It is God's clear will that
these brothers, all of the sons of Abraham, both the Jews
and Palestinians do always live together in peace in the same land
as well... or anywhere else too and none of that
cannot be denied as not being now God's will too
Obviously again
both the Jews and the Palestinians. Muslims all even these days are very
unreasonably in this, they really do not want real peace, they only
wrongfully seem to want to escalate their wars and EVEN WRONGFULLY too
often to drag now the rest of us into them..
Most of the
wars which have plagued mankind have come as a result of one group of
people trying to enslave another group with their own false demands.
ideas, doctrines, religion and world view.
"The "nation of
Israel" today knows it does not yet have all the land that they
have believed that they are entitled to. The promise to them was
from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates. Seems
to me that if they want all the land they think they are entitled to
they would next wrongfully to go to war and take it from some
other countries around them. The river Euphrates goes right into
Iraq, so they would go to conquer Jordan, Iraq, etc.It requires
big time war over there even to get the temple built. "
I support
rightfully today still neither of these groups , especially
not their unholy wars or even in their separate Holy wars ,
promised land claims now too, and I would also ask all to
rightfully still that even both sides to show some love, decency,
restraints towards each other now too and always. This is not an
option.
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand
firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of
slavery" (Gal 5:1, NIV)."Grace and peace to you from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from
the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to
whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (Gal. 1:3-5, NIV).
I do
rightfully treat the Palestinians and the Israel land issue, all of
their existing human rights also as of equal importance including
every man, women, child too.
(Mat 23:38 KJV) Behold, your
house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see
me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name
of the Lord.
Suffice to say here as an introduction Jesus made
it clear that even Israel's present house, land grabs, will remain
desolate.. and why?.. why do Judiazers want to rewrite the Bible using
only Old Testament references? for they still clearly do not like what
Jesus undeniably said above in the New Testament.. they still wrongfully
do think they can change things on their own without God's
blessing on this now too. The Land belongs now to Jesus and he
will come back to claim it fully for himself.
(Acts 1:11
KJV) Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this
same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in
like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
(Mat 19:19
KJV) Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
In
reality neither nationalistic, ethnic groups side can claim any further
ownership of the Land of Israel, not the Jews and not the Palestinians
because it now belongs to the sole, only rightful heir, Jesus
himself.
Israel as being supposedly the Chosen group today is
rather also a clearly distorted emphasis too, for do
note this there is no one New Testament verse, by Jesus himself or the
Apostles, there are rather many contradictory ones, there are no
verses confirming the present restoration of the land of Israel, or
Israel's rebuilding of it's temple, or not this also especially a
separate means of Salvation for the Jews outside of accepting
Jesus Christ as their personal savior individually like everyone else
has to as well.
Some supposedly Professing Christian and even
Judaic Biblical scholars would falsely have all of us, and you, to
personally believe that the Old Testament Bible references to Jerusalem,
or Israel still do even prophetically apply today, and in the future,
that they will also all be fully fulfilled as well particularly in
reference to the re-establishment of the nation of Israel too, and
Jerusalem as a world. religious center.
Most of the Bible
Prophecies generally quoted have already come to pass rather, some will
come to pass in their own rightful context rather. It is very sad
that these false Biblical expositors do still take mostly verses out of
context, even disregarding the clear verses mentioned in the rest of the
Bible as well. Yet it is also an undeniable fact that neither Jesus, nor
any of his apostles next had confirmed their supposed truths at
all in the New Testament, not even once supported the reestablishment of
the nation of Israel so how can any supposedly prefacing Christian then
now as well? They cannot.
Whose Jerusalem? Whose Land
is it? All this is an inappropriate issue for any serious, honest
discussion for it all now all really belongs to Jesus Christ the Messiah
and who is no longer a Jew or a gentile! The Jews or the Palestinians
thus as well have no biblical claim to this land any longer. I at least
do have real love to even talk about it honestly, openly it too.. with
all of the groups too. They cannot deny this reality, truths before
God.
So many false Biblical scholars still do like to present a
one side or a distorted Bible interpretations of Israel's land rights..
they really do like to twist non relevant, out of date Bible verses to
say that Israel is unconditionally entitled to own the whole land of
Israel, with borders from the Nile to the Euphrates river.. whereas in
fact the possession of this land in the past as per the Bible too
now it was always still a conditional promise.. Israel
finally they clearly had failed to live up to God's sated
conditions. The conditional was even on the Old Testament Israel
obeying God still in all things... not just in those things of
their own choosing.. Old Israel had finally not lived up to God's
conditions for possessing the land, so it did not even acquire all of
the promised land firstly too.
The New Testament Israel,
which is clearly identified in the new Testament as the body of
Christ, all of the Church, and this Church has no
present territorial land ambitions on earth rightfully still...
not even in the present, or the near future. Jesus himself clearly
said my Kingdom is not of this world... but of the next.
It
is not the first time in life, history the Jews too now even have
been trying hard to do their own thing. When they the Jews had
left Egypt they even built a golden calf, idol. The Jews even
today are thus trying to rebuild the nation of Israel in their own
strength, all without God's approval, all without Jesus Christ's help
too and thus are causing much unnecessary and undesirable conflicts in
their process as well.
(John 15:5 KJV) I am the vine,
ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If
a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered;
and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are
burned.
"And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among
them." Exodus 25:8
"And I heard a great voice out of heaven
saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell
with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them, and be their God." Revelation 21:3
Rebuilding God's temple
in one own strength is deadly
Warning: (2 Sam 6:6 KJV) And
when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to
the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. 7 And
the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there
for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.
Because all
of the tents and temples that God ordained were intended to
be a means of grace, and a revelation of His presence in the midst of
His people, whenever the purpose of the temple was, is perverted
to mean something that man had built "for the glory of God," God himself
did not, does not hesitate to forsake it.
(Isa 66:1
KJV) Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth
is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is
the place of my rest? 2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and
all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look,
even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my
word.
Some persons would falsely say
that Jesus' supposedly implied that although the time of favour
for Israel was at that moment to pass over to the Gentiles, there next
would be a time when God would restore again the "kingdom to Israel."
This idea still is rather is an unsubstantiated assertion,
directly not supported anywhere in the New Testament.
There is not one direct verse that says the Nation of Israel
will be restored next in the New testament. Not one! Why?
The
Old Testament Jewish system was only a shadow of the New Testament
Christian system, and next the Old Testament system
was fullfilled by Jesus Christ and thus really done away with next
as well. Some people even still wrongfully are trying to hang on
to the past, old testament laws included, and they do try make it now
very important again too. They are clearly upsring God's will here and
are being lead by the devil rather to do this. Judiazers
plagued Paul wherever he went opposing his support of jesus Christ and
the New Testament and they wrongfuly do so today to the Christians today
as well.
(Mat 27:51 KJV) And, behold, the veil of the
temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did
quake, and the rocks rent;
(Mat 24:24 KJV) For there shall
arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and
wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very
elect.
(Acts 20:30 KJV) Also of your own selves shall men
arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after
them.
(Luke 6:22 KJV) Blessed are ye, when men shall hate
you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall
reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's
sake.
Rather we all may and must rightly understand the
things of God. (2 Tim 2:15 KJV) Study to show thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the
word of truth. 16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will
increase unto more ungodliness.
Too many people DO STILL REALLY
EVEN preach, continue the falsehoods because of their own
personal ignorance of the Bible firstly, and their listening to
the lies of the devil and his followers, mere men and women.. They have
already neglected to study, read the too obvious words of the
Bible too.
"Apostle Paul's purpose in writing his letters was
also to address the great conflict which had fallen on the infant church
because the Judiazers were saying that Gentile converts should obey the
law of Moses and be circumcised. An entire Galatians epistle is a
treatise on our blessings in Christ which are the result of God's
promise to Abraham rather than by keeping the law. Apostle Paul dealt
with the Judaizers who were trying to ensnare the Gentiles by adding Law
to the grace by which they were saved. We also do have people today
falsely telling us we must be laying on the Jewish Culture and the
Old testmaent laws on us, subtly or otherwise. The Apostle Paul makes
two important points for us to consider today. 1. Our blessings in
Christ are based on God's promise to Abraham (Gal. 3:8), and 2. We are
saved by grace through faith, "and this not from yourselves, it is the
gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast" (Eph. 2:8-9).
Regarding Abraham, Paul said, "Thus Abraham "believed God, and it was
reckoned to him as righteousness." So you see that it is men of faith
who are the sons of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God
would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to
Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." So then,
those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith"
(Galatians 3:6-9, RSV). In verse 16 of that chapter, Paul makes it clear
that Christ is the promised seed. In Christ, the seed of Abraham, shall
all nations be blessed. "For the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom.
8:2, RSV) and "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law"
(Gal. 5:18). Rejoice, for the law has been fulfilled in Christ who lives
in you and me. We are free in Him and no one can take that way.
Hallelujah!
" As to why Paul was persecuted by the Jews
far more than anyone else. (2 Cor 11:22-29). James and Peter enjoyed
relative peace with the Jews for a period of time. There was a great
persecution recorded in the book of Acts, but then it subsides. What
stopped it? The conversion of Paul, the death of Herod (Acts 12), the
removal of Pontius Pilate as governor, and the end of the reign of
Caligula. All these things happened in a fairly short period of time.
Then we see the rise of Claudius as Emperor. Claudius was somewhat
enamored towards Christianity. He even wanted it recognized as an
official Roman religion. However, Paul continued to suffer at the
hands of the Judiazers. Why did they go after Paul but not James and
Peter? It had to have been the fact that he was preaching to the
Gentiles only Christ and Him crucified. He did not teach them that they
had to keep the Sabbath, circumcision, etc. For I determined not
to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (I Cor
2:2)
The physical nation of Israel was a "type" or
"foreshadowing" of the redemption that Jesus Christ would bring
throughout all the nations of the world. Jesus is the true Seed of
Abraham.
(Gal 3:16 KJV) "Now to
Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds,
as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."
(Rom 4:13 KJV) "For the
promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or
to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of
faith."
The nation of Israel in the
Old Testament was to be a light unto the Gentile nations of the world.
It is through Jesus Christ ,the true Seed of Abraham, that this light is
breaking forth into the world.
(Rom 2:28-29 KJV) "For he is
not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which
is outward in the flesh: {29} But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly;
and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the
letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."
(Gal 3:26-29 KJV) "For ye are
all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. {27} For as many of
you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. {28} There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither
male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. {29} And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise."
Sadly the Jewish Religion, Nation, promised land
issue is still part of one of the biggest religious deceptions we
all do face in life, and this now has been true now for thousand
of years, where the Jewish people have lied about the importance
of their Judaic religion daily to us Christians and they also have
lied about the facts of Christianity, and God's will as well to
others.
As long as national Israel
lives in unbelief in Jesus Christ, they live in a state of apostasy and
are not to be regarded as part of God's covenant family. As we have
already seen, Jesus instructed the unbelieving Jews of his day that they
were not of the true seed of Abraham because of unbelief, but they were
of the seed of the devil.
Fact one: Jesus himself clearly denied
that he himself was coming to restore the land, the nation of
Israel.
(John 18:36 KJV) Jesus answered, My kingdom is not
of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants
fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom
not from hence.
(Acts 1:6 KJV) When they therefore were
come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time
restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not
for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in
his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost
part of the earth.
Fact two: The true Apostles also did not
work towards, or support the restoration of the land, the
nation of Israel, and only one apostle did, the unfaithful apostle Judas
did.
Fact three: There is not one single New Testament reference
to indicate the present, future restoration of the land, the Nation of
Israel as wel as being valid, legitimate.
Fact four: The
possession of the land of Israel by the Jews was conditional on obeying
and following fully after God and they were warned the negative
consequences of their disobedience towards God himself, being kicked out
of their promised land included.. they did, had failed to live up to
God's conditions and lost the land for it and were occupied by other
nations as a result.
Review what the Bible actually says on all
of this.
(Gen 26:1 KJV) And there was a famine in the land,
beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went
unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2 And the
LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the
land which I shall tell thee of: 3 Sojourn in this land, and I
will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy
seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which
I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4 And I will make thy seed to
multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these
countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed; 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my
charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. 6 And Isaac
dwelt in Gerar:
Num 14:23-24 Surely they shall not see the land
which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that
provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit
with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land
where into he went; and his seed shall possess it.
Fact
five: God has superceded the Old Testament, the old covenant with
a New Testament, the new covenant which is the Covenant now solely also
obly with his Church.
Hebrews 8:8 For finding fault with them, he
saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9: Not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because
they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the
Lord. 10: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and
they shall be to me a people: 11: And they shall not teach every man his
neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all
shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
(Heb 10:16
KJV) This is the covenant that I will make with them after those
days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their
minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no
more offering for sin. 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to
enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and
living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is
to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of
God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of
faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our
bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that
promised;)
(Mat 22:2 KJV) The kingdom of heaven is
like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3 And
sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding:
and they would not come. 4 Again, he sent forth other servants,
saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner:
my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto
the marriage. 5 But they made light of it, and went their ways,
one to his farm, another to his merchandise: 6 And the remnant
took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. 7
But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his
armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8
Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were
bidden were not worthy. 9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and
as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. 10 So those
servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many
as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with
guests. 11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw
there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 And he saith
unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding
garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then said the king to the
servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into
outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Here is the present
reality
(Rom 3:29 KJV) Is he the God of the Jews only? is
he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
(Gal 3:16
KJV) Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith
not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is
Christ.
(John 20:31 KJV) But these are written, that ye
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that
believing ye might have life through his name.
(Mat 23:38
KJV) Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.39
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say,
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Mat 10:34 KJV)
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send
peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and
the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man's foes
shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or
mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh
not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. (Heb 12:2
KJV) Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of
God.
(Acts 20: KJV) 20 And how I kept back
nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have
taught you publicly, and from house to house, 21 Testifying both to the
Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward
our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Acts 26:20 KJV) But showed first
unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts
of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to
God, and do works meet for repentance.
The original Apostles of
Jesus themselves taught that Jesus was the promised Jewish Messiah
and they looked forward to a heavenly Jerusalem and cleay note this not
an earthly one!
