groups, two national groups who celebrated the first passover, the circumcised Jews and the circumcised 'natives of the land'. This is prophetically establishing the two houses, one for eating and one for drinking, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11. The former house being the house of David and the latter being the house of Jehovah. The two emblems likewise bear witness that there will be two classes of circumcised (in the heart) partakers. We do not need two emblems for one group, because if all those who partake of the bread also. Just as we do not need three fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for one nation, the physical Jews, for there are to be three races of Jews, the physical the spiritual and the Edenic Jews. The father of the first race was Abraham, the father of the second was Jesus, the greater Isaac, and the father of the third is a man who wrestles with an angel until he gets the blessing which he desires. He did not let go, not then anyway. For God did not say merely I am the God of one father, Abraham, no, he said: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Three fathers, three races of Jews, three covenants. And Jesus has said that they are all living to him, judicially living, sanctified, and living fathers do not have dead children, for like begets like.

They must eat the flesh on this night. They should eat it roasted with fire and with unfermented cakes along with bitter greens. Do not eat any of it raw, or boiled, cooked in water, but roast it with fire, its head together with its shanks and its interior parts (Exodus 12:8,9).

The roasting with fire is again the baptism in holy spirit, the fire is the fire of Gehenna. This is not a burning with fire, the fate of the flesh that is left over until morning, this is a roasting, a cooking, but fire is used, for it is a once only baptism. The boiling with water is the water baptised lamb. Raw lamb is unbaptised lamb. In other words do not allow water baptised or unbaptised brothers who are posing as anointed brothers to partake. Paul says the same thing:

First let a man approve himself under scrutiny, and thus let him eat of the loaf and drink of the cup (1 Corinthians 11:28).

This is not a triviality brothers. At the memorial in my congregation, a pentecostal appeared who I know for a fact is not part of the bride, because he is too young, and he defiled the whole celebration. Not that it would have suceeded anyway. But he partook of everything in a big display. This is not acceptable. We must vet the partakers, register them in fact.

So how can I appeal to you more effectively than Hezekiah himself put it? His words, which today I address to you, were and are:

Do not stiffen your neck as your forefathers did. Give place to Jehovah and come to his sanctuary that he has sanctified to time indefinite, and serve Jehovah your God, that his burning anger may turn back from you. For when you return to Jehovah, your brothers and you sons will be objects of mercy before those holding them captive, and be allowed to return to this land. For Jehovah your God is gracious and merciful and he will not turn away the face from you if you return to him (2 Chronicles 30:8,9).

Yours lovingly Gordon Ritchie