Last time we talked about the upcoming days of inspection for the church and why it matters now what we do and don't do for King Jesus.
This time we will talk about what Jesus is doing in heaven now and what he will bring with him when he comes back to the earth. Where are the eternal homes of Israel and the church?
Hebrews 9:24,25,26,28
"For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; as the High Priest with his own blood - he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. To those who eagerly wait for him he will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."
At this very moment there is a man in the throne room of God. He is praying for each and every one of us as our High Priest to the Father to overcome just as he did with his time on earth. His law of Love defined the law of Moses with how we are supposed to live life. We are to love each other so much that if necessary one would lay down his life for his friends, even his enemies. The law of Christ is what saves and judges man in the end. It is the righteousness of God.
What Jesus is doing now is very important for the making of what is coming to the earth later. The Bible describes salvation of man as a process, we are "being saved" now and will be finally saved when we are glorified. Salvation will finish when Christ comes back for the second time and we are changed into his likeness (1John 3:2). The salvation of Israel also happens at this time with the coming of their Messiah to rule in Israel. This has not happened yet, what we are doing now by obeying Jesus is making our heavenly bodies and eternal homes. The Jews are awaiting to live peacefully again in their home while discovering who their Messiah is and will be living under his rule like the time of King David in the land God has given them through their father Abraham.
According to Ephesians 2:20-22 we are (the church is) "being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit". Our eternal home is a heavenly body. This "dwelling place" is further described in 2 Corinthians 5:1-2.
"For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our "habitation" which is from heaven".
This Greek word "oiketerion" is used in 2 Corinthians 5 and in Ephesians 2 to describe our future glorified bodies as a permanent place of residence for us. In Jude 6 we see this same word "oiketerion" again describing the place which angels fell from.
"And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own "oiketerion", He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day".
According to scripture, where angels fell from is where we are aspiring to get to. Our real homes are heavenly bodies clothed with eternity that can look upon the face of our Lord who made us perfect by his death. Our gathering is a special occasion in heaven when we are announced to the heavens as the bride of Christ, "a festal assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven" (Heb.12:23). In Revelation we are seen in heaven as the 24 elders and on earth as reigning with the Messiah in his earthly kingdom in Israel (We are multi-dimensional by this point and are not restricted to time and space). Israel will be the focal point of his kingdom in time and space and the church will be with Jesus in the same body he is in (because of marriage and salvation) as Jesus fulfills his place as the Jewish Messiah during the 1000 year reign on earth on the throne of David.
Not only will we be with Christ as his bride but 1John 3:2 tells us that "we will be like Christ is, for we will see him as he is." Whatever new type of body he has we will have the same. This is the end of where we are going, to a home that goes wherever we go. And we will go wherever Christ goes because that's what a bride does with her groom, they dwell together as one flesh and fulfill under God one new purpose different than what they were doing before they got married. This is where the Millennial reign of Christ can get confusing because everyone has new roles in heaven and on earth but eternity has not started yet. The earth has been transformed but is not made new. The Jews have their home in Jerusalem and their Messiah ruling the earth from Israel on the throne of David. Jesus at this point is no longer our High Priest in heaven, he has come to the earth to rule the world as King of the Jews and he has his new family with him all gathered from the time of his first coming, the church. Christ will finally put an end to the Roman empire and with his church will set up a Chiliastic empire on the earth for 1000 years through Israel (just like King David's empire was in Israel). Christ will enforce righteousness on the earth to prepare it for the coming of his Father who will conclude the end of time and space as we know it.
The next phase happens to the earth after the 1000 year reign of the Messiah through Israel, when God the Father has been called their God again by the name of Jesus (Yeshua) and the Father unashamedly prepares a city for them to go into eternity with when time finally comes to an end (Heb.11:13-16). This city promised through faith to all who have walked according to God's ways since He appeared to Abraham, is the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21, when all things are made new and God the Father comes to dwell on the earth and resurrect the dead at the start of eternity and the placement of all things created.
As the heavens will see it, us included, it will be the start of everything created as it should have been from the beginning. The church being the bride of Christ and attached to him as she should be, living in Israel in Jerusalem the city of their God, with her resurrected brother Jews from time passed. Jesus is the home of the church as Jerusalem is the home of the Jew. Eternity will be a wonderfully in tune orchestra that has been waiting to play their first note all together as the people of God with everyone in the right key. The key is that of righteousness and we're singing the song of the redeemed.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Emmanuel Returns
Oh come oh come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
Who mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appears
This old song in four lines, covers what the entire Bible is about - God being with us.
The waiting of Messiah to return and comfort Israel who has been waiting on Him for 4000 years to rule the earth is not a metaphorical concept that is happening in our hearts at the moment. It is a real event that has yet to happen in history, but soon will.
Most Christians today believe the easy concept of when you die if you are a believer in Jesus, you go to heaven. The hard thing to explain is what all this is for, what happens during heaven and what is it exactly? The answer to that is found in the existing Israeli nation and all their rich history on this earth. Christians forget that Jesus was Jewish and the first church came from a Jewish background and therefore could still have meaning for us today. The early church knew where they came from and trusted Jesus on where they were going. For example, when you read the book of Acts and look at the lives of Peter and Paul you must realize that a new religion is starting to emerge out of an old one. They did not realize this but their upbringing as Jews made them very capable to be strong leaders in Jesus's church. For anyone to be saved all they had to do was believe, but to grow and teach the scriptures was to understand where the scriptures came from and why they were important. "Salvation is from the Jews", Jesus tells the Samaritan women in John 4. The Jewish prophecies of their past were well ingrained into their hope of the future Christ ruling the earth. The present day church has no idea of these things or where they have come from and have less of an idea of where they are going at the end and what it is all about.