(Acts 2:22 KJV) Ye men of Israel, hear
these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by
miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of
you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by
wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up,
having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he
should be holden of it. 25 For David speaketh concerning him, I
foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that
I should not be moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my
tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer
thine Holy One to see corruption. 28 Thou hast made known to me
the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch
David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us
unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God
had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according
to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
(Rev
3:12 KJV) Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the
name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new
Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write
upon him my new name.
(Rev 21:2 KJV) And I John saw the
holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice
out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he
will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for
the former things are passed away.
(Rev 21:10 KJV) And he
carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed
me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from
God.
Being a true Jew includes accepting the true God and
his sole true religion from the start to the end.
The
majority of Christians have often accepted the fact that Jesus of
Nazareth--the founder of their religion, their Messiah, as being the
promised original Jewish Messiah too, and also as the second part of the
Trinitarian God--was God himself and thus he jesus not only was
a Christian but indisputably a Jew as well,
The sole
basis of the Christian faith today, which is why it is also called
the New Testament as well, is not at all the Old Testament Judaism but
the New Testament Jesus. The true Christians since Jesus Christ
next always left their old Jewish Synagogues all together... and all
Christian Jews, Messianic Jews too need to do this today as well, also
they are supposed to give up their Jewish roots, Jewish culture, Jewish
religion when they accept Jesus Christ as their master, lord and
savior . Some clerics, theologians, and scholars have worked hard to
recover the supposedly historical Jewish Jesus. why? Ironically
this rather was aided also by the Jews, Judiazers, even the false
christians themselves who falsely wanted it seems to
promote their own self importance, the false value of the now rather
false, obsolete old Judaic religion, and it's also still the false
observation of the Old testament letter of the law over the New
Testament spirit of the law approach. It is an ungodly act still
too.
(Acts 20:29 KJV) For I know this, that after my
departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the
flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking
perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.31
Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased
not to warn every one night and day with tears. (1 Tim 4:1
KJV) Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils;
(John 19:30 KJV) When Jesus therefore
had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his
head, and gave up the ghost. (Mat 27:50 KJV) Jesus, when he had
cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And,
behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the
bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the
graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept
arose,53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection,
and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.54 Now when
the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the
earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly,
saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
(Gal 3:23 KJV) But
before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith
which should afterwards be revealed. . 24 Wherefore the law was
our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by
faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a
schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into
Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye
are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
(2 Cor 5:17
KJV) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by
Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed
unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him.
Jesus- Christianity- a religion starting in Judaism and
then moving away from it on it's own or rather
initially kicked out of it by the false Jews? but still all
serving God's purpose .
(Gal 2:16 KJV) Knowing that a man
is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be
justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for
by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
(Amos 8:1
KJV) Thus hath the Lord GOD showed unto me: and behold a basket of
summer fruit. 2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I
said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is
come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith
the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall
cast them forth with silence. 4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up
the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, 5 Saying,
When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath,
that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel
great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? 6 That we may buy
the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell
the refuse of the wheat? 7 The LORD hath sworn by the excellency
of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. 8 Shall
not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth
therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast
out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. 9 And it shall come to
pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go
down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: 10 And
I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into
lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness
upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and
the end thereof as a bitter day. 11 Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of
bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even
to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and
shall not find it. 13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young
men faint for thirst. 14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria,
and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth;
even they shall fall, and never rise up again. 9:1 I saw the Lord
standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that
the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will
slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not
flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. 2
Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they
climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: 3 And though
they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them
out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the
sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them: 4
And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I
command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon
them for evil, and not for good. 5 And the Lord GOD of hosts is he
that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein
shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be
drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. 6 It is he that buildeth his
stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that
calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of
the earth: The LORD is his name. 7 Are ye not as children of the
Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I
brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from
Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? 8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord
GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face
of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,
saith the LORD. 9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the
house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve,
yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. 10 All the
sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall
not overtake nor prevent us.
(Amos 9:11 KJV) In that day
will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the
breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as
in the days of old: 12 That they may possess the remnant of
Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the
LORD that doeth this. 13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD,
that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes
him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all
the hills shall melt. 14 And I will bring again the captivity of
my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit
them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they
shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 15 And I will
plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of
their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.
and
what was. is the promised restoration of the tabernacle of David
now? The restoration of the nation of Israel? the Temple worship
in Jerusalem? or what? what does God say it is?
(Acts 2:29
KJV) Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the
patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is
with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing
that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins,
according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his
throne;
(Acts 13:22 KJV) And when he had removed him, he
raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave
testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after
mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.23 Of this man's
seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour,
Jesus:
What can be more clearer than this the restoration of the
tabernacle of David it is the personal salvation of any of the Jews by
Jesus Christ. It is certainly not the supposedly promised restoration of
the nation of Israel, or the restoration of the earthly temple rituals
in Jerusalem.
(2 Sam 6:14 KJV) And David danced before the
LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.1
5 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the
LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
The
personal baptism of the Holy Spirit expereince is the restoration of the
tabernacle of David.. where Holy Spirit anointed, filled King David as a
result DANCED before the Lord in praises.. the people not HOLY SPIRIT
filled can tend to see only the restoration of the nation of Israel, the
temple and wrongfully too not the singing and the praises to God,
worship side. Not a coincident that the anti holy spirit fundamentals,
persons cannot see this truth too and tend to support as a result
the error filled, WRONG dispensationalist, Jewish based
theology.
Note also that the predicted Old Testament restoration
of the tabernacle of David is foremost actually the New Testament
personal Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Pentecostalism, the restoration of
the personal method of the worship of God. (John 4:23 KJV) But the
hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the
Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship
him.24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in
spirit and in truth and not a nationalistic empire building.
"And
He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the
heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which
God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world
began." (Acts 3:20-21) "…Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the
Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." (Luke 21:24)
"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery,
lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part if
happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And
so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of
Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from
Jacob." Romans 11:25-26,
(Isa 44:18 KJV)
They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that
they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot
understand.
There is also no need for another Main temple now as
well for we can all now have direct access to God again through jesus
Christ... (Mat 27:51 KJV) And, behold, the veil of the temple was
rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and
the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of
the saints which slept arose, (Rev 21:10 KJV) And he carried
me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that
great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,...
22 And I saw no temple herein: for the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb are the temple of it.
Abraham, He was looking for the city,
Jerusalem the true city of God is a heavenly one firstly.. being next
built in our hearts for a start. (Heb 11:8 KJV) By faith Abraham,
when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive
for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he
went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange
country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with
him of the same promise:10 For he looked for a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
"Trust in the LORD
with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding" (Prov
3:5).
Lean not on your own flesh even for your own
understanding, doctrines..
Psalm 134:1-3 Behold, bless ye the
LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of
the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. The
LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.
"I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes:
even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight" (Lk. 10:21).
Humans have a spirit originally fashioned after God’s
image, which has a vacuum because it is capable of
God-consciousness and of divine fellowship.
And this image was
defaced by Sin. It is restored in accepting personally the
finished work on the cross of Jesus Christ and there will be personally
as a result an ever-increasing unfolding of His will, and an
ever-expanding revelation of His glory. It is a constant
growth in the realm of the Spirit until we are able to "comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and
to KNOW the love of Christ, which PASSETH KNOWLEDGE" until we are
"filled with [or, unto] ALL THE FULNESS OF GOD" (Eph. 3:18-19). It is
entering into and appropriating the inheritance which God has already
given us, the promsied land, to take hold upon and apprehending
that very thing for which God has laid hold upon and apprehended us! God
is still the One Who is looking for a "home" in which He might
dwell, in a people whom He has created for His own glory, wrongfully
thought by many to be something too far-out, and not for today. The
Baptism of the Holy Spirit experienced at Pentecost... the
initial baptism of the first Church, it’s also for us
to experience as individuals today promsied and given to us by the
"Living word" today also. Did not Apostle Paul himself clearly identify
the life we have in the Holy Ghost, and the good Word of God, with the
powers of the next world?… and assure us that we are now actually
partaking of the "powers of the world to come" (Heb. 6:4-5)
"And
let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." Exodus
25:8
"Martha was surprised that Jesus would spend so much time
just talking to Mary, when He knew there was so much work to be done;
and Mary should have been helping her--helping her to serve the Lord who
had come to visit them. But Jesus told her plainly that Mary had chosen
the better part, and that no one was to take this portion from
her. He Jesus took Evidently greater delight in fellowshipping
with Mary, than He did in Martha’s efforts to prepare Him a good meal.
Now the Marthas too often they do not recognize what God really
desires, and how He intends to accomplish the things that need to be
done in the earth. For truly God’s plan is not merely to "get the job
done." He is creating a people that will be to the praise of His glory.
And this can only come about as they submit to His Word and Spirit, and
become vitally one with Christ Himself; and consequently one with His
many brethren. What instruments and resources God may use from time to
time and from one generation to another in working out His purposes in
the earth are really quite incidental. He has shown us clearly that the
world will know and believe only when God has a people "sanctified" unto
the will of the Father, and made one with the Lord Jesus, as He is one
with the Father. (Jn. 17:17-21.)
"My soul, wait thou only
upon God; For my expectation is from him" (Ps. 62:5).
"Our
soul waiteth for the LORD: He is our help and our shield" (Ps.
33:20).
"Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion" (Ps.
65:1).
"Blessed are all they that wait for him" (Isa.
30:18).
"For the vision is yet for an appointed time...Though it
tarry, wait for it" (Hab. 2:3).
"They that wait upon the
LORD Shall renew their strength" (Isa. 40:31).
"And I heard a
great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be with them, and be their God." Revelation 21:3
He
was looking for the city, Jerusalem the true city of God is a heavenly
one firstly.. being next built in our hearts for a start. "…he was
looking for the city… whose architect and builder is God" Heb 11:10
Paul's warning for each of us to "take heed how he builds" is to
be heeded.
( 1 Cor 3:10 According to the grace of
God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the
foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed
how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay
than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build
upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall
declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try
every man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work abide
which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If
any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself
shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 16 Know ye not that ye are the
temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If
any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple
of God is holy, which temple ye are. 18 Let no man deceive
himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him
become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this
world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in
their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts
of the wise, that they are vain. 21 Therefore let no man glory in
men. For all things are yours;)
"They soon forgat his
works; They waited not for his counsel" (Ps.
106:13)
For Man still has a propensity to build false
things. For not all of man's building is of God.
This is
reflected also in the first human community at Babel when they said,
( ''Come, let us build ourselves a city…so that we may make a name
for ourselves… ." Gen 11:4 ) Many today are also building
false ministries, churches, networks, movements, and
denominations, but they still are not building the true city of God.
(Mat 15:14 KJV Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind.
And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.) Rather
than building themslves a false name they need to build
God's kingdom which is somethign else and at a level higher
altogether. They also do need to remember that " Everything that
can be shaken will be shaken, so that only the unshakeable will remain (
Heb 12:25-29 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For
if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall
not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised,
saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those
things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things
which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we receiving a
kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve
God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a
consuming fire.)
What about Abraham now even who also failed to
wait upon God to keep his promise to give him a son?
Too many
persons are still involved with the outward presentations, the
packaging rather than the substance. They are playing " Gods",
"Church" and not really connecting with the head of the church,
they are reading the Bible and still really do know the author,
and do you also "worship" and not really commune with the
One worshipped. ''Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand." In them is
fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "'You will be ever hearing but
never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never
perceiving.'" Mtt 13:13-14 and "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired
wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are
wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." Rev 3:17 in fact, you
are deceived, or seduced?
John said, "… the anointing you
received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach
you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that
anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in
him." 1 Jn 2:27
(Psa 131:2 KJV) Surely I have behaved and
quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even
as a weaned child. 3 Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth
and for ever.
"Wait, I say, on the LORD" (Ps. 27:14). For "he
which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of
Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).
Without a personal direct current
revelation of Christ and without firect intimacy with
Christ the merely religious church, also by definition, cannot be
the true church. It may be the institution that calls itself "the
church", but it is not the church or the city that Jesus said would even
overcome the gates of hell!
"Let us, then, go to him
outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have
an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." Heb
13:13-14
My tabernacle also shall be with them; Indeed I
will be their God, and they shall be My people" Ezekiel
37:27
"God promised the seed of Abraham
with the promise land." Seed is a singular term that includes all the
children of God in the New testament now as well and it is the heavenly
Jerusalem and not the earthly one..
" "In the same day the Lord
made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this
land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates"
(Gen. 15:18). Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But
God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the
land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." (Genesis 50:24)
In context: (Genesis 50:23-25)
The entitlement of any one past
specific indwelling group religious to territory in the Middle East
called the "Holy Land" cannot be supported by Scripture. In fact, the
land promises specific to Israel in the Old Testament were also
fulfilled.and
I draw your attention to some Scriptures which
plainly state that God has fulfilled all that He promised Abraham
concerning the land. Now the fulfillment. In Deut.1:7,8
Moses said to the children of Israel -- "Turn you, and take your
journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places
nigh thereunto, in all the plains, in the hills, and in the valleys, and
in the south and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and
unto Lebanon, unto the great river the river Euphrates. Behold I have
set the land before you; go In and possess the land which the LORD swore
unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to
their seed after them."
After the death of Moses, the same
promise was given to Joshua. Then shortly before Joshua died, he said
--- "And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give
unto their fathers; and they possessed It, and dwelt therein. . . There
failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the
house of Israel; all came to pass" (Josh. 21:43,45).
In Nehemiah
chapter 9 we have the same statement. Verses 7 and 8, "Thou art the LORD
the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of
the Chaldees and gavest him the name of Abraham; and foundest his heart
faithful before thee .... and madest a covenant with him to give the
land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites and the Perizzites,
and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give It I say, to his seed,
and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous." And verse 24 says
---"So the children went in and possessed the land."
Now turn to
Jeremiah, Chapter 32 verse 21 ... "And hast brought forth thy people
Israel out of the land of Egypt with wonders, and with a strong hand,
and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror. And hast given them
this land which thou didst swear to give to their fathers, a land
flowing with milk and honey; and they came in, and possessed
it."
In the face of all this, how can it be said that Genesis
15:18 has never been fulfilled? We can believe that God certainly did
fulfil all that He promised concerning the land. God keeps his part of
the promise.
Possession of the land was also conditional.
Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so
that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that
the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers. (Deut.8:1) But if ye turn
away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set
before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; Then
will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given
them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast
out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all
nations. (2Ch 7:19-20)
Did God know Israel would brake his
covenant?
When I have brought them into the land flowing with
milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and
when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and
worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. (Deut.
31:20)
Scripture also says the (land belongs to God) and was not
a permanent entitlement to anyone. "'The land must not be sold
permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my
tenants."' (Lev. 25:23 NIV) The Bible says that they were only
"tenants". As tenants there were in the land or God's property for a
fixed period of time. This arrangement is usually under the terms of a
lease or some similar legal Covenant or agreement. (See Deut.8:1; 2Ch
7:19-20) To teach or imply otherwise is nothing less than to compromise
the Bible and the Gospel itself.
A heavenly inheritance has been
the expectation of Abraham and the people of God in all ages. "By
faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as
his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he
was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a
stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and
Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking
forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is
God. By faith Abraham, even though he was past age and Sarah herself was
barren was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful
who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as
dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as
countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still
living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things
promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they
admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say
such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If
they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had
opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country a
heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for
he has prepared a city for them. "(Hebrews 12:8-16 NIV)
"But you
have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the
Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the
Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks
better things than that of Abel." (Hebrews 11:13-16)
The Gospel
offers eternal life in heaven to Jews and Gentiles alike as a free gift
in Jesus Christ. Eternal life in heaven is not earned or deserved, nor
is it based upon ethnic descent or natural birth. And there is also now
no special divine favor for inheritance upon any member of any religious
group to the earthly land of Palestine whether Jew or Gentile or Muslim.
(Lev. 25:23)
The Apostle Paul, to the Circumcision, in Rome says
nothing about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel in the land of
Palestine. Instead, Paul persuades his Jewish readers to consider
themselves dead to the old but alive to the new. (Romans 6:5) He fixes
their hope upon the resurrection.
"No New Testament Apostle
writer expounds on, or foresees a regathering of ethnic Israel in
the land, as did the prophets of the Old Testament after the destruction
of the first temple in 586 B.C. Moreover, the land promises of the Old
Covenant are consistently and deliberately expanded in the New Testament
to show the universal dominion of Jesus, (Psalm 2:7-8) who reigns from
heaven upon the throne of David, inviting all the nations through the
Gospel of Grace to partake of his universal and everlasting dominion.
The promsied land issue regarding the "Middle East" and Palestine
doctrine is both contrary to the teaching of the New Testament and a
violation of the Gospel mandate.
Under that old covenant earthly
blessings were promised to an earthly people, including national
existence and the possession of the land of Canaan. Those blessings,
moreover (and it is important to observe this) were made to depend upon
express conditions, to be faithfully observed by that people, and were
to be forfeited if those conditions were not observed. But that
covenant, the Lord declares, "they brake." And now, through Jeremiah, He
proclaims the great fact that He will make, in a time then future, "a
new covenant," which was to be of a different sort. The Epistle to the
Hebrews explains fully this prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the new
covenant, the prophecy itself being quoted in full in Heb. 8:7-13, and
in part in 10:15-17. It is the "everlasting covenant," secured by the
blood of Jesus Christ (Heb. 13: 20). It is established with a heavenly
people, those who are "come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living
God the heavenly Jerusalem, . . . and to the church of the first born
(ones) who are written (i.e. enrolled) in heaven" (Ch. 12:22, 23). It is
"a better covenant established upon better promises" (Ch.
8:6)"
We have already seen that, by the covenant of Sinai, God
offered them the highest of all blessings, but upon the express
condition of obedience; the terms being, "If ye will obey My voice
indeed, and keep My Covenant" (Ex. 19:5,6). To this they all agreed,
saying, "All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do" (v. 8). And this
pledge of obedience was twice repeated by them after the ten
commandments had been spoken to them (Ex. 24:3 and 7). Nevertheless,
that covenant was broken by them within forty days through the idolatry
of the golden calf ("Which My covenant they brake," Jer.
31:32).
Now the matter of the past national destruction of Israel
by the Romans inluded that there was to be no recovery. And in this, the
prophecy of Moses is in full accord with that of Jesus Christ, recorded
in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. For Moses said: "God will rejoice over you to
destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from
off the land wither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter
thee among all people, from one end of the earth even to the other"
(Deut. 28:63,64). This, according to this prophecy, was to be the end of
their history as a nation.
And now the law has been superseded by
the gospel, with its "better hope." The economy of the law, with all its
shadows - people, land, city, temple, priesthood, sacrifices- has been
set aside, and forever.
Being a member of Israel in the Old
Testament was dependent upon faith and obedience to God. When the
Israelites obeyed God, God loved them. But when the Israelites turned
from him, He hated them, stripping them of their Israelite status. After
centuries of Israelite rebellion against God, culminating in their
rejection of Jesus the Messiah, the titles, attributes and blessings of
Israel were transferred to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior, and to no one else, regardless of Abrahamic descent.""
PS
God's blueprint involves also involves generally De-construction before
Construction
This means the personal loss of all things
of past understandings, poet theologies, personal goals,
ambitions, desitres, even reputation, respect, and resource of all
the securities of this life and its regular patterns. (Phil 3:8
KJV Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may
win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 That I
may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of
his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by
any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12 Not
as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I
follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am
apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to
have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which
are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect,
be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall
reveal even this unto you.)
"The "architecture of the Spirit"
will always de-construct before it constructs it will uproot, tear
down, destroy and overthrow before it builds and plants ((Jer 1:10
KJV) See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the
kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw
down, to build, and to plant.). As long as we are proud, secure and
satisfied with our patterns and ways, we are not able to humbly
receive revelation, nor experience true intimacy with Christ by his Holy
Spirit. " (Isa 57:15 KJV For thus saith the high and lofty One
that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and
holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to
revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite
ones.)
(Isa 66:2 KJV) For all those things hath mine hand
made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man
will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and
trembleth at my word. 3 He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a
man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that
offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth
incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways,
and their soul delighteth in their abominations. 4 I also will
choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because
when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but
they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
5 Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your
brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let
the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall
be ashamed. 6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the
temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompense to his enemies.
7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came,
she was delivered of a man child. 8 Who hath heard such a thing?
who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one
day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed,
she brought forth her children. 9 Shall I bring to the birth, and
not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth,
and shut the womb? saith thy God. 10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem,
and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her,
all ye that mourn for her: 11 That ye may suck, and be satisfied
with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be
delighted with the abundance of her glory. 12 For thus saith the
LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of
the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be
borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. 13 As one
whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be
comforted in Jerusalem. 14 And when ye see this, your heart shall
rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the
LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his
enemies. 15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with
his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his
rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For by fire and by his sword will
the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the
gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the
abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that
I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my
glory.
God still seeks to lead His people into a higher
relationship with Himself; and not rather to any false self,
human, group exaltations
He instituted and ordained previous
temples that was to provide for His people a place where they could draw
nigh to Him, so that this place would become a "house of prayer" for all
nations, and a means of grace whereby the inhabitants of the earth could
discover the pathway to God, the greatest Temple of the ages. And
so it was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus who declared Himself to be the
Temple of God in the earth. And then He showed us, through His holy
apostles and prophets, how this Temple would be expanded and enlarged to
embrace those who now are the redeemed of the earth, and are part of
the "living stones" in that same Temple.
"The great
heavenly "architecture himself " is calling you into a place of total,
personal, complete abandonment to God alone, a place
where you are no longer in control. even into a place of
brokenness and contrition of heart where God can thus build in you
a "new thing", the new city whose maker is God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
(Eph 3:14 KJV) For this cause I bow my knees unto the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,15 Of whom the whole family in
heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit
in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by
faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able
to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all
ages, world without end. Amen.
And when God finds His home in the
hearts of all of His redeemed, He will be again at rest and so will
earth, mankind
(John 7:24 KJV) Judge not according to the
appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
Still one of the
devil's most common method of harassment, the same devil who is the
accuser of the brethren, is to send false persons, unholy, to try it
detour us, the same people pretending to be our friends, claiming they
are wanting to help us and are ready to give us false advice, false
teachings as to what we should be doing.. firstly we should not be
listening to any of these demon possessed persons.. or seeking, listen
to their advice too
(2 Pet 2:9 KJV) The Lord knoweth how to
deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the
day of judgment to be punished: 10 But chiefly them that walk
after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government.
Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of
dignities. 11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and
might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and
destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall
utterly perish in their own corruption; 13 And shall receive the
reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the
day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their
own deceivings while they feast with you; 14 Having eyes full of
adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an
heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray,
following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of
unrighteousness; 16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass
speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet. 17
These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest;
to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 18 For when
they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts
of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped
from them who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty,
they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is
overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20 For if after
they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of
the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and
overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21
For it had been better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy
commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them
according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again;
and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the
mire.
Secondly our best help comes not by listening to other
people but personally daily abiding in God's word alone.. our help
is still mainly not in people, books, sernons of others, tapes, videos,
but in the Bible alone..
(Psa 119:41 KJV) Let thy mercies
come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.
42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me:
for I trust in thy word. 43 And take not the word of truth utterly
out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments. 44 So shall I
keep thy law continually for ever and ever. 45 And I will walk at
liberty: for I seek thy precepts. 46 I will speak of thy
testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. 47 And I
will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. 48 My
hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and
I will meditate in thy statutes. 49 ZAIN. Remember the word unto
thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. 50 This is my
comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. 51 The
proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy
law. 52 I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have
comforted myself. 53 Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the
wicked that forsake thy law. 54 Thy statutes have been my songs in
the house of my pilgrimage. 55 I have remembered thy name, O LORD,
in the night, and have kept thy law. 56 This I had, because I kept
thy precepts. 57 CHETH. Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said
that I would keep thy words. 58 I entreated thy favour with
my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word. 59 I
thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. 60 I
made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. 61 The bands
of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law. 62
At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy
righteous judgments. 63 I am a companion of all them that fear
thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. 64 The earth, O LORD, is
full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes. 65 TETH. Thou hast dealt
well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word. 66 Teach
me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy
word. 68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
69 The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy
precepts with my whole heart. 70 Their heart is as fat as grease;
but I delight in thy law. 71 It is good for me that I have been
afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. 72 The law of
thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. 73
JOD. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding,
that I may learn thy commandments. 74 They that fear thee will be
glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word. 75 I
know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in
faithfulness hast afflicted me. 76 Let, I pray thee, thy merciful
kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.
77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy
law is my delight. 78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt
perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy
precepts. 79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me,
and those that have known thy testimonies. 80 Let my heart be
sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed. 81 CAPH. My soul
fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word. 82 Mine eyes
fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me? 83 For I am
become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.
84 How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute
judgment on them that persecute me? 85 The proud have digged pits
for me, which are not after thy law. 86 All thy commandments are
faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me. 87 They had
almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts. 88
Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of
thy mouth. 89 LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in
heaven. 90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast
established the earth, and it abideth. 91 They continue this day
according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants. 92 Unless
thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine
affliction. 93 I will never forget thy precepts: for with them
thou hast quickened me. 94 I am thine, save me; for I have sought
thy precepts. 95 The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but
I will consider thy testimonies. 96 I have seen an end of all
perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad. 97 MEM. O how
love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. 98 Thou through
thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever
with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for
thy testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the
ancients, because I keep thy precepts. 101 I have refrained my
feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. 102 I have
not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. 103 How
sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate
every false way. 105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a
light unto my path. 106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that
I will keep thy righteous judgments. 107 I am afflicted very much:
quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word. 108 Accept, I beseech
thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy
judgments. 109 My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not
forget thy law. 110 The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I
erred not from thy precepts. 111 Thy testimonies have I taken as
an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. 112
I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the
end. 113 SAMECH. I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.
114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
115 Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments
of my God. 116 Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live:
and let me not be ashamed of my hope. 117 Hold thou me up, and I
shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
118 Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes:
for their deceit is falsehood. 119 Thou puttest away all the
wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.
120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy
judgments. 121 AIN. I have done judgment and justice: leave me not
to mine oppressors. 122 Be surety for thy servant for good: let
not the proud oppress me. 123 Mine eyes fail for thy salvation,
and for the word of thy righteousness. 124 Deal with thy servant
according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes. 125 I am thy
servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.
126 It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void
thy law. 127 Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea,
above fine gold. 128 Therefore I esteem all thy precepts
concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way. 129
PE. Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.
130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth
understanding unto the simple.
A past individual had
contacted me by email with obviously a phony name, of Clark Kent,
claiming that he was a news reporter, who wanted to be my friend, to
give me advice.. and next when I next replied that he needed to
become a Christian, to accept Christ rather firstly, he responded
with unkind vulgar, swearing words at me, even lying about me too.. he
thus revealed who he really was, a demon possessed person being used by
the devil.
(Gal 2:4 KJV) And that because of false brethren
unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we
have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: 5 To whom
we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the
gospel might continue with you. 6 But of these who seemed to be
somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God
accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in
conference added nothing to me:
(John 6:31 KJV) Our fathers
did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from
heaven to eat.32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you
the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he
which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the
world.
(John 6:34 KJV) Then said they unto him, Lord,
evermore give us this bread.
The Pharisees in the New Testament
times they claimed that Moses was the cause of their blessing,
keeping old testament laws, and the same liars say the same thing
today.. keeping the laws was a commandment of God for the Jews but still
not a means of their salvation.. personally accepting the lamb of God,
Jesus is still also their salvation
In reality (John 7:19
KJV) Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth
the law? Why go ye about to kill me?
The false Judiazers claim
that going along with the Jews cause our blessing.. even today are still
lying.
(John 1:17 KJV) For the law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
(John 3:14 KJV) And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son
of man be lifted up:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have eternal life.
Jews also do need to accept Jesus
Christ as their savior now to be saved, otherwise they too will go to
hell.
(John 5:46 KJV) For had ye believed Moses, ye would
have believed me: for he wrote of me.47 But if ye believe
not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
(John 9:28
KJV) Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but
we are Moses' disciples.
and if you do not go along with the Jews
false religion now they will kill you like the killed Jesus
Christ.
(John 9:35 KJV) Jesus heard that they had cast him
out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on
the Son of God? 36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I
might believe on him? 37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both
seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. 38 And he said,
Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. 39 And Jesus said, For
judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see;
and that they which see might be made blind. 40 And some of the
Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are
we blind also? 41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye
should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin
remaineth.
(Gal 2:3 KJV) But neither Titus, who was with
me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: 4 And that
because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to
spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring
us into bondage: 5 To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not
for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with
you.
The US Rev John Hagee is a person now I also really cannot
endorse him.. he is clearly a hireling, one that wants more and more
money.. and he distorts the Bible truth to do this as
well..
"These combined Scriptures verify that PROSPERITY (Genesis
12:3 and Psalm 122:6), HEALING (Luke 7:1-5) and the OUTPOURING OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT came first to Gentiles that blessed the Jewish people and
the nation of Israel in a practical manner." says John
Hagee
Secondly he tries to support the rebuilding of the nation
of Israel.. claiming that prosperity and healing comes by supporting
Israel.. there is no such commandment by God too, not one in the whole
New Testament..
(Luke 7:1 KJV) Now when he had ended all
his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into
Capernaum.2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto
him, was sick, and ready to die.3 And when he heard of Jesus, he
sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come
and heal his servant.4 And when they came to Jesus, they
besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do
this:5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a
synagogue.
By no means of the imagination can we use this New
Testament reference to try to justify that Christians should build
directly any of the Jewish synagogues or fully rebuild the nation of
Israel.. after Christ came there was no need of the Jewish synagogues as
well.. rather all, all of the Christians clearly met in separate places
from the Jews.
Rather in reality Judaism is today a false
religion still, but to many Jews it is also a false idol even
today too for they do worship their nation, culture,
religion now even more than God, JESUS, and the HOLY SPIRIT
(2
Cor 6:16 KJV) And what agreement hath the temple of God with
idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will
dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall
be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
receive you,18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my
sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
S ill our best
peronsal help basically comes not by listening to other people but
personally, daily abiding in God's word alone.. our help is still
not in people, their mere books, sermons, tapes, videos, but dwelling in
the Bible alone .. really!!! And all of our Salvation, Deliverance
Healing still comes to us by Jesus Christ, not by the Jews or
Moses or anything else....
While still even claiming to be God's
chosen people, people following after God people blessed by God, the
nation of Israel, almost all of it in reality has even today still
clearly turned away from God, is wrongfully doing it's own rebellious
thing, and wrongfully try to justify it as well.. God is displeased at
all of this and God is not being mocked by this as well.
Jer 2:20
KJV) For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands;
and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and
under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. 21 Yet
I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou
turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? 22 For
though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine
iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. 23 How canst
thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way
in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary
traversing her ways; 24 A wild ass used to the wilderness, that
snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her
away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month
they shall find her.
I also do have no doubt that I am Christian
nor the fact God has called me to do His work.. and I also clearly
rightfully do oppose all Terrorists, CHRISTIAN, MUSLIM OR JEWISH
ONES TOO, Israel's religious land claims, and I rightfully do not accept
this as a valid religion or worship of the same God that Christians do
worship now too.. Like I said I am also mature enough to discuss
it in love too.
The JUDGMENT UPON THE NATIONS, it parallels often the
specific judgments of each of the individual persons too, in both the
Old and New Testament now as well. Understanding clearer the Old
Testament passages must also generally personally involve
our Understanding clearer the New Testament passages
too...
(John 1:1 KJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the
beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was
not any thing made that was made.4 In him was life; and the life
was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not.
(John 1:10 KJV) He
was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him
not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God.14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father,) full of grace and truth.
(1 John 1:1 KJV) That
which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of
the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen
it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was
with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have
seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship
with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son
Jesus Christ. 4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy
may be full. 5 This then is the message which we have heard of
him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness
at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in
darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his
word is not in us.
Many many persons do even
today, these days misinterpret the Bible, it's passages even
firstly cause of their own real ignorance of what specifically the whole
Bible says, and they as a result also do falsely rely on what others
tell them.. which too often is still mere falsehood and
lies.
Many persons do also still try to see the judgment of God
as a one time event only, as either A past, present, future event,
a sole historical event, and not rather as a series of
events, even continuos ones, events of both spiritual and also
next physical judgments.. firstly spiritual judgments
themselves are real and are next related to the earthly, real physical
judgments, even although initially the physical correlation many not be
that obvious, fully known beforehand always to some persons.
One
still personally cannot try thus to study the Bible, Old or New
Testament in the flesh, without the spirit of God's HELP who
helped to write it now as well.
(Gen 1:1 KJV) In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the
earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the
deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.
(Gen 1:3 KJV) And God said, Let there be light: and
there was light.
Here also is the clear
reference to the trinity. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
involved even in Creation.
(Gen 1:26 KJV) And God said, Let us
make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth.
(John 3:6 KJV) That which is born
of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit.
(John 3:8 KJV) The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh,
and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the
Spirit.
(John 7:39 KJV) (But this spake he of the Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was
not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
(Rom
8:2 KJV) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath
made me free from the law of sin and death.
(Rom 8:5 KJV)
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but
they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
(Rom
8:23 KJV) And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our
body.
(Rom 8:27 KJV) And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God.
(1 Cor 2:14
KJV) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of
God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
(1 Cor 12:7 KJV)
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withal.
(2 Cor 1:22 KJV) Who hath also sealed us, and given
the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
(2 Cor 3:6 KJV)
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the
letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth
life.
(2 Cor 3:8 KJV) How shall not the ministration of the
spirit be rather glorious?
(2 Cor 5:5 KJV) Now he that hath
wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us
the earnest of the Spirit.
(Gal 3:14 KJV) That the blessing
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we
might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
(Gal 5:18
KJV) But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the
law.
(Gal 5:22 KJV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
(Gal 6:8
KJV) For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap
life everlasting.
(2 Th 2:13 KJV) But we are bound to give
thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God
hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
(1 Pet 1:2 KJV)
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood
of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
Many persons today still also
try to explain Old Testament prophetic passages as them next going to be
literally and solely fulfilled in the future, even leaving
out any reference to leading of the Holy Spirit to understand these
passages and especially even to Jesus Christ's role in them, and this is
impossible to do for Jesus Christ alone now, is the sole established
heir of all things too... including all of the the present and the
future.
(Acts 3:18 KJV) But
those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his
prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.19
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord; 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached
unto you: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of
restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets since the world began. 22 For Moses truly said unto
the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your
brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he
shall say unto you. 23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul,
which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the
people. 24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that
follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these
days. 25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant
which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed
shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 26 Unto you first
God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning
away every one of you from his iniquities.
(Phil 3:8 KJV)
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of
all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win
Christ,
(Heb 1:2 KJV) Hath in these last days spoken unto
us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also
he made the worlds;
(1 Pet 4:7 KJV) But the end of all
things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto
prayer.
(1 John 2:27 KJV) But the anointing which ye have
received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you:
but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and
is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in
him.
(Rev 1:2 KJV) Who bare record of the word of God, and
of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he
saw.
Understanding clearer the Old Testament passages..
For
one example: Regarding even the specific past the fulfillment of
certain passages pertaining to the Old testament references to the
judgment of nations: (Joel 3:2,11,12 Zech 12:3,9 Zech
14:2,3,12,14). All three of these chapters refer to God judging and
fighting "all nations"
(Joel 3:2 KJV) I will
also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of
Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my
heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted
my land.
(Joel 3:11 KJV)
Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves
together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O
LORD.
(Joel 3:12 KJV) Let the
heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there
will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
(Zec 12:3 KJV) And in
that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all
that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the
people of the earth be gathered together against it.
(Zec 12:9 KJV) And it
shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the
nations that come against Jerusalem.
(Zec 14:2 KJV) For I
will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall
be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the
city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall
not be cut off from the city.
(Zec 14:3 KJV) Then
shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he
fought in the day of battle.
(Zec 14:12 KJV) And this shall be
the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought
against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon
their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their
tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
(Zec 14:14 KJV) And
Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen
round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel,
in great abundance.
Explanation Details:
Joel
3:18 In that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, the hills shall
flow with milk, and all the stream beds of Judah shall flow with water;
a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD and water the
Wadi Shittim.
Now, specifcally compare the
fountain with:
Zecariah 13:1 On that day a fountain shall be opened
for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them
from sin and impurity.
These passages are both
referring to the same fountain? If so, would you agree that the
fountain alone is Christ, the Living Waters? IS THIS HOW THE HOLY
SPIRIT HAS LED YOU TO UNDERSTAND IT TOO?
Also, consider the phrase in
Zech 13 "in that day." So then, that would certainly lend itself to the
rest of the context being fulfilled at the time of Christ. Consider how
God uses that timeframe reference:
Zechariah 12:3-4 And in that day
will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden
themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the
earth be gathered together against it. {4} In that day, saith the LORD,
I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness:
and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every
horse of the people with blindness.
Zechariah 12:6 In that day
will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the
wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the
people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem
shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.
Zechariah 12:8-9 In that day shall the LORD defend the
inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day
shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel
of the LORD before them. {9} And it shall come to pass in that day, that
I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against
Jerusalem.
Now watch closely:
Zechariah 12:10-14 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications:
and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn
for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness
for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. {11} In that
day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of
Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. {12} And the land shall mourn,
every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their
wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives
apart; {13} The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives
apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; {14} All the
families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.
Zechariah 13:1 On that day a fountain shall be opened for the
house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from
sin and impurity.
"On that day" or "In that
day..."
Zechariah 13:2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith
the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the
land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the
prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
Zechariah 13:4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath
prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:
Zechariah 14:4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of
Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives
shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that
one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half
southward.
Now this next part is
crucial:
Zechariah 14:6-9 And it shall come to pass in that day,
that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: {7} But it shall be one day
which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come
to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. {8} And it shall be in
that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them
toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer
and in winter shall it be. {9} And the LORD shall be king over all the
earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
Look at verse 8. That is
clearly referring to Christ:
John 4:10 Jesus answered her, "If you
knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a
drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living
water."
John 4:14 but those who drink of the water that I will
give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become
in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."
and
John
7:37-39 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. {38}
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water. {39} (But this spake he of the
Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet
glorified.)
Clearly the Bible pssage
declares Christ as the Living waters and the timing of it.
So then, it is not so much a
matter of *whether* Zech and Joel were fulfilled. It is a matter of the
exact nature of the fulfillment. Remember what Joel said about the
waters:
Joel 3:18 In that day the
mountains shall drip sweet wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all
the stream beds of Judah shall flow with water; a fountain shall come
forth from the house of the LORD and water the Wadi Shittim.
That
water is Christ and that sweet wine is Christ.
"Also, when did Judah sell
Grecians as slaves (Joel 3:4-8), and when did Egypt become
desolate(3:19)?"
Well, consider these passages in regard to this
type of language:
Isaiah 35:7 And the parched
ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in
the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and
rushes.
Again, it speaks of the
parched ground becoming a pool. In other words through faith in Christ
they receive the springs of living water. Through rejection of Jesus
Christ Egypt and all other nations would be wasted or desolate and
without water. Compare:
Zechariah 14:17-21 If any of
the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King,
the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain upon them. {18} And if the
family of Egypt do not go up and present themselves, then on them shall
come the plague that the LORD inflicts on the nations that do not go up
to keep the festival of booths. {19} Such shall be the punishment of
Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to keep
the festival of booths. {20} On that day there shall be inscribed on the
bells of the horses, "Holy to the LORD." And the cooking pots in the
house of the LORD shall be as holy as the bowls in front of the altar;
{21} and every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be sacred to the
LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and use them to boil
the flesh of the sacrifice. And there shall no longer be traders in the
house of the LORD of hosts on that day.
Zechariah is using
metaphorical language to describe life without Christ-"no rain." But
upon those who worship the Lord would be rain, or Christ Jesus. It is
desolation to be without Christ. It is emptiness and there is great
void. But in Christ we lack nothing and we are never thirsty:
John 6:35 Jesus said to them,
"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and
whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
But on the contrary, those
who do not trust in Christ are thirsty:
Isaiah 65:13 Therefore thus
says the Lord GOD: My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; my
servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; my servants shall
rejoice, but you shall be put to shame;
Again, without Christ in real
life now too the end result is only shame and desolation.
(Mat 24:1 KJV) And
Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to
him for to show him the buildings of the temple.2 And Jesus
said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you,
There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be
thrown down.
(Mat 27:51 KJV) And, behold, the veil of the
temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did
quake, and the rocks rent;
As far as theissue as to when
actually Judah sold Grecians as slaves, I have an idea that
specifcally which Joel is referring to is first century church of Jewish
origin next also taking captive the Gentiles as slaves of
righteousness. Through Jesus Christ. Judah, the lion of Judah, Israel is
finally able to convert the foreign nations, the gentiles,
something hey were not allowed to do in the Old testament. In
other words, those Gentiles who previously dominated the whole kingdom
of Israel would now also be subject to the Gospel of Christ under the
New Covenant. Here are some other Scriptures that may allude to this:
Psalms 72:8-11 He shall have
dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the
earth. {9} They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and
his enemies shall lick the dust. {10} The kings of Tarshish and of the
isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer
gifts. {11} Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall
serve him.
Here is an incredible passage
that clearly describes the New Covenant kingdom of Christ and how it
would first be the glory of Israel and that Gentiles would come to their
Light:
Isaiah 60 Arise, shine; for
thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. {2}
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the
people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen
upon thee. {3} And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to
the brightness of thy rising. {4} Lift up thine eyes round about, and
see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons
shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. {5}
Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and
be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto
thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. {6} The multitude
of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all
they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they
shall show forth the praises of the LORD. {7} All the flocks of Kedar
shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall
minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar,
and I will glorify the house of my glory. {8} Who are these that fly as
a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? {9} Surely the isles shall
wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from
far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD
thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
{10} And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings
shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour
have I had mercy on thee. {11} Therefore thy gates shall be open
continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring
unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be
brought. {12} For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall
perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. {13} The glory of
Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box
together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the
place of my feet glorious. {14} The sons also of them that afflicted
thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall
bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee,
The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. {15} Whereas
thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I
will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. {16}
Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast
of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy
Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. {17} For brass I will bring gold, and
for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I
will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.
{18} Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor
destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation,
and thy gates Praise. {19} The sun shall be no more thy light by day;
neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD
shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. {20} Thy
sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for
the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning
shall be ended. {21} Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall
inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my
hands, that I may be glorified. {22} A little one shall become a
thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in
his time.
(1 Ki 6:5 KJV) And against the wall of the house
he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round
about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round
about:
(1 Ki 6:15 KJV) And he built the walls of the house
within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls
of the ceiling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered
the floor of the house with planks of fir.
(1 Ki 6:29 KJV)
And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures
of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
especially consider these
verses:
Isaiah 60:5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and
thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the
sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come
unto thee.
Isaiah 60:10 And the sons of strangers shall build up
thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I
smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.
Notice that
the Gentiles would "build" up the walls( of the temple) .
In
other words they would be servants helping build the kingdom of Christ,
and, Isaiah describes, is in subjection to the original Jewish church or
what we might remember as the tree (first century Jewish church) in
which the fowls of the air (Gentiles) lodged. Consider this verse in
Isaiah:
Isaiah 60:14 The sons also of
them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that
despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and
they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of
Israel.
So that, indeed, this slavery
reference can be observed as something optimistic rather than
pessimistic:
Romans 6:17-19 But thanks be to God that you, having
once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form
of teaching to which you were entrusted, {18} and that you, having been
set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. {19} I am
speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as
you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and
greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness
for sanctification.
However, the context in Joel
does seem to suggest a larger context of judgment, though it is clear
from the above passages that God uses this type of language in a
metaphoric manner. I think the spiritual nature can be seen by this
verse:
Joel 3:10 Beat your
plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the
weakling say, "I am a warrior."
Consider the opposite stated by
those who would be called God’s people:
Isaiah 2:4 He shall judge
between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall
beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war any more.
You see, one is speaking of
those who bow to the king and taking their carnal weapons and gaining
the strength of the Gospel which would produce goldy fruit, but
stilldo produce death through its sword-like characteristics against
those who would rebel:
2 Corinthians 2:14-17 Now
thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and
maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. {15}
For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved,
and in them that perish: {16} To the one we are the savour of death unto
death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is
sufficient for these things? {17} For we are not as many, which corrupt
the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God
speak we in Christ.
Also, note, very important:
Psalms 149:5-9 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing
aloud upon their beds. {6} Let the high praises of God be in their
mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; {7} To execute vengeance upon
the heathen, and punishments upon the people; {8} To bind their kings
with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; {9} To execute upon
them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye
the LORD.
(John 14:23 KJV) Jesus answered and said unto
him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love
him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with
him.
(John 14:24 KJV) He that loveth me not keepeth not my
sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which
sent me.
(John 15:23 KJV) He that hateth me hateth my
Father also.
(John 15:24 KJV) If I had not done among them
the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have
they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
(John 15:25
KJV) But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled
that is written in their law, They hated me without a
cause.
(John 15:1 KJV) I am the true vine, and my Father is
the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh
away:
(John 16:11 KJV) Of judgment, because the prince of
this world is judged.
(John 5:45 KJV) Do not think that I
will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even
Moses, in whom ye trust.46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would
have believed me: for he wrote of me.47 But if ye believe not his
writings, how shall ye believe my words?
It is clear that the Gospel
would slay some of the enemies of God and also be responsible next
for their own real rightouss jdugements as well if they refused to
accept it..
This is precisely what takes place through the
preaching of the Gospel to those who rebel against Jesus Christ. He
slays them with the sword of His mouth.
Through the Gospel, they are
"bound" with chains. Hence, the idea of slavery. Kings and nobles
represent the haughty in the pride of their countenance in hatred of
Christ. We get to execute judgment. It is our honor because of Christ
and His power to make us holy by the Gospel. Originally John wept
because only Christ was worthy to open the seals of judgment. But since
the parousia we are all worthy because of Christ’s presence and word.
Therefore, when we preach the Gospel, we are truly judging the world as
Paul predicted:
1 Corinthians 6:2 Do you not
know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be
judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?
So then this selling into
slavery makes perfect spiritual sense. Through the Gospel they are
proven to be bound in sin and slaves to unrighteousness. They are made
aware of their unbelief. They are made conscious of their rebellion
against Christ. Thus they perish and are wasted and made an utter
desolation. Surely the passage you quote has its origin with the first
century church. But the Gospel is the everlasting Gospel the be
proclaimed throughout eternity:
Revelation 14:6-7 Then I saw
another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to
those who live on the earth--to every nation and tribe and language and
people. {7} He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, for
the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and
earth, the sea and the springs of water."
(Hag 2:22 KJV) And I will
overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the
kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those
that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down,
every one by the sword of his brother.
But I would again refer back
to Psalms to convey more powerfully the idea of binding the heathen with
the power of the word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hence, the
nations would be sold into slavery. So either way I believe their is an
abundance of Scripture to show the vast usage of metaphorical language
to convey this idea of the judgment that was to come as both spirutla
and physical
(Rev 2:16 KJV) Repent;
or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with
the sword of my mouth.
(Rev 19:21 KJV) And the
remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which
sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with
their flesh.
(Psa 33:9 KJV) For he
spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. 10 The
LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the
devices of the people of none effect. 11 The counsel of the LORD
standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people
whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. 13 The LORD looketh
from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. 14 From the place
of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
15 He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their
works. 16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a
mighty man is not delivered by much strength. 17 An horse is a
vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great
strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear
him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 19 To deliver their soul
from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waiteth
for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart
shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22
Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in
thee.
(Eph 6:17 KJV) And
take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God:
God still firstly fights and judges the nations
with the sword of His mouth, his own real warnings, promises and
God he keeps his promsises.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 For
though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: {4} (For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strong holds;) {5} Casting down imaginations, and every
high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; {6}
And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your
obedience is fulfilled.
(2 Tim 2:15 KJV) Study to show
thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
(2 Tim 2:16 KJV) But
shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more
ungodliness.
(2 Tim 2:19 KJV) Nevertheless the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are
his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity.20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of
gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour,
and some to dishonour.21 If a man therefore purge himself from
these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the
master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
(John 5:38
KJV) And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath
sent, him ye believe not.
(John 5:42 KJV) But I know you,
that ye have not the love of God in you.
(2 Cor 11:4 KJV)
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not
preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received,
or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with
him.
(James 4:2 KJV) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and
desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not,
because ye ask not.
(Gal 6:7 KJV) Be not deceived; God is
not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap.
(Gal 6:8 KJV) For he that soweth to his flesh shall
of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of
the Spirit reap life everlasting.
"THE DEVIL IS SLY, HE TEACHES
US LIES, OR HE TAKES A SUPPOSED TRUTH AND MAKES IT AN EXTREME.. we need
to be aware of his acts everywhere.. THE DEVIL IF HE CANNOT REACH
US DIRECTLY WILL SEND A FALSE PERSONS NEXT TO DO IT AS WELL.. (Mat 10:17
KJV) But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the
councils, and they will scourge you in their
synagogues;"
Please note: Research into the Hebrew Roots
& Messianic movements constitutes research into Judaism as well as
the occult. We fully respect each persons right to believe or utilize
what resources they choose. We however, see a clear distinction in
believing the Messiah has come versus utilizing resources which still
await His coming. That is how and why we must evaluate all to Christ and
the New Testament as well as the Tenach. We do not wish to edit or
criticize Judaism, but recognize it as distinct from our Christian
beliefs, just as many in Judaism also see a distinction and separateness
from our beliefs, and we jointly have mutual respect for our differences
and each other.
There is also a false growing movement
within Christianity, which contends that Christians need "to return to
their Hebrew Roots." The Hebrew Roots & Messianic movements
distortions
The leaders of this movement purport to be
teaching believers the "Hebrew Roots of Christianity" through the study
of the Jewish foundational teachings. Having been enjoined to study
"Hebrew Roots", it is only reasonable that one must take a close look at
the teachings of the Messianic and Hebrew Roots movements, as well as
the Hebrew faith itself.
"This movement is not only a cult
but a racist movement, it is still a demonic attempt by Jews to promote
their own self importance, their own past now false customs, false
religion on others, and people who do this may be sincere but they are
not followers of Jesus Christ but of the devil still.. this is
undeniable"
We are reminded rather in Colossians 2:6-9: "As
ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him:
Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil
you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men,
after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."
Is the Hebrew
Roots, as some might suggest, merely the study of the Old Testament,
which Christians already study in light of the New
Testament?
What do the Hebrew foundational teachings expound with
regard to the New Testament, the Messiah, the divinity of Jesus Christ,
the Persons or Manifestations of God, the Bible and the character of
God?
To embrace the Hebrew Roots theology without a full
review and understanding of its teachings, would be blindness on our
part and lead to ignoring the many warnings we find in the Word of God.
2 Timothy 3:13-17: "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse
and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But continue thou in the things
which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou
hast learned them: And that from a child thou hast known the holy
scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be
throughly furnished unto all good works."
In James 3:
17,18 we are reminded: " But the wisdom that is from above is
first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of
mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the
fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."
Scripture tells us in Matthew 12:37: " For by thy words
thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
John 3:20-21 "…For everyone that doeth evil hateth the
light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made
manifest, that they are wrought in God."
James 3:13-16: "Who is a
wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good
conversation his works with meekness and wisdom. But if ye have bitter
envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the
truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual,
devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every
evil work."
Do we indeed have to become Jewish in thought and
custom in order to fully understand the Word of God and be pleasing
before Him?
" No, Not at all, the Holy Spirit is the one who
teaches us, duides us in all truth and if he does nto help you allof
your study is vain anyway.."
Galatians 3:26-29 "For
ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of
you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither
male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise. "
What of the divine inspiration of the Bible? The
Scripture is sufficient in itself and considered the inerrant Word of
God.
Many Hebrew Roots and Sacred Name advocates are falsely
decrying that the name, 'Jesus Christ', is invalid, mistranslated or
unacceptable for whatever reason. One has to ask which Name do these
people wish us to use if not the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ? Which of the numerous "only Sacred Name," are we to
use?
Would changing the name of our Savior and embracing another
name become the rejection of Jesus Christ and His salvation? It is
imperative that we understand the significance of the Sacred Name issue,
for
Scripture tells us in John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto
him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me."
Acts 4:12: "Neither is there salvation in
any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved."
Part of the Antichrist's plan
next of changing times and dates that we understand as the truth
and he is using the Jews still also to do this still too.
Ephesians 5:17: "Wherefore be ye not unwise,
but understanding what the will of the Lord is."
Now is
the time to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. "Behold now is the
accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation." 2Corinthians
6:2
Even the Jewish people have to become personaly Christians
now and to accept Jesus, not their past religions, as Jesus being their
sole master, lord, savior, forsaken all of the others now too.
http://www.seekgod.ca/embraceintro.htm
Summary
(John
8:39 KJV) They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father.
Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the
works of Abraham.... (John 8:42 KJV) Jesus said unto them,
If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and
came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43
Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
44 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.45 And
because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
(Rev 2:9
KJV) I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art
rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are
not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
(Rom 2:28 KJV) For he
is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not
in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Apostle
Peter identifies not Jews, not Gentiles, but the Christians in I Peter
2:9-10 when he writes of Christians "But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, the
people of God..." note an nation too.. AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD
It
is absurd for any Jewish or any other persons to make any further
"promised land" claim without accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and
personal Savior firstly too. In the Old Testament, in Genesis, a
specific land was promised to Abraham's seed. Next Galatians
3:26-29 in the New Testament identifies Abraham's seed as those who are
Christ's, whether Jew or Gentile. In other words:
Christians. Firstly Jesus Christ alone is the inital heir of all
things and he will claim all of it and all of it's occupants too. It is
the Christians who will next co-rule with Jesus, and the 12
originally Jewish apostles included who were all Christians now too.(2
Tim 2:12 KJV) If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we
deny him, he also will deny us: (Rev 20:6 KJV) Blessed and
holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second
death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with him a thousand years.
For those who still
wrongfully might like to claim that the land was solely promised to
"Israel," . Galatians 6:16 identifies Christians as the "Israel of
God." Although Abraham received covenant promises concerning his seed,
the promise was not to Abraham's "seeds"... It is only in Christ we
inherit these redemptive promises. Indeed, the books of Daniel
(Old Testament) and Revelation (New Testament) clearly state Christ's
preeminence, as well as the messages of Galatians and
Hebrews, and that the kingdoms of this world shall rather next
become the joint heirs, under the rule, the property of all of Jesus and
all of God's people; that is the Christians. Revelation 2:26 adds
that overcomers (who have the testimony of Jesus) will be given "power
over the nations." In other words, Christians will have power over
all the nations, will possess all the land, including the physical
nation of Israel and all Arab nations. Eventually, Peter says
there will be new heavens and a new earth. This is completion of
God's promise to Abraham's seed fulfilled. The people of God, His
people forever, are those of faith in Christ Jesus. The same are
Abraham's seed. The same heirs do finally inherit the promise
given Abraham. and Romans 8:9-10, says "Now if any man have not
the spirit of Christ, he is none of His."
The book
of Hebrews also makes it clear that the Mosaic provisions of the
Levitical priesthood, the sacrifices and the law were only temporary -
"he takes away the first [covenant], that he may establish the second."
(10:9). Earlier in chapter (8:13) the writer had said "In that he said a
new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes
old is ready to vanish away." How can anyone diagree with these
Scriptures and now lie and even teaching that Israel and its Old
Covenant shadows are to be restored? The book of Hebrews is devoted to
teaching otherwise. It is also still a heresy for any of the
Judaizers to exalt any of the corruptible Jewish flesh when God's Word
says that if a Jew (or Gentile) does not have God's Spirit, he is not of
God too? The Jews clearly now are not of Christ because they clearly
don't have His Holy Spirit. The Jews are still rather of
Antichrist because they do mostly all despise God's and his
doctrines. Thus the Jews next are going to hell because they are
not even born again. The New Testament clearly says all of this
too. Only the born again in Christ Jews, the cut off natural jewish
branches that they were, they will be grafted back again into the olive
tree and comprise, with the Gentiles the Church of God Romans 11
(vv.13-21). All Jews do have to be born again in Christ to be
readopted into the family of God.
Psalm 2:1 Why do the
heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of
the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against
the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their
bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4 He that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in
derision. 5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex
them in his sore displeasure. 6 Yet have I set my king upon
my holy hill of Zion. 7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath
said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and
the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9 Thou
shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like
a potter's vessel. 10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be
instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice with trembling. 12 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.
(Rom
4:14 KJV) For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made
void, and the promise made of none effect:15 Because the law
worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. 16
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the
promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the
law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the
father of us all, 17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father
of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth
the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the
father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy
seed be.
(Rom 8:17 KJV) And if children, then heirs; heirs
of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together.
(Gal 3:29 KJV) And
if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
the promise.
(Titus 3:7 KJV) That being justified by his
grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life.
(Heb 1:14 KJV) Are they not all ministering spirits,
sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation?
(Heb 6:17 KJV) Wherein God, willing more
abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his
counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
(Heb 11:9 KJV) By faith
he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling
in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise:
(James 2:5 KJV) Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath
not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the
kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
(1 Pet 3:7
KJV) Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to
knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and
as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not
hindered.
"Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the
disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are
looking for the city that is to come." Heb 13:13-14
Our final
destination, even the related personal rewards for our service to Jesus
Christ the Messiah are not here on earth but in the heavenly
Jerusalem.
(Heb 11:8 KJV) By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an
inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange
country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with
him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 Through faith also
Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a
child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had
promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good
as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand
which is by the sea shore innumerable. 13 These all died in faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and
were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such
things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if
they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they
might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they
desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a
city.
My tabernacle also shall be with them; Indeed I will
be their God, and they shall be My people" Ezekiel 37:27
God promised the seed of Abraham with the
promise land. Seed is a singular term that includes all the children of
God in the New Testament now as well. The ultimate fullfillment of this
promised land it is the Heavenly Jerusalem and not the earthly
one..
" "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram,
saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt
unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (Gen. 15:18). Then Joseph
said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to
your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on
oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." (Genesis 50:24) In context: (Genesis
50:23-25)
The entitlement of any one past specific indwelling
group religious to territory in the Middle East called the "Holy Land"
cannot be supported by Scripture. In fact, the land promises specific to
Israel in the Old Testament were also fulfilled.and
I draw your
attention to some Scriptures which plainly state that God has fulfilled
all that He promised Abraham concerning the land. Now the
fulfillment. In Deut.1:7,8 Moses said to the children of Israel -- "Turn
you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and
unto all the places nigh thereunto, in all the plains, in the hills, and
in the valleys, and in the south and by the sea side, to the land of the
Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river the river Euphrates.
Behold I have set the land before you; go In and possess the land which
the LORD swore unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give
unto them and to their seed after them."
After the death of
Moses, the same promise was given to Joshua. Then shortly before Joshua
died, he said --- "And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he
sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed It, and dwelt
therein. . . There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had
spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass" (Josh.
21:43,45).
In Nehemiah chapter 9 we have the same statement.
Verses 7 and 8, "Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and
broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees and gavest him the name
of Abraham; and foundest his heart faithful before thee .... and madest
a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites,
the Amorites and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites,
to give It I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou
art righteous." And verse 24 says ---"So the children went in and
possessed the land."
Now turn to Jeremiah, Chapter 32 verse 21
... "And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt
with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and
with great terror. And hast given them this land which thou didst swear
to give to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey; and they
came in, and possessed it."
In the face of all this, how can it
be said that Genesis 15:18 has never been fulfilled? We can believe that
God certainly did fulfil all that He promised concerning the land. God
keeps his part of the promise.
Possession of the land was also
conditional.
Be careful to follow every command I am giving you
today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the
land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers. (Deut.8:1) But
if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I
have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship
them; Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have
given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I
cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword
among all nations. (2Ch 7:19-20)
Did God know Israel would brake
his covenant?
When I have brought them into the land flowing
with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers,
and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods
and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. (Deut.
31:20)
Scripture also says the (land belongs to God) and was not
a permanent entitlement to anyone. "'The land must not be sold
permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my
tenants."' (Lev. 25:23 NIV) The Bible says that they were only
"tenants". As tenants there were in the land or God's property for a
fixed period of time. This arrangement is usually under the terms of a
lease or some similar legal Covenant or agreement. (See Deut.8:1; 2Ch
7:19-20) To teach or imply otherwise is nothing less than to compromise
the Bible and the Gospel itself.
A heavenly inheritance has been
the expectation of Abraham and the people of God in all ages. "By
faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as
his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he
was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a
stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and
Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking
forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is
God. By faith Abraham, even though he was past age and Sarah herself was
barren was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful
who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as
dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as
countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still
living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things
promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they
admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say
such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If
they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had
opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country a
heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for
he has prepared a city for them. "(Hebrews 12:8-16 NIV)
"But you
have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the
Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the
Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks
better things than that of Abel." (Hebrews 11:13-16)
The Gospel
offers eternal life in heaven to Jews and Gentiles alike as a free gift
in Jesus Christ. Eternal life in heaven is not earned or deserved, nor
is it based upon ethnic descent or natural birth. And there is also now
no special divine favor for inheritance upon any member of any religious
group to the earthly land of Palestine whether Jew or Gentile or Muslim.
(Lev. 25:23)
The Apostle Paul, to the Circumcision, in Rome says
nothing about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel in the land of
Palestine. Instead, Paul persuades his Jewish readers to consider
themselves dead to the old but alive to the new. (Romans 6:5) He fixes
their hope upon the resurrection.
"No New Testament Apostle
writer expounds on, or foresees a regathering of ethnic Israel in
the land, as did the prophets of the Old Testament after the destruction
of the first temple in 586 B.C. Moreover, the land promises of the Old
Covenant are consistently and deliberately expanded in the New Testament
to show the universal dominion of Jesus, (Psalm 2:7-8) who reigns from
heaven upon the throne of David, inviting all the nations through the
Gospel of Grace to partake of his universal and everlasting dominion.
The promsied land issue regarding the "Middle East" and Palestine
doctrine is both contrary to the teaching of the New Testament and a
violation of the Gospel mandate.
Under that old covenant earthly
blessings were promised to an earthly people, including national
existence and the possession of the land of Canaan. Those blessings,
moreover (and it is important to observe this) were made to depend upon
express conditions, to be faithfully observed by that people, and were
to be forfeited if those conditions were not observed. But that
covenant, the Lord declares, "they brake." And now, through Jeremiah, He
proclaims the great fact that He will make, in a time then future, "a
new covenant," which was to be of a different sort. The Epistle to the
Hebrews explains fully this prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the new
covenant, the prophecy itself being quoted in full in Heb. 8:7-13, and
in part in 10:15-17. It is the "everlasting covenant," secured by the
blood of Jesus Christ (Heb. 13: 20). It is established with a heavenly
people, those who are "come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living
God the heavenly Jerusalem, . . . and to the church of the first born
(ones) who are written (i.e. enrolled) in heaven" (Ch. 12:22, 23). It is
"a better covenant established upon better promises" (Ch.
8:6)"
We have already seen that, by the covenant of Sinai, God
offered them the highest of all blessings, but upon the express
condition of obedience; the terms being, "If ye will obey My voice
indeed, and keep My Covenant" (Ex. 19:5,6). To this they all agreed,
saying, "All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do" (v. 8). And this
pledge of obedience was twice repeated by them after the ten
commandments had been spoken to them (Ex. 24:3 and 7). Nevertheless,
that covenant was broken by them within forty days through the idolatry
of the golden calf ("Which My covenant they brake," Jer.
31:32).
Now the matter of the past national destruction of Israel
by the Romans inluded that there was to be no recovery. And in this, the
prophecy of Moses is in full accord with that of Jesus Christ, recorded
in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. For Moses said: "God will rejoice over you to
destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from
off the land wither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter
thee among all people, from one end of the earth even to the other"
(Deut. 28:63,64). This, according to this prophecy, was to be the end of
their history as a nation.
And now the law has been superseded by
the gospel, with its "better hope." The economy of the law, with all its
shadows - people, land, city, temple, priesthood, sacrifices- has been
set aside, and forever.
Being a member of Israel in the Old
Testament was dependent upon faith and obedience to God. When the
Israelites obeyed God, God loved them. But when the Israelites turned
from him, He hated them, stripping them of their Israelite status. After
centuries of Israelite rebellion against God, culminating in their
rejection of Jesus the Messiah, the titles, attributes and blessings of
Israel were transferred to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior, and to no one else, regardless of Abrahamic descent."
Be
careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may
live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord
promised on oath to your forefathers. (Deut.8:1) But if ye turn away,
and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before
you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; Then will I
pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and
this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my
sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
(2Ch 7:19-20)
"The "nation of Israel" today knows it does not yet
have all the land that they have believed that they are intitled
to. The promise to them was from the river of Egypt unto the great
river, the river Euphrates. Seems to me that if they want all the land
they think they are intitled to they would next wrongfully to go
to war and take it from some other countried around them. The the
river Euphrates goes right into Iraq, so they would go a conquer
Jordan, Kawait, etc."It requires big time war over there even to get the
temple built. "
"As to why Paul was persecuted by the Jews far
more than anyone else. (2 Cor 11:22-29). James and Peter enjoyed
relative peace with the Jews for a period of time. There was a great
persecution recorded in the book of Acts, but then it subsides. What
stopped it? The conversion of Paul, the death of Herod (Acts 12), the
removal of Pontius Pilate as governor, and the end of the reign of
Caligula. All these things happened in a fairly short period of time.
Then we see the rise of Claudius as Emperor. Claudius was somewhat
enamored towards Christianity. He even wanted it recognized as an
official Roman religion. However, Paul continued to suffer at the
hands of the Judiazers. Why did they go after Paul but not James and
Peter? It had to have been the fact that he was preaching to the
Gentiles only Christ and Him crucified. He did not teach them that they
had to keep the Sabbath, circumcision, etc. For I determined not
to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (I Cor
2:2)"
http://newjerusalemministriesboards.com/showthread.php?t=726&page=2
And
the whole House of Israel including the gentiles were reunited with the
House of Judah under one leader, Jesus Christ our Messiah (Jeremiah
3:18; Ezekiel 37:15-28;Hosea 1:11). And the whole house of Israel was
now next present on the day of Pentecost when this happened. (Acts 2:36
KJV) Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that
God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and
Christ. 37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their
heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and
brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them,
Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that
are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40 And
with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves
from this untoward generation. 41 Then they that gladly received his
word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about
three thousand souls. 42 And they continued stedfastly in the
apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in
prayers.
These first believers, converts were mainly Jews from
the whole house of Israel now too
All of the believers in
the Messiah Jesus Christ have the status of being a first-born family
(Hebrews 12:22-23) which is not based upon genealogy (I Chronicles
5:1).
Let me remind you of the undeniable fact for false
personal, nationalistic, selfish reasons, many of the Jews, judaizers do
even today still lie and twist the word of God to suit their
nationalistic, self centered too empire aims and they do wrongfully
persecute still the christians workers. Being an apostle serving
jesus CVhrist in the church was, is also not an easy task.
(Acts
9:15 KJV) But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a
chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings,
and the children of Israel:16 For I will show him how great things
he must suffer for my name's sake.
(2 Th 3:3 KJV) But the
Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.4
And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and
will do the things which we command you. 5 And the Lord direct
your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for
Christ. 6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh
disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of
us.
(2 Th 3:13 KJV) But ye, brethren, be not weary in well
doing. 14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that
man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
(Mat
19:29 KJV) And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren,
or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my
name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting
life.
(Gal 6:4 KJV) But let every man prove his own work,
and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
5 For every man shall bear his own burden.
(1 Cor 2:3
KJV) And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much
trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing
words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God.
(2 Tim 4:16 KJV) At my first answer no man
stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be
laid to their charge. 17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me,
and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and
that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth
of the lion. 18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and
will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever
and ever. Amen.
(2 Tim 4:10 KJV) For Demas hath forsaken
me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica;
Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
The slanderous
accusing, depressing, afflictions, persecuting spirits that the
apostle Paul suffered was came even from the Jews and the so called
Christian brethren too.. False teachers had prejudiced his brethren
against him. They had made false charges against him to destroy his
influence among the churches which he had raised up. Many Christians
today who do God's work suffer the same demons too.
"He
Apostle Paul too often he could not count upon the sympathy and
support of even his own brethren in the faith. The unconverted Jews who
had so closely followed upon his track had not been slow to circulate
the most unfavorable reports . . . both personally and by letter
concerning him and his work, and some, even of the apostles and elders,
had received these reports as truth, making no attempt to contradict
them and manifesting no desire to harmonize with him." . The Jews
continued to spread evil reports, and invented lying accusations; but
saddest of all, some of his brethren had believed the lying reports.
This must have pained Paul to his very soul. "Yet in the midst of
discouragement, the apostle was not in despair." Paul kept his ear tuned
to the One that spoke to him on the way to Damascus. No matter what men
did to him, it sank into insignificance when he thought of what Jesus
had done for him. He pressed on."
(Gal 6:12 KJV) As many as
desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be
circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of
Christ.13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law;
but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh 14
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the
world15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any
thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
"Do you know what
a Judaiser is? It is a Christian Jew, who had accepted Christ as the
Messiah, but still kept the Jewish rites. When they came into a
Christian church, they told the people that if they would keep the
Jewish ceremonies, more of the Jews would be converted. They advised
that if the Gentile converts, who did not keep the ceremonies and were
not circumcised were kept out, they would have many more Jewish
converts—more than enough to make up for the loss of the Gentile
converts. In this way they tore down the work that Paul had built up.