We are going to Jesus so that Jesus can come to the rest of us that didn't go to Him - Jesus is coming to the earth, not staying in heaven. Specifically He is coming to ransom captive Israel and reign on the throne of David for 1000 years. That's why Jesus taught us to pray 'His kingdom come', so that it will come to the earth where it is needed. He will come and we will be with Him to fulfill all the prophecies surrounding Israel. This is the heaven we are going to when we die, the reality of being with Jesus on earth. Not just in our hearts.
Israel is the focal point of His Kingdom and His church are the hand picked people running it. That's why it's a heavenly kingdom and unlike all the others before it on the earth. Its members are already converted and trained up in the ways it will be run, they have been with God and suited for His work. Israel and the Church will be two brothers in the same family under the rule and reign of Jesus Christ on the planet earth.
The next question we will discuss is, will the earth be ready for this coming kingdom and what will happen if it is not ? When does eternity start?
And ransom captive Israel
Who mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appears
This old song in four lines, covers what the entire Bible is about - God being with us.
The waiting of Messiah to return and comfort Israel who has been waiting on Him for 4000 years to rule the earth is not a metaphorical concept that is happening in our hearts at the moment. It is a real event that has yet to happen in history, but soon will.
Most Christians today believe the easy concept of when you die if you are a believer in Jesus, you go to heaven. The hard thing to explain is what all this is for, what happens during heaven and what is it exactly? The answer to that is found in the existing Israeli nation and all their rich history on this earth. Christians forget that Jesus was Jewish and the first church came from a Jewish background and therefore could still have meaning for us today. The early church knew where they came from and trusted Jesus on where they were going. For example, when you read the book of Acts and look at the lives of Peter and Paul you must realize that a new religion is starting to emerge out of an old one. They did not realize this but their upbringing as Jews made them very capable to be strong leaders in Jesus's church. For anyone to be saved all they had to do was believe, but to grow and teach the scriptures was to understand where the scriptures came from and why they were important. "Salvation is from the Jews", Jesus tells the Samaritan women in John 4. The Jewish prophecies of their past were well ingrained into their hope of the future Christ ruling the earth. The present day church has no idea of these things or where they have come from and have less of an idea of where they are going at the end and what it is all about.
We are going to Jesus so that Jesus can come to the rest of us that didn't go to Him - Jesus is coming to the earth, not staying in heaven. Specifically He is coming to ransom captive Israel and reign on the throne of David for 1000 years. That's why Jesus taught us to pray 'His kingdom come', so that it will come to the earth where it is needed. He will come and we will be with Him to fulfill all the prophecies surrounding Israel. This is the heaven we are going to when we die, the reality of being with Jesus on earth. Not just in our hearts.
Israel is the focal point of His Kingdom and His church are the hand picked people running it. That's why it's a heavenly kingdom and unlike all the others before it on the earth. Its members are already converted and trained up in the ways it will be run, they have been with God and suited for His work. Israel and the Church will be two brothers in the same family under the rule and reign of Jesus Christ on the planet earth.
The next question we will discuss is, will the earth be ready for this coming kingdom and what will happen if it is not ? When does eternity start?
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Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Evan Psalter McDaniel
Ephesians 5:14,18,19
"Awake sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you....be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.
What is a Psalm and Psalter?
Like the 'temple musicians' who first performed the psalms over 3,000 years ago, so is 'Evan Psalter' named after them. The Psalters primary purpose was to glorify God through music. They did not perform for the sake of entertainment, utility, or artistic expression, but for the primary vocation of making prayers to the God of the Exodus. Their music was prayer and song united into one word : Tehillah (translated as Psalms). We also desire to teach Evan Psalter to be a Psalter rather than a musician.
Psalters are the cry of the Exodus that went out before a great battle that Jehovah God would lead His people to victory in, by singing songs at the front lines leading the charge; rallying the caravan, awakening the sleepers; God's vessels to give courage to the fearful, feeling to the numb, hope to those trying; challenging those safe in the trenches to come out and run boldly to the deadly battle where, Christ out bloody champion is standing for the oppressed. It is here, with the suffering, where Christ is found, that Evan Psalter would lead the worship of the worthy One.
The name Evan comes from Evander, a Scottish name meaning 'warrior'. The name Evan in Hebrew comes from the name John, meaning 'God is gracious'.
Isaiah 30:32
Every stroke the Lord lays on them with the punishing rod will be to the music of tambourines and strings as He fights them in battle with the blows of His arm.
We want Evan Psalter to be a 'Musical Warrior' able to communicate with God his entire life, using every part of his being as an instrument to give God praise and glory for making him fearfully and awesomely. When he comes to the age he can understand for himself the things of this world, we pray for him now that he would be a warrior who is gracious and loves his God ferociously.
Brian and Sarah McDaniel
"Awake sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you....be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.
What is a Psalm and Psalter?
Like the 'temple musicians' who first performed the psalms over 3,000 years ago, so is 'Evan Psalter' named after them. The Psalters primary purpose was to glorify God through music. They did not perform for the sake of entertainment, utility, or artistic expression, but for the primary vocation of making prayers to the God of the Exodus. Their music was prayer and song united into one word : Tehillah (translated as Psalms). We also desire to teach Evan Psalter to be a Psalter rather than a musician.
Psalters are the cry of the Exodus that went out before a great battle that Jehovah God would lead His people to victory in, by singing songs at the front lines leading the charge; rallying the caravan, awakening the sleepers; God's vessels to give courage to the fearful, feeling to the numb, hope to those trying; challenging those safe in the trenches to come out and run boldly to the deadly battle where, Christ out bloody champion is standing for the oppressed. It is here, with the suffering, where Christ is found, that Evan Psalter would lead the worship of the worthy One.
The name Evan comes from Evander, a Scottish name meaning 'warrior'. The name Evan in Hebrew comes from the name John, meaning 'God is gracious'.
Isaiah 30:32
Every stroke the Lord lays on them with the punishing rod will be to the music of tambourines and strings as He fights them in battle with the blows of His arm.
We want Evan Psalter to be a 'Musical Warrior' able to communicate with God his entire life, using every part of his being as an instrument to give God praise and glory for making him fearfully and awesomely. When he comes to the age he can understand for himself the things of this world, we pray for him now that he would be a warrior who is gracious and loves his God ferociously.
Brian and Sarah McDaniel
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Thursday, October 13, 2011
Days of Inspection
We talked last time about where we came from as a nation and people from the earth and why the history of the Jews shines light on our purpose as the church. This insight is necessary to understand our purpose now under heaven and later on for eternity.
The main reason "death" is among us is God doesn't want us to go into eternity sinful. This is why God took Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden so that they would not eat of the tree of life making them immortally sinful. What we are and where we live now is not the real life God has for us. What a horror it would be if it was, because if it was it would be immortal. A blanket has been pulled over us for a time while we live here, then we die. If we were to remove the blanket and enter eternity in our current state we would be facing the same problem the devil and his angels face. For this reason, death is a blessing for the human race. What is coming to the earth is nothing like what we have now and it must not be tainted by what has been temporarily embraced. Christ stands between the two worlds in the void of human existence and is waiting for our death so we can proceed to immortal life. Those who never pass through the death of Christ wait upon His judgment on the unreal mortal delima our present state finds itself in.
Jesus Christ is coming to the earth to set up His national worldwide kingdom (Dan 2:44, 7:13-14). Before this judgment takes place with the people of the earth, His judgment starts with His own house and with His own people (1 Ptr 4:17).
The day of inspection of the church will happen (1 Ptr 2:12) in the same way the day of inspection of Israel happened (Lk 19:41-44, Mat 23:37-39). Just as Jesus first came to His own weeping because they did not "know the time of their visitation" bringing on themselves the destruction of Jerusalem and 2000 years of wandering the nations, so the church will be visited and inspected by Jesus to see if it has been perfected in love (1 Jn 4:17). That's why Peter exhorts the church in 1 Ptr 2:12 to be a light to the rest of the earth in doing good works so that the church will be ready for the day of visitation again when Jesus inspects His body, the church.
It really does matter what we do now as the body of Christ. All of us, Jews and Greek are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus and heirs according to the promise of the seed of Abraham (Gal 3:22-4:7). Israel was God's first born son (Ex 4:22) so the church also is grafted/adopted (Rom 11:17-21, Eph 1:5) in as a son of God through the marriage of the Only Begotten Son (Eph 5:27). This means that Jesus will deal with us as He dealt with Israel because He is preparing us for what is ahead.
"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience" (Colossians 3:1-7).
It is Jesus who judges man (Jn 5:22-23). When Jesus appears, He is found first at His bema seat of judgment with His gathered church to start His inspection, (2 Cor 5:10, Rom 14:10) then He goes to the earth to deal with the judgement He must give it. This day starts the time of His dealings with man for His second coming, first for His sons who have been dead to the world and were being perfected by love and then for those on the earth who have rejected the payment for the mortal delima of sin . The judgment of His house or body involves the same form of discipline/rebuke leading to repentance that is common in His dealings with His children. It is here at His "bema seat", not "crisis seat", that he judges His church. Jesus promises His church in John 5:24 that they shall "not come into judgment 'crisis', but has passed from death to life."
"The righteous shall rejoice when they see the vengeance of the Lord; He shall wash His feet in the blood of the wicked, so that men will say, 'surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely He is God who judges in the earth'" (Psalm 58:10-11).
"He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him - the word that I have spoken will judge 'crisis' him in the last day" (Jn 12:48).
This is the "crisis" judgment the earth faces when Jesus judges it. The bema seat judgment is different and uniquely prescribed to the church to chastise or reward those who were obedient to Christ and did what He said to do(1 Cor 3:11-15). This is where judgement starts, at His house, and King Jesus lays the foundation of who is worthy to reign with Him for 1000 years on the earth. Those who pass through the judgment of the bema seat will reign with Christ on the earth, but those who get everything burned up will suffer loss being saved by fire and only allowed to enter in to His kingdom on the earth (Entering in and reigning with are 2 different things in Christ's kingdom). - For more info on this subject and who the overcomers are, read Chuck and Nancy Missler's 'The Kingdom, Power, and Glory').
This is why it is important to get ready for the day of inspection of Jesus Christ and to be wise and on the lookout for His coming. There is a price to pay for laziness and not being ready. The bridegroom will come back for His bride and will take her into Himself so that where He goes she will always be with Him.
"Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 Jn 3:2).
"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself" (Phil 3:20-21).
The main reason "death" is among us is God doesn't want us to go into eternity sinful. This is why God took Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden so that they would not eat of the tree of life making them immortally sinful. What we are and where we live now is not the real life God has for us. What a horror it would be if it was, because if it was it would be immortal. A blanket has been pulled over us for a time while we live here, then we die. If we were to remove the blanket and enter eternity in our current state we would be facing the same problem the devil and his angels face. For this reason, death is a blessing for the human race. What is coming to the earth is nothing like what we have now and it must not be tainted by what has been temporarily embraced. Christ stands between the two worlds in the void of human existence and is waiting for our death so we can proceed to immortal life. Those who never pass through the death of Christ wait upon His judgment on the unreal mortal delima our present state finds itself in.
Jesus Christ is coming to the earth to set up His national worldwide kingdom (Dan 2:44, 7:13-14). Before this judgment takes place with the people of the earth, His judgment starts with His own house and with His own people (1 Ptr 4:17).
The day of inspection of the church will happen (1 Ptr 2:12) in the same way the day of inspection of Israel happened (Lk 19:41-44, Mat 23:37-39). Just as Jesus first came to His own weeping because they did not "know the time of their visitation" bringing on themselves the destruction of Jerusalem and 2000 years of wandering the nations, so the church will be visited and inspected by Jesus to see if it has been perfected in love (1 Jn 4:17). That's why Peter exhorts the church in 1 Ptr 2:12 to be a light to the rest of the earth in doing good works so that the church will be ready for the day of visitation again when Jesus inspects His body, the church.