"They visited every church which he had organized, creating
division." The Judiasers never stopped, and they are still busily
at their work in our churches today." they are often even the Messianic
Jews too.
"There was still a small group even inthe Church that
hated Paul. They had a list of accusations that they used against him
whenever possible. "They stubbornly resisted all efforts of Paul for the
purification of the church; they displayed a most bitter spirit, and
were bold in denunciation of Paul." Their first
accusation was that Paul preached the gospel with a "mercenary motive."
In other words, the accusation was that he was preaching the gospel to
make money. Maybe they contrived that since he preached to large crowds
of people, everyone would know him, and he could sell lots of tents.
Next they accused him of "craft in preaching the gospel and dealing with
the churches." I Thirdly, "They charged him with receiving personal
advantage from the means contributed by the brethren for various
benevolent purposes." The next accusation came from the opposite
extreme. Some said Paul was not an apostle because he did not demand
support from the churches." "Unfortunately, the relationship
between Paul and the believers in Corinth could never be what it could
have been. The dissension and evil surmising had ruined what could have
been. However, Paul freely forgave them, and prayed for them. Paul bore
the weight of all the churches. They were always on his mind. "The
pressure was sometimes so great that he could scarcely endure it.
Outward dangers and inward fears had harassed him beyond his own power
to bear. False teachers had prejudiced his brethren against him. They
had made false charges against him to destroy his influence among the
churches which he had raised up. But amid all his persecutions and
discouragements, he could rejoice in the consolation which he found in
Christ." Apostle Paul still in spite of all of this he never gave
up, he continued with his eyes fixed on God, God's people, God's work he
prayed for his enemies, showed love to all, and there is no record that
he had done one wrong in his response too. Paul was a human being,
with feelings like ours, but even in the most discouraging
circumstances, he put his eyes on and his faith in Christ.(Phil 4:13
KJV) I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
14 Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with
my affliction.
1 Corinthians 9:19–23: "For though I be free from
all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the
more; and unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews;
and to them that are under the law, as are under the law, that I might
gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as
without law (be not without law to God, but under the law to Christ),
that I might gain them that are without law; to the weak became I as
weak, that I might gain the weak. I am made all things to all men, that
I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake,
that I might be partaker thereof .
"THE TRUE ISRAEL OF
GOD "For the better part of three chapters, the apostle Paul
has been defending the doctrine of justification by faith alone against
the attacks of a group of Jews known as the Judiazers. The Judiazers
insisted upon the keeping of the laws of circumcision and the laws of
Moses as a necessary prerequisite if one is to become the beneficiary of
salvation, thereby instituting a salvation by works. Such a view of
God's sole, final personal salvation of each one of us not only goes
contrary to the truth of grace, but those who seek salvation in any
other way than through faith in Jesus Christ will in reality still even
remain a condemned sinner within their own personal prison cell of sin
and go to Hell unsaved, personally unredeemed.. There is no doubt of
this now too.
As Paul brings to a close
chapter three, he does so by presenting the fact that down through
history, the only true covenant people of God have been those who
embraced by faith the Abrahamic promises as fulfilled in Christ. And
every person who turns to faith in Christ becomes partakers within this
covenant family.
Whether it be under the Old
Covenant or the New Covenant, God's covenant family consists of Jews and
Gentiles alike who place their faith in the redeeming work of God's only
begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. As we will see in today's study,
this family of the redeemed make up the true commonwealth of
Israel.
(Gal 3:26-29 KJV) "For ye are
all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. {27} For as many of
you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. {28} There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither
male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. {29} And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise."
According to this passage, we
see that the true descendants of Abraham (or the true Israel of God) are
those who are spiritually descended from Abraham through faith in
Christ, no matter what their ethnic background is.
In the
twenty-sixth verse, we see that God's true covenant family is made up
everyone who believes in Jesus Christ.
(Gal 3:26 KJV) "For ye are all
the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."
This is an extremely
important passage because there are some who would falsely even now
argue that there are two peoples of God; one group consisting of the
physical descendants of Abraham prior to the redemptive work of Christ,
along with those physical descendants of Abraham under a future
dispensation called the Millennial Kingdom, and the second group
consisting of Jew and Gentile alike under what is called the
dispensation of grace. This some what popular theology is called
dispensationalism. It is unbiblical still.
As we will see in this study,
God has had only one true covenant people which has always been made up
of the spiritual descendants of Abraham whether Jew or Gentile. In the
Old Testament, the majority of these spiritual descendants were ethnic
Jews, while under the New Covenant, the majority of these spiritual
descendants were Gentiles.
As we will see later, under both
Testaments both Jews and Gentiles were included in the true covenant
family of God.
It is through faith and faith alone that introduces
one into the covenant family of God.
(John 1:12 KJV) "But as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name:"
The true covenant family of
God includes only such individuals who trust in Christ. This is an
important truth because the Jewish people of Jesus' day and many even
today wrongly concluded that since they had Abraham as their father,
that they were somehow automatically guaranteed acceptance into God's
covenant community or family.
But as Jesus so sternly
points out to those Jews who claimed to be the children of God, physical
descent from Abraham alone does not make one a true descendant of
Abraham or a child of God.
(John 8:37-41 KJV) "I know
that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath
no place in you. {38} I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and
ye do that which ye have seen with your father. {39} They answered and
said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were
Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. {40} 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. {41} Ye do the deeds of your father. Then
said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father,
even God."
Here we have the physical
descendants of Abraham claiming their ancestry as proof positive that
they were the true children of God. But rather than God being their true
father, Jesus rebukes them by saying that they are descended from the
devil.
(John 8:44 KJV) "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."
These Jews were born into
Israel nationally, but they were not born into the true Israel
spiritually. Spiritual birth is necessary for anyone to claim God as
their father.
The reason why most of the
physical Jews of Jesus' day were not part of the true Israel of God was
because they lacked faith.
As we see in verse
twenty-seven, everyone who has placed their faith in the finished work
of Christ has been placed into the body of Christ and has put on
Christ.
(Gal 3:27 KJV) "For as many
of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
Though water baptism is an
ordinance of God which is to be obeyed by all who believe, it is not
water baptism that Paul has in view here. The baptism of which Paul
refers to in this passage is the spiritual baptism whereby every
believer is placed by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ.
(Rom 6:3-5 KJV) "Know ye not,
that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into
his death? {4} Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:
that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. {5} For if we
have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be
also in the likeness of his resurrection:"
In some great and mysterious
way which transcends time and space, the person who places his trust in
Jesus Christ has been crucified, buried, and resurrected with His
Savior.
Paul says in Galatians
2:20,...
(Gal 2:20 KJV) "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave himself for me."
Paul goes on to say that
those who "have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
This putting on of Christ is
sign of the believer's sonship and identifies himself with the true
covenant people of God. It is being spiritually baptized into Jesus
Christ, not physical circumcision that identifies the believer as a true
child of God.
And as Paul points out in verse twenty-eight, there is
no partiality with God when it comes to who belongs to His covenant
community. There has never been a time in redemptive history when God
loved the nation of Israel at the exclusion of the other nations of the
world.
God did set His redemptive
love upon national Israel as a whole but He did so in order to channel
His love to the world.
(Gal 3:28 KJV) "There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
In Jesus Christ there are no
social, economic, gender, or national distinctions placed upon those who
make up this redeemed community called the church of Jesus Christ, the
true Israel of God.
In the closing of this letter
Paul addresses this mixed multitude of believing Jews and Gentiles as
the Israel of God.
(Gal 6:16 KJV) "And as many as walk according to
this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and (even) upon the Israel of
God."
It matters not if you are
born Jew or Gentile, it matters not if you are born free or under the
awful oppression of slavery, it matters not if you are born a boy or a
girl, it matters not you are black or white or whether you have blue
eyes or brown eyes. What matters is this: are you born of God?
(John 1:13 KJV) "Which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God."
Jesus said in the third chapter of the gospel of
John, "Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again."
As
we have seen numerous times throughout our study in the book of
Galatians, it is those who put their faith in the redemptive work of
Jesus Christ who are justified and made a partaker of God's
family.
Listen to the logic of Paul's
argument in our text:
(1) You are made a child of God through faith
in Jesus Christ. (v.26)
(2) Those who have placed their faith in
Christ have been placed into the body of Christ and have therefore put
on Christ. (v.27)
(3) This gospel is not offered to one particular
class or race of people. (v.28)
(4) Therefore, everyone without
distinction or prejudice who places their trust in Christ is one in
Christ. (v.28)
(5) If you are in Christ, then you are the true
descendant of Abraham, the true Israel of God, and heirs according to
the promise given 2,500 years earlier to Abraham.
(Gal 3:29 KJV) "And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise."
The true promised descendants of Abraham are not the
physical Jews but those who are spiritual Jews through faith in the true
Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ.
(Gal 3:16 KJV) "Now to
Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds,
as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."
I do not mean to imply by
these statements that God did not call out physical Israel as a nation
and make to them promises. In fact, all of the promises that God made to
Abraham regarding ethnic Israel did come to pass.
1. God promised to Abraham
that his descendants would become a great and mighty nation. Did God
fulfill this promise? Absolutely! Any overview of the nation of Israel's
history, especially under David and Solomon, would reveal that they
became a mighty and powerful nation..
2. God promised to Abraham that
his descendants would become in number as the dust of the earth. Did
that happen? Yes.
(2 Chr 1:9 KJV) "Now, O LORD God, let thy promise
unto David my father be established: for thou hast made me king over a
people like the dust of the earth in multitude."
3. God promised to
Abraham that this nation would grow in number as the stars of heaven.
Did God fulfill this promise to Abraham? Of course He did!
(1 Chr
27:23 KJV) "But David took not the number of them from twenty years old
and under: because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like to
the stars of the heavens."
4. God promised Abraham that he would
possess the land of Palestine and more! Did the children of Israel
inherit all the land that God promised to give unto them? Yes they did!
Again I will allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves.
(Josh 11:23 KJV) "So Joshua
took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and
Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their
divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war."
(Josh
21:41-45 KJV) "All the cities of the Levites within the possession of
the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs.
{42} These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them:
thus were all these cities. {43} And the LORD gave unto Israel all the
land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it,
and dwelt therein. {44} And the LORD gave them rest round about,
according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a
man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their
enemies into their hand. {45} There failed not ought of any good thing
which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to
pass."
(1 Ki 4:20-21 KJV) "Judah and
Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating
and drinking, and making merry. {21} And Solomon reigned over all
kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the
border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days
of his life."
God fulfilled all of His
earthly promises to Israel nationally. But as we turn to the New
Testament, we discover something more regarding these Abrahamic
promises. We discover that they far exceed the promises to one man, one
nation and one land. We see that they are fulfilled in the ultimate
sense in the ministry and work of Jesus Christ.
The physical nation of Israel
was a "type" or "foreshadowing" of the redemption that Jesus Christ
would bring throughout all the nations of the world. Jesus is the true
Seed of Abraham.
(Gal 3:16 KJV) "Now to
Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds,
as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."
(Rom 4:13 KJV) "For the
promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or
to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of
faith."
The nation of Israel in the
Old Testament was to be a light unto the Gentile nations of the world.
It is through Jesus Christ ,the true Seed of Abraham, that this light is
breaking forth into the world.
We see in these passages that
the true Israel of God will not only inherit a small portion of land
called Palestine, but as coheirs with Christ they will inherit all the
earth.
(Mat 5:5 KJV) "Blessed are
the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."
It is likely that the
culmination of these promises are seen in the New heavens and New earth
at the end of this age.
(2 Pet 3:13 KJV) "Nevertheless we, according
to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness."
It is in this newly renovated
heaven and earth that the believer will dwell in his resurrected and
glorified body for all eternity. As one writer put it, "it will be
paradise restored." This world still awaits that day of consummation
when the curse of sin will be finally and completely removed.
(Rom 8:22-23 KJV) "For we
know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together
until now. {23} And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."
That the true Israel of God
is not made up of the physical descendants of Abraham is clearly seen in
the following texts: (Rom. 2:28-29; Eph. 2:11-19; Rom. 11:11-24)
(ALL ISRAEL IS NOT TRUE
ISRAEL).
(Rom 2:28-29 KJV) "For he is not a Jew, which is one
outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
{29} But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of
the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of
men, but of God."
The context of this passage
is clear to see. There were those who were of Jewish descendant who
wrongly assumed that since they were Jews by birth and had the covenant
seal of circumcision that automatically made them a true Jew.
But as
Paul so keenly points out, their physical Jewish descent does not make
anyone a true Jew. For Paul, a true Jew is one who has experienced the
inward birth which comes from God and one who has been circumcised in
the heart by the Spirit.
A true Jew is anyone who has
been made a partaker of the new life found in Christ. This includes
physical Jews and Gentiles alike. The true Israel of God is made up of
true believers from out of all the ages. This is seen in the book of
Ephesians as well.
(Eph 2:11-19 KJV) "Wherefore
remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are
called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the
flesh made by hands; {12} That at that time ye were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: {13}
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ. {14} For he is our peace, who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; {15}
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; {16} And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body
by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: {17} And came and
preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
{18} For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
{19} Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;"
Several important truths
regarding who is the true Israel of God is brought out in this
passage:
In verses twelve and thirteen we discover five things that
were not true of the Gentiles prior to their faith in Christ but that
are now true because of their faith in Christ.
(1) They were
separated from Christ.
(2) They were excluded from the commonwealth
of Israel. They were not part of God's covenant people.
(3) They were
strangers to the covenants and promises of God. As of yet, the promises
to Abraham did not belong to them.
(4) They were without hope.
(5)
They were without God in this world.
In other words, they were not
part of true Israel.
These five descriptions of the hopeless state of
the Gentiles in their unbelief stand or fall together. All five were
true of them prior to salvation and therefore all five are no longer
true of them after salvation.
(1) Every Gentile Christian is now in
Christ.
(2) Every Gentile Christian is now included in the
commonwealth of Israel, the true Israel of God.
(3) Every Gentile
Christian is now partaker of the covenants and promises of God.
(4)
Every Gentile Christian is now with hope in this world.
(5) Every
Gentile Christian now belongs to God's covenant family.
In Ephesians 2:13-16, we see
that through the blood of Jesus Christ, God has made one covenant
community out of both believing Jews and believing Gentiles, and has
formed these two people groups into one people.
According to verse
nineteen, believing Jews and believing Gentiles are fellow citizens
within the household of God.
In verse twenty we see that these two
groups of people are built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets
with Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. As the chief
cornerstone, Jesus unites Jew and Gentile into one building in which God
dwells through the Holy Spirit.
Any system of theology which
denies the essential unity of both the Old and New Testament saints is a
critically flawed system. There are those who teach that the church is
an interruption or parenthesis in God's plan for Israel.
Nothing
could be further from the truth. As we have seen this morning, the
church is the fulfillment of God's plan for Israel. Beginning with
Abraham, God's purpose in raising up this nation called Israel was never
intended to bless Israel at the exclusion of the other nations of the
world, but that through Israel as a nation, the blessing of redemption
would spread into the world.
It is through the work and
ministry of Christ that we see these covenant promises to Abraham coming
to fruition.
We see the essential unity of the covenant people of God
from all the ages in Paul's explanation of the good olive tree in Romans
11:11-24. I will not take the time to read this text in i's entirety but
I will point out the basic teachings of this text:
(1) It is clear that because
of national Israel's rejection of Jesus Christ that salvation has come
to the Gentiles. (11:11-12)
(2) The branches that were
removed from this good olive tree were unbelieving Jews.
(Rom 11:17 KJV) "And if some
of the branches be broken off (physical Jews), and thou, being a wild
olive tree (believing Gentiles) , wert grafted in among them (believing
Jews) , and with them (believing Jews) partakes of the root and fatness
of the olive tree;"
(3) The good branches that
remain are those physical Jews who believe the gospel. (17-18)
(4) The wild branches which
are grafted into this good olive tree are believing Gentiles.
(5) If the physical Jews who
were broken off because of unbelief will turn to faith in Jesus Christ,
they too will be grafted back into this one good olive
tree.
Unbelieving Jews are removed
from this good olive tree because of unbelief. Believing Gentiles are
grafted into this one good olive tree with those physical Jews who did
believe the gospel, leaving only one true olive tree made up of
believing Jew and Gentile alike, the true Israel of God.
There are not two covenant
peoples of God, one Israel and the other the church. There has been and
will always continue to be only one true people of God made up of those
who place their faith in the covenant promises of God whether they be
Jew of Gentile.
The Gentile who believes the
gospel will sit down in eternity with believing Noah, Abraham, Moses,
David, and Solomon. Every saint of every age has been made one in
Christ.
Dr. O. Palmer Robertson in
his wonderful book entitled, "The Christ of the Covenants" made this
important observation regarding the fact that even in the Old Testament
era any Gentile could become a true Jew by professing the faith of
Abraham.
"What is interesting is that
the Old Testament revealed in part essentially the same truth as taught
in Romans eleven. Though often overlooked, it is plain from the
beginning of the chosen nation of Israel's history that an Israelite
could not be defined simply as a person ethnically descended from
Abraham... Throughout Israelite history, any Gentile could become a
full-fledged "Jew" by professing the faith of Abraham. At the same time,
any one of Abraham's descendants could be declared not a part of the
covenant nation of Israel by the violation of the covenant."
(Lev 19:33-34 KJV) "And if a
stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. {34} But
the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among
you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the
land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."
Two of the most classic
examples of Gentiles becoming full-fledged Jews are Rahab the harlot,
and a Moabite by the name of Ruth.
What is fascinating regarding
the inclusion of these two Gentile women into the Jewish family is that
Jesus Christ was descended from the line of these two women.
The nation of Israel always
included a mixed multitude who were not physically descended from
Abraham but who were embraced as true Jews because they believed the
covenant promises that God made to Abraham.
In fact, it is more probable
than not that by the time Jesus came as a babe in Bethlehem that there
was no one who could claim a pure Jewish descent ( their linage
consisted only of pure Jewish origin).
Many within the Jewish nation
often intermarried with those from the surrounding nations, not to
mention marriage to the mixed multitude of Gentiles who became part of
that covenant community through faith prior to the incarnation of Jesus
Christ.
In other words, no one could lay claim to a pure ethnic
Jewish linage.
Having said all of this, I am
not saying nor is any reformed theologian saying that the church has
become the political entity called national Israel. The church is not
national political Israel, but the true church is the true Israel of
God. The church is the true covenant family of God.
In other words, I am not
equating true Israel with national Israel.
As long as national Israel
lives in unbelief in Jesus Christ, they live in a state of apostasy and
are not to be regarded as part of God's covenant family. As we have
already seen, Jesus instructed the unbelieving Jews of his day that they
were not of the true seed of Abraham because of unbelief, but they were
of the seed of the devil.
The true Israel of God is
made up of believers whether they be Jew or Gentile from out of every
time period within God's redemptive history. There is only one true
people of God made up of all who believe the gospel. These and these
alone are the true descendants of Abraham and coheirs of the promises of
God.
(Gal 3:29 KJV) "And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise."
It is through Jesus Christ and His church, which is made up
of Old Testament Christians and New Testament Christians, that the
covenant promises of God made to Abraham now some 4,500 later are
finding there ultimate fulfillment.
Faithful is God who has
promised!"
http://www.faithbiblechurch.org/transcripts/galatians/3_26-29.htm
Be careful to follow every
command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may
enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your
forefathers. (Deut.8:1) But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and
my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve
other gods, and worship them; Then will I pluck them up by the roots out
of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have
sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to
be a proverb and a byword among all nations. (2Ch 7:19-20)
"The
promises (of the Abrahamic Covenant) were spoken to Abraham and his
seed. The Scripture does not say "and to his seeds" (meaning all of his
sons which would include Ishmael), meaning many people, but "and to your
seed," meaning one person, who is Messiah jesus Christ (who was born of
the Tribe of Judah, one of the twelve tribes originating from Jacob).
The Abrahamic Covenant which states the boundaries of Eretz
Israel in Genesis 15:18-19 was passed onto Jacob who's name was changed
to "Israel" by God in Genesis 32:28. Jacob's twelve sons and their
descendants also inherit the Land.
If you read Jeremiah and
Hosea, God only divorced the house of Israel (10 tribes). He did NOT
divorce the house of Judah or the "2 southern tribes". Secondly, the New
Covenant is about the restoration of both tribes and also all of the
gentiles..
Jer 31:31, "The time is coming," declares the
LORD, "when I will make a NEW COVENANT with the HOUSE OF ISRAEL and with
the HOUSE OF JUDAH. It will not be like the covenant I made with their
forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares
the LORD. "This is the covenant I will make with the HOUSE OF ISRAEL
after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my TORAH in their minds
and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my
people.
Notice God promised to preserve the HOUSE OF JUDAH. and
he did this in Jesus Christ.
1 Kings 11:34-36 says, "But I will
not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon?s hand; I have made him ruler
all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose
and who OBSERVED my COMMANDS and STATUES. I will take the kingdom from
his son?s hands and give you TEN tribes. I will give ONE tribe to his
son so that David my servant may ALWAYS have a lamp before me in
JERUSALEM, the city where I chose to put my Name.
God called the
"House of Israel" the scattered people.
Ezek 36:19. "And I
SCATTERED THEM AMONG THE HEATHEN, and THEY WERE DISPERSED THROUGH THE
COUNTRIES: according to their way and according to their doings I judged
them."
The whole point of the NEW COVENANT was also to one day to
restore Israel. The restoration of Israel was to bring the 10 tribes
(lost sheep of Israel) back together with the (2 tribes of Judah). This
was fulfilled with Jesus death. The two sticks in Ezekiel 37 was the
CROSS that restored both houses of Israel.
Ezek 37-19 Say unto
them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph,
which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows,
and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make
them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
Hosea 1:10
says, "In the place where it was said to them (House of Israel), 'You
are not my people (rejection by God),' they will be called 'sons of the
living Elohim,"
Jesus Christ came firstly for the
lost sheep of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL: but next for all people
too.
Matthew 15:24 states, "I am not sent BUT unto the lost sheep
of the house of Israel,"
Matthew 18:11 further says, "For the
Son of Adam (Messiah) has come to save what was lost,"
James
even wrote a book to the lost sheep of Israel. "....To the twelve tribes
scattered among the nations: Greetings," which included all of the
lost from God jews..
Even Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus
Christ died on the tree to redeem and reunite both houses of
Israel (John 11:49-52).
Jesus Christ's death and
resurrection made possible the restoration of Israel and all of the
people to God if they accept the death of Jesus Christ for their
sins
When a husband divorces his wife, and his wife goes and
whoredom to another husband as we see in 1 Kings chap 10 &11, he
cannot re-marry her. So if the Torah is correct, God can not re-marry
the house of Israel unless he dies first. Then he can re-marry her
(house of Israel) again. This is the only way according to the Torah,
one can be release from the law of divorce and marriage Deut
24:1-4.
Suppose a man marries a woman and consummates the
marriage but later finds her displeasing, because he has found her
offensive in some respect. He writes her a divorce document, gives it to
her and sends her away from his house. She leaves his house, goes and
becomes another man?s wife; but the second husband dislikes her and
writes her a get, gives it to her and sends her away from his house; or
the second husband whom she married dies. In such a case her first
husband, who sent her away, may not take her again as his wife, because
she is now defiled. It would be detestable to ADONAI, and you are not to
bring about sin in the land ADONAI your God is giving you as your
inheritance.?
Now read the beginning of Romans chap 7. Verse 1-4
talks about a divorce. The reason why Paul is taking about divorce is
because God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ had divorced (house of
Israel) in Hosea because they were whore (idolaters of other Gods (kings
chap 11 & 12). (Hosea 1:8). Notice again in Romans verse 2, to be
released from marriage your husband must die. This is why God also had
to come down as man (1Tim 3:16) and die. This was the only way He could
remarry and restore the both houses of the 12 tribes and all of the
gentiles too. This is the future spiritual event called the wedding
supper.
The Messiah's jesus Christ role as the Great Shepherd
(John 10:14) is best pictured in the redemption, restoration and
regathering of Ephraim with Judah and all of the gentiles now
too.
Secondly, the whole House of Israel including the gentiles
were reunited with the House of Judah under one leader, Jesus Christ our
Messiah (Jeremiah 3:18; Ezekiel 37:15-28;Hosea 1:11). And the whole
house of Israel was now next present on the day of Pentecost when this
happened. (Acts 2:36 KJV) Therefore let all the house of Israel
know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have
crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37 Now when they heard this, they
were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the
apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter
said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children,
and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call. 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort,
saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41 Then they that
gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were
added unto them about three thousand souls. 42 And they continued
stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of
bread, and in prayers.
These first believers, converts were
mainly Jews from the whole house of Israel now too
All of
the believers in the Messiah Jesus Christ have the status of being
a first-born family (Hebrews 12:22-23) which is not based upon genealogy
(I Chronicles 5:1).
Let me remind you Jesus the undeniable fact
for false personal, nationalistic, selfish reasons, many of the Jews,
judiazers do even today still lie and twist the word of God to
suit their nationalistic empire aims.
It is this whole body, the
church that one futrure day will receive the spiritual (Heb chap
11) and the physical (Gen chap 15) land. Galatians 3:29 says, "If you
belong to Messiah (Christ), then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise (Abrahamic Covenant),".
(Acts 4:8
KJV) Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye
rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9 "If we this day are judged
for a good deed [done] to a helpless man, by what means he has been made
well, 10 "let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel,
that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom
God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
11 "This is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has
become the chief cornerstone.' 12 "Nor is there salvation in any other,
for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must
be saved."
The only thing for sure about the promised land here
on earh that Jesus ever mentioned, promised was the meek
inheriting the earth.
Divine sovereignty is the way out of the
tangled mess that is the Arab-Israeli conflict, but attempting to bring
this about by human means will turn out to be a costly error. Rather
than a sincere attempt to acknowledge God as sovereign over all, most of
the "players" in the Middle East peace process see this proposal merely
as a symbolic gesture to diffuse a potentially explosive
situation.
God,
however, repeatedly declares that the only way to resolve the contention over Jerusalem is the return of Jesus
Christ to establish His just rule over it and all the
earth:
» The
LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, till I make Your enemies
Your footstool." The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of
Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! . . . The Lord is at Your right
hand; he shall execute kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge
among the nations, he shall fill the places with dead bodies, he shall
execute the heads of many countries. (Psalm 110:1-2, 5-6)
» O
Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O
Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength,
lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your
God!" Behold the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, and His arm
shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before
Him. (Isaiah 40:9-10)
»
"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that I will perform that
good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house
of Judah: In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to
David a Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and
righteousness in the earth. In those days Judah will be saved, and
Jerusalem will dwell safely. . . ." (Jeremiah 33:14-16)
»
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the
LORD is near in the valley of decision. . . The LORD also will roar from
Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will
shake; but the LORD will be a shelter for His people, and the strength
of the children of Israel. So you shall know that I am the LORD your
God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy,
and no aliens shall ever pass through her again. (Joel 3:14,
16-17)
»
Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all
your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your
judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is
in your midst; you shall see disaster no more. In that day it shall be
said to Jerusalem: "Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak. The
LORD your God is in your midst, the Mighty One, will save. . . ."
(Zephaniah 3:14-17)
»
"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the
surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. .
. . It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations
that come against Jerusalem." . . . Behold, the day of the LORD is
coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather
all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. . . . Then the LORD will go
forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of
battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
which faces Jerusalem on the east. . . . Thus the LORD my God will come.
. . . And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. . . . The people
shall dwell in [Jerusalem]; and no longer shall there be utter
destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. (Zechariah 12:2,
9; 14:1-5, 9, 11)
>>Sometimes the only
way to stop the bad guys from coming after you is to go after the bad
guys and the bad Guys also are the Jews, the Conservatives
themselves it seems.. amongst the many others too.