It really does matter what we do now as the body of Christ. All of us, Jews and Greek are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus and heirs according to the promise of the seed of Abraham (Gal 3:22-4:7). Israel was God's first born son (Ex 4:22) so the church also is grafted/adopted (Rom 11:17-21, Eph 1:5) in as a son of God through the marriage of the Only Begotten Son (Eph 5:27). This means that Jesus will deal with us as He dealt with Israel because He is preparing us for what is ahead.
"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience" (Colossians 3:1-7).
It is Jesus who judges man (Jn 5:22-23). When Jesus appears, He is found first at His bema seat of judgment with His gathered church to start His inspection, (2 Cor 5:10, Rom 14:10) then He goes to the earth to deal with the judgement He must give it. This day starts the time of His dealings with man for His second coming, first for His sons who have been dead to the world and were being perfected by love and then for those on the earth who have rejected the payment for the mortal delima of sin . The judgment of His house or body involves the same form of discipline/rebuke leading to repentance that is common in His dealings with His children. It is here at His "bema seat", not "crisis seat", that he judges His church. Jesus promises His church in John 5:24 that they shall "not come into judgment 'crisis', but has passed from death to life."
"The righteous shall rejoice when they see the vengeance of the Lord; He shall wash His feet in the blood of the wicked, so that men will say, 'surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely He is God who judges in the earth'" (Psalm 58:10-11).
"He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him - the word that I have spoken will judge 'crisis' him in the last day" (Jn 12:48).
This is the "crisis" judgment the earth faces when Jesus judges it. The bema seat judgment is different and uniquely prescribed to the church to chastise or reward those who were obedient to Christ and did what He said to do(1 Cor 3:11-15). This is where judgement starts, at His house, and King Jesus lays the foundation of who is worthy to reign with Him for 1000 years on the earth. Those who pass through the judgment of the bema seat will reign with Christ on the earth, but those who get everything burned up will suffer loss being saved by fire and only allowed to enter in to His kingdom on the earth (Entering in and reigning with are 2 different things in Christ's kingdom). - For more info on this subject and who the overcomers are, read Chuck and Nancy Missler's 'The Kingdom, Power, and Glory').
This is why it is important to get ready for the day of inspection of Jesus Christ and to be wise and on the lookout for His coming. There is a price to pay for laziness and not being ready. The bridegroom will come back for His bride and will take her into Himself so that where He goes she will always be with Him.
"Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 Jn 3:2).
"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself" (Phil 3:20-21).
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Thursday, September 22, 2011
The Church and the Hebrew People
What is the best piece of evidence for the existence of God? The Jew.
You can follow the history of the Jews right up to the first discovered records of civilization. Somehow they have always been around, understanding the reason for that will give us a better understanding of where we fit in as a people and nation on the earth and where we as a body of believers (the church) fit in under heaven.
First, lets look at ourselves as a nation and people on the earth. Where do we come from? America. Where did America come from? Europe. What did Europe come out of? The Roman Empire. What was before the Roman Empire? The Greek Empire, then the Persian Empire, The Babylonian Empire, The Assyrian Empire, The Egyptian Empire, then you come to the Patriarchs of Mesopotamia who were founders or rulers of tribes or clans. Here you find a group of people called the Amorites, this is the first appearance of a new ethnic group that had influence on names and customs in the area of Palestine.
The Amorite influence was so pervasive during this time that even some Mesopotamian kings had Amorite names. Some settled in villages and established their own city-states, others lived as nomadic shepherds, and still others lived on the fringes of society as warlike outcasts. Such outsiders, referred to as "Habiru or Hebrew" usually served as slaves or mercenaries to others, but on occasion fought their own battles. Amorites worshiped many gods, but each city or clan identified it's own particular deity. In Mesopotamia, in cities influenced by the Amorites, there even appeared prophets of these local gods, using language very similar to that of the much later Old Testament prophets. Great stress was given to the god of the clan's forefathers. Worship usually involved animal sacrifice, but child sacrifice was also common. Apparently the animal's moment of death and shedding of blood impressed on human beings that they were responsible to forces outside themselves. You can see this echoed in Genesis 3:21 when God taught Adam and Eve that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Heb. 9:22). Here you start to see the emerging themes of the Bible and particularly of one man called Abram.
"Now the Lord had said to Abram: 'Get out of your country, from your family and your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; .......... and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed'" (Genesis 12:1-3).
Abram or Abraham was from the Amorite family, that family's migration from Ur to Haran to southern Palestine follows the general pattern of the Amorite expansion. Although Abram's relationship with his God follows many of the Amorite patterns, it also differs from Amorite religion in significant ways. For instance, Abram's God repudiates child sacrifice (Gen. 22) also, God is not just a local clan diety. Although He makes a covenant with a particular family, that covenant exists in order to bless "all the families of the earth" (Gen. 12:3). Abram's God sets out to make a name for Himself among the people of the earth by identifying Himself with one partucular family and to demonstrate to the heavens and earth who the one true God is.
Deuteronomy 32:8 tells us in the Septuagint translation of the Bible, "When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set boundaries of the peoples according to the number of their 'angels' of God" This means that every nation God has established on the earth is set up with their own ruling deity over them. The next verses go on to explain what God has set up for Himself on the earth through the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. "For the Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. The Lord alone led him, there was no foreign god with him" (Deut. 32:9-12).
These verses demonstrate the connectivity of angels and man and how spiritual activity is always happening on the front of God's people with God Himself as their leader and Paganism being the worship of gods that are not and the demons or fallen angels that are. "They sacrifice to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear" (Deut. 32:17).
I believe this is still happening today with the people of God through Christ Jesus and the people of the earth. The people of God are led by the Most High through Christ Jesus, while the people of the earth are manipulated by demons and fallen angels. Does this mean that America has a diety ruling over it based on what its people do or don't do and is sectioned off by God into a spiritualy marked territory? According to Scripture, yes.
America used to be a beacon of Liberty and Freedom, now it has become so materialistic that it survives on borrowings from other nations. Hollywood's profit comes from bashing America's strength and identity as a nation under God and selling it to the rest of the world as entertainment. America's false gods lull us into a sense of safety depending on the wrong things. God has already taught man that only by the shedding of innocent blood is man reconciled to God. One thing to always remember is that Patriotism is idol worship when it is not under the authority of God. America used to be under God, this is not true today. Today, America follows manufactured political correctness in science, schools, courts, and our corridors of power rather than truth.
Therefore, what the people of America need to ask themselves is, "are we the people of God (the present day church) or are we the people of the earth who are subject to demons and fallen angels ruling over us"? Jesus asks His followers in Luke 6:46 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord', and not do what I say". If we are going to be the body of Christ then we need to do what the Lord says to do and not what this nation says. We need to follow hard after Him because He is the one who has redeemed us from the earth (Rev. 4:4). "We are His workmanship or poem, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).
Next time we will talk about the role the church has on the earth and how Jesus deals with them when He comes back. Who are the sons of God?
You can follow the history of the Jews right up to the first discovered records of civilization. Somehow they have always been around, understanding the reason for that will give us a better understanding of where we fit in as a people and nation on the earth and where we as a body of believers (the church) fit in under heaven.
First, lets look at ourselves as a nation and people on the earth. Where do we come from? America. Where did America come from? Europe. What did Europe come out of? The Roman Empire. What was before the Roman Empire? The Greek Empire, then the Persian Empire, The Babylonian Empire, The Assyrian Empire, The Egyptian Empire, then you come to the Patriarchs of Mesopotamia who were founders or rulers of tribes or clans. Here you find a group of people called the Amorites, this is the first appearance of a new ethnic group that had influence on names and customs in the area of Palestine.
The Amorite influence was so pervasive during this time that even some Mesopotamian kings had Amorite names. Some settled in villages and established their own city-states, others lived as nomadic shepherds, and still others lived on the fringes of society as warlike outcasts. Such outsiders, referred to as "Habiru or Hebrew" usually served as slaves or mercenaries to others, but on occasion fought their own battles. Amorites worshiped many gods, but each city or clan identified it's own particular deity. In Mesopotamia, in cities influenced by the Amorites, there even appeared prophets of these local gods, using language very similar to that of the much later Old Testament prophets. Great stress was given to the god of the clan's forefathers. Worship usually involved animal sacrifice, but child sacrifice was also common. Apparently the animal's moment of death and shedding of blood impressed on human beings that they were responsible to forces outside themselves. You can see this echoed in Genesis 3:21 when God taught Adam and Eve that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Heb. 9:22). Here you start to see the emerging themes of the Bible and particularly of one man called Abram.
"Now the Lord had said to Abram: 'Get out of your country, from your family and your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; .......... and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed'" (Genesis 12:1-3).
Abram or Abraham was from the Amorite family, that family's migration from Ur to Haran to southern Palestine follows the general pattern of the Amorite expansion. Although Abram's relationship with his God follows many of the Amorite patterns, it also differs from Amorite religion in significant ways. For instance, Abram's God repudiates child sacrifice (Gen. 22) also, God is not just a local clan diety. Although He makes a covenant with a particular family, that covenant exists in order to bless "all the families of the earth" (Gen. 12:3). Abram's God sets out to make a name for Himself among the people of the earth by identifying Himself with one partucular family and to demonstrate to the heavens and earth who the one true God is.
Deuteronomy 32:8 tells us in the Septuagint translation of the Bible, "When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set boundaries of the peoples according to the number of their 'angels' of God" This means that every nation God has established on the earth is set up with their own ruling deity over them. The next verses go on to explain what God has set up for Himself on the earth through the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. "For the Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. The Lord alone led him, there was no foreign god with him" (Deut. 32:9-12).
These verses demonstrate the connectivity of angels and man and how spiritual activity is always happening on the front of God's people with God Himself as their leader and Paganism being the worship of gods that are not and the demons or fallen angels that are. "They sacrifice to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear" (Deut. 32:17).
I believe this is still happening today with the people of God through Christ Jesus and the people of the earth. The people of God are led by the Most High through Christ Jesus, while the people of the earth are manipulated by demons and fallen angels. Does this mean that America has a diety ruling over it based on what its people do or don't do and is sectioned off by God into a spiritualy marked territory? According to Scripture, yes.
America used to be a beacon of Liberty and Freedom, now it has become so materialistic that it survives on borrowings from other nations. Hollywood's profit comes from bashing America's strength and identity as a nation under God and selling it to the rest of the world as entertainment. America's false gods lull us into a sense of safety depending on the wrong things. God has already taught man that only by the shedding of innocent blood is man reconciled to God. One thing to always remember is that Patriotism is idol worship when it is not under the authority of God. America used to be under God, this is not true today. Today, America follows manufactured political correctness in science, schools, courts, and our corridors of power rather than truth.
Therefore, what the people of America need to ask themselves is, "are we the people of God (the present day church) or are we the people of the earth who are subject to demons and fallen angels ruling over us"? Jesus asks His followers in Luke 6:46 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord', and not do what I say". If we are going to be the body of Christ then we need to do what the Lord says to do and not what this nation says. We need to follow hard after Him because He is the one who has redeemed us from the earth (Rev. 4:4). "We are His workmanship or poem, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).
Next time we will talk about the role the church has on the earth and how Jesus deals with them when He comes back. Who are the sons of God?
Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.0
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Happy Birthday to the Bride!
Today is the church's birthday (6pm June 7th - 6am June 9th). Not the same date every year
Today is pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came to Jesus' disciples in that little room where they were all gathered and waiting for the helper to come and empower them to do great things for the glory of God.
This is what started the church, the continuing acts of the Holy Spirit today is what keeps it going, and according to 2 Thessalonians 2:6-9 when God takes His Spirit out of the world one day this will be the end of the church's time, thus starting the "working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders", because mankind did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
The questions we have to ask ourselves is "are we taken with the Holy Spirit when He is taken out of the way? Or, are we left to perish because we did not love the truth?"
This is the predicament the church finds itself in today about believing in the rapture and the difference between people in the church who know about Jesus and those in the church who are known intimately by Jesus. According to Scripture some of the saints will be left and overcome by Satan ( Rev. 13:7,Dan. 7:25,8:24) while other will be "seized, snatched, raptured, or caught up ("harpazo" is the Greek word here for rapture) to meet the Lord in the air". And they will always be with the Lord (1 Thes. 4:17, 1 Cor. 15:51-52). The most important chapters in the Bible about the church is Revelation 2 and 3. Here we find an outline or report card on how the churches are doing and what Jesus has to say about them. It's very clear that some of the churches are told by Jesus that they'd better shape up fast or "be cast into the great tribulation" (Rev 2:22), and if they will not watch for Jesus' coming then He will "come upon them as a thief" (Rev. 3:3) which Paul says about the church in 1 Thes. 5:4 that we "are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief." And last in Rev. 3:16 that the church is so much like the world around them that He vomits them out of His mouth. The churches that are doing well according to Jesus are told to "hold fast what you have" because I'm coming quickly (Rev. 3:11) and that they are "rich" (Rev. 2:9) even though they have no material possession at all. And the most encouraging words of all that Jesus says to the church that has kept His command to persevere is "I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth" (Rev. 3:10). When you start to outline these seven letters written to the churches by Jesus, you start to see that some of the churches are temporarily on the earth awaiting their departure time while others are slowly being overtaken by the enemy which in turn will leave them here on the earth for the impending judgment that is coming to the earth. This is where the church finds itself today, either looking more and more every day like Christ or every day looking more and more like the world. We need to examen ourselves to see where we stand in the eyes of Jesus and if what we are doing is of earthly value or of greater value for His coming kingdom.
The Day of the Lord is the day when Jesus comes back to the earth to reign on the throne of David and brings with Him the Kingdom from Heaven to the earth. It is a day of judgment and enforced righteousness for the earth and of the peoples/nations dwelling on the earth. It is also the day of salvation for Israel, imprisonment of Satan, and the start of a new time of living on the earth. This is not the start of eternity, that comes at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth when Satan is released from prison and the Father comes to judge man and angels for their works. Eternity starts when the Father enters the scene to conclude time and put all things in its right place. Jesus' reign is at the last phase of man's time to teach man about the Father and how to live and worship correctly on the earth, instead of warring and fighting selfishly with each other. His reign on earth must still be fulfilled in prophecy to conclude the end times (1Cor. 15:25,Micah 4:3-5,Zech. 14:16-17,Dan. 7:13-14, 2:44).
The Rapture or Harpazo is a different time and of a different idea in Scripture. The church is compared to in Ephesians 5 as a Jewish wedding when the bridegroom (Jesus) comes back to get his bride (the church) from her place of residence on the earth and takes her to His home and her new one in heaven. We have to understand the Jewish wedding in order to understand how the church is like a Jewish Bride.
1.) A covenant or a decision by the bridegroom has to be made to marry the bride. (1 Cor. 11:25)
2.) The bridegroom has to purchase the bride, thus making the bride his own. (1 Cor. 6:19-20, Col. 2:14)
3.) A down payment is made to the bride to ensure the bridegroom's intentions to marry her. (2 Cor. 5:5, Eph. 1:13-14)
4.) The bride then goes back to her own place of residence and starts to prepare for her marriage (making her own wedding garments) by sanctifying/setting herself apart from the others who would like to have married her. (Eph. 5:25-27, 1 Cor. 1:2,6:11, Heb. 10:10,13:12, Col. 2:8)
5.) The groom as well goes back to his home and starts to prepare the wedding chambers and extra rooms to his house to have his new bride come live with him. (Jn. 14:2-4, Eph. 2:21-22)
6.) When the groom is finished with his work he leaves (normally at night) with his escort company to go and get his bride. The groom likes to surprise the bride by coming to get her at a time she does not expect. If she is found ready to go, she gets caught up/raptured into the wedding procession back to the groom's house to where the marriage ceremony takes place. (1 Thes. 4:16-17)
7.) If the bride is not found ready or has not set herself apart before the groom comes to get her (has cheated on other lovers), then the groom can break the covenant of marriage and is not required to take her back with him. (Matt. 25:10-12)
Ephraem of Nisibis (306-373 AD) wrote that "All the saints and elect of God are gathered prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins". This is what we see echoed all through Scripture about what Paul says is the "mystery of being changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor. 15:51-52). The Old Testament is full of passages about the Holy Ones of God being hidden or missing during the time of God's wrath (Joel 2:15-16, Isaiah 26:20-21, Micah 7, Psalm 12). One of the teachings of Scripture is that God does not punish His children, He simply disciplines/chastises them back to repentance and onto salvation (1 Cor. 11:32). The time of the Great Tribulation is to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their sin and to drive Israel back to God, thus it does not fit Scripture for the bride to be present during this time period.
There are 7 Raptures/Harpazo recorded in the Bible.
1. Enoch - Gen. 5:42, Heb. 11:5
2. Elijah - 2 Kings 2:1,11
3. Jesus - Mark 16:19, Acts 1:9-11, Rev. 12:5
4. Philip - Acts 8:39
5. Paul - 2 Cor. 12:2-4
6. The Church - 1 Thess. 4:17
7. John - Rev. 4:1
Flesh and blood can't inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). This is one of the reasons why Jesus had to shed His blood on the cross. Jesus appears to His disciples after His death and says "feel my flesh and bone" (Luke 24:39), all His blood was gone and given to us. This is why we must be changed now by the blood of Christ in order to do meaningful work on the earth by His Spirit and will be changed to His likeness (1Jn. 3:2) in the "twinkling of an eye" when Jesus comes back to get His church. (We will discuss later on what our new bodies will be like and how Jesus will judge His church when He comes to get them)
When you look at the Day of the Lord (The Second Coming of Jesus) and the Rapture or Harpazo of the church in Scripture you begin to see two different events.
The Rapture 2nd Coming
Translation of believers No translation
Translated Saints go to heaven Translated Saints return to earth
Earth is not judged Earth is judged
Imminent, return at any moment, signless Follows definite predicted signs
Not in the Old Testament Predicted in the Old Testament
Believers only Affects everyone on the earth
Before the Day of Wrath Concludes the Day of Wrath
No reference to Satan Satan is bound and put in prison
He comes for His own He comes with His own
He comes in the air He comes to the earth
He claims His bride He comes with His bride
Only His own see Him Every eye will see Him
Great Tribulation begins Millennium reign of Christ begins
Church believers only Old Testament Saints involved
We're going to the house of God, are you coming?
To stay on the earth during the time of Tribulation, distress, and confusion will not be pretty. "The lie" which is coming to the earth will be given by God during this time so that the inhabitants of the world will be condemned (1 Thes. 2:11-12). Satan will overcome the remaining church present at this time who were not found ready, and only martyrdom will be the way of salvation for mankind (Rev. 13:7-10).
This is why it is very important for the church to know where we are going and what it is for. We are a heavenly people passing through the earth for a time. Our birth on this earth marked the continuation of the work of Jesus on the earth to keep on doing good works by the Spirit of God after He left (Eph. 2:10, 1 Tim. 5:25, Titus 2:14, 3:8, 1 Ptr. 2:12). Our hope is in the waiting for Him to come back and get us to take us home where we belong with Him. Nothing can take us away from that, not even death itself. "And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." (1Thes. 4:17-18)
Just like a bride who looks forward to her new life with her groom, we are taught by Scripture to be looking forward with expectation for Jesus' coming back to get us and take us to our new place (1 Thess. 1:10,4:18,5:6, Phil. 3:20, Titus 2:13, Heb. 9:28, Rev. 22:20). Our home is not in heaven, it is with Jesus (Jn. 14:23). Our marriage to Jesus takes place at His Father's house but then we go back to the earth with our groom and after that we will go wherever else Jesus is going to go. That's what a wife does with her husband, she goes where he goes. Jesus is our forever home, when we see Him we will be instantly changed to His likeness and will be forever with Him (Phil. 3:21). How are we setting ourselves apart from the world and making ourselves more desirable to Jesus? Are we going to be found ready with expectation and our wedding garments all made when Jesus comes back or will we be found naked and sleeping with other lovers that have caught our eye since our promised groom has been gone (Rev. 3:18) ? It's never too late to get started on making your wedding clothes, the Holy Spirit is the fabric you are using and the good works/righteous acts you do with Him is the intricate design that's being woven (Rev. 19:8). On our birthday today lets stand up and choose to start getting ready for the return of Christ, lets clean the old junk out by confessing our sins to Jesus (1 Jn. 1:9) and have Him clean us and get us ready for our wedding day to Him.
Today is pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came to Jesus' disciples in that little room where they were all gathered and waiting for the helper to come and empower them to do great things for the glory of God.
This is what started the church, the continuing acts of the Holy Spirit today is what keeps it going, and according to 2 Thessalonians 2:6-9 when God takes His Spirit out of the world one day this will be the end of the church's time, thus starting the "working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders", because mankind did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
The questions we have to ask ourselves is "are we taken with the Holy Spirit when He is taken out of the way? Or, are we left to perish because we did not love the truth?"
This is the predicament the church finds itself in today about believing in the rapture and the difference between people in the church who know about Jesus and those in the church who are known intimately by Jesus. According to Scripture some of the saints will be left and overcome by Satan ( Rev. 13:7,Dan. 7:25,8:24) while other will be "seized, snatched, raptured, or caught up ("harpazo" is the Greek word here for rapture) to meet the Lord in the air". And they will always be with the Lord (1 Thes. 4:17, 1 Cor. 15:51-52). The most important chapters in the Bible about the church is Revelation 2 and 3. Here we find an outline or report card on how the churches are doing and what Jesus has to say about them. It's very clear that some of the churches are told by Jesus that they'd better shape up fast or "be cast into the great tribulation" (Rev 2:22), and if they will not watch for Jesus' coming then He will "come upon them as a thief" (Rev. 3:3) which Paul says about the church in 1 Thes. 5:4 that we "are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief." And last in Rev. 3:16 that the church is so much like the world around them that He vomits them out of His mouth. The churches that are doing well according to Jesus are told to "hold fast what you have" because I'm coming quickly (Rev. 3:11) and that they are "rich" (Rev. 2:9) even though they have no material possession at all. And the most encouraging words of all that Jesus says to the church that has kept His command to persevere is "I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth" (Rev. 3:10). When you start to outline these seven letters written to the churches by Jesus, you start to see that some of the churches are temporarily on the earth awaiting their departure time while others are slowly being overtaken by the enemy which in turn will leave them here on the earth for the impending judgment that is coming to the earth. This is where the church finds itself today, either looking more and more every day like Christ or every day looking more and more like the world. We need to examen ourselves to see where we stand in the eyes of Jesus and if what we are doing is of earthly value or of greater value for His coming kingdom.
The Day of the Lord is the day when Jesus comes back to the earth to reign on the throne of David and brings with Him the Kingdom from Heaven to the earth. It is a day of judgment and enforced righteousness for the earth and of the peoples/nations dwelling on the earth. It is also the day of salvation for Israel, imprisonment of Satan, and the start of a new time of living on the earth. This is not the start of eternity, that comes at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth when Satan is released from prison and the Father comes to judge man and angels for their works. Eternity starts when the Father enters the scene to conclude time and put all things in its right place. Jesus' reign is at the last phase of man's time to teach man about the Father and how to live and worship correctly on the earth, instead of warring and fighting selfishly with each other. His reign on earth must still be fulfilled in prophecy to conclude the end times (1Cor. 15:25,Micah 4:3-5,Zech. 14:16-17,Dan. 7:13-14, 2:44).
The Rapture or Harpazo is a different time and of a different idea in Scripture. The church is compared to in Ephesians 5 as a Jewish wedding when the bridegroom (Jesus) comes back to get his bride (the church) from her place of residence on the earth and takes her to His home and her new one in heaven. We have to understand the Jewish wedding in order to understand how the church is like a Jewish Bride.
1.) A covenant or a decision by the bridegroom has to be made to marry the bride. (1 Cor. 11:25)
2.) The bridegroom has to purchase the bride, thus making the bride his own. (1 Cor. 6:19-20, Col. 2:14)
3.) A down payment is made to the bride to ensure the bridegroom's intentions to marry her. (2 Cor. 5:5, Eph. 1:13-14)
4.) The bride then goes back to her own place of residence and starts to prepare for her marriage (making her own wedding garments) by sanctifying/setting herself apart from the others who would like to have married her. (Eph. 5:25-27, 1 Cor. 1:2,6:11, Heb. 10:10,13:12, Col. 2:8)
5.) The groom as well goes back to his home and starts to prepare the wedding chambers and extra rooms to his house to have his new bride come live with him. (Jn. 14:2-4, Eph. 2:21-22)
6.) When the groom is finished with his work he leaves (normally at night) with his escort company to go and get his bride. The groom likes to surprise the bride by coming to get her at a time she does not expect. If she is found ready to go, she gets caught up/raptured into the wedding procession back to the groom's house to where the marriage ceremony takes place. (1 Thes. 4:16-17)
7.) If the bride is not found ready or has not set herself apart before the groom comes to get her (has cheated on other lovers), then the groom can break the covenant of marriage and is not required to take her back with him. (Matt. 25:10-12)
Ephraem of Nisibis (306-373 AD) wrote that "All the saints and elect of God are gathered prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins". This is what we see echoed all through Scripture about what Paul says is the "mystery of being changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor. 15:51-52). The Old Testament is full of passages about the Holy Ones of God being hidden or missing during the time of God's wrath (Joel 2:15-16, Isaiah 26:20-21, Micah 7, Psalm 12). One of the teachings of Scripture is that God does not punish His children, He simply disciplines/chastises them back to repentance and onto salvation (1 Cor. 11:32). The time of the Great Tribulation is to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their sin and to drive Israel back to God, thus it does not fit Scripture for the bride to be present during this time period.
There are 7 Raptures/Harpazo recorded in the Bible.
1. Enoch - Gen. 5:42, Heb. 11:5
2. Elijah - 2 Kings 2:1,11
3. Jesus - Mark 16:19, Acts 1:9-11, Rev. 12:5
4. Philip - Acts 8:39
5. Paul - 2 Cor. 12:2-4
6. The Church - 1 Thess. 4:17
7. John - Rev. 4:1
Flesh and blood can't inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). This is one of the reasons why Jesus had to shed His blood on the cross. Jesus appears to His disciples after His death and says "feel my flesh and bone" (Luke 24:39), all His blood was gone and given to us. This is why we must be changed now by the blood of Christ in order to do meaningful work on the earth by His Spirit and will be changed to His likeness (1Jn. 3:2) in the "twinkling of an eye" when Jesus comes back to get His church. (We will discuss later on what our new bodies will be like and how Jesus will judge His church when He comes to get them)
When you look at the Day of the Lord (The Second Coming of Jesus) and the Rapture or Harpazo of the church in Scripture you begin to see two different events.
The Rapture 2nd Coming
Translation of believers No translation
Translated Saints go to heaven Translated Saints return to earth
Earth is not judged Earth is judged
Imminent, return at any moment, signless Follows definite predicted signs
Not in the Old Testament Predicted in the Old Testament
Believers only Affects everyone on the earth
Before the Day of Wrath Concludes the Day of Wrath
No reference to Satan Satan is bound and put in prison
He comes for His own He comes with His own
He comes in the air He comes to the earth
He claims His bride He comes with His bride
Only His own see Him Every eye will see Him
Great Tribulation begins Millennium reign of Christ begins
Church believers only Old Testament Saints involved
We're going to the house of God, are you coming?
To stay on the earth during the time of Tribulation, distress, and confusion will not be pretty. "The lie" which is coming to the earth will be given by God during this time so that the inhabitants of the world will be condemned (1 Thes. 2:11-12). Satan will overcome the remaining church present at this time who were not found ready, and only martyrdom will be the way of salvation for mankind (Rev. 13:7-10).
This is why it is very important for the church to know where we are going and what it is for. We are a heavenly people passing through the earth for a time. Our birth on this earth marked the continuation of the work of Jesus on the earth to keep on doing good works by the Spirit of God after He left (Eph. 2:10, 1 Tim. 5:25, Titus 2:14, 3:8, 1 Ptr. 2:12). Our hope is in the waiting for Him to come back and get us to take us home where we belong with Him. Nothing can take us away from that, not even death itself. "And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." (1Thes. 4:17-18)
Just like a bride who looks forward to her new life with her groom, we are taught by Scripture to be looking forward with expectation for Jesus' coming back to get us and take us to our new place (1 Thess. 1:10,4:18,5:6, Phil. 3:20, Titus 2:13, Heb. 9:28, Rev. 22:20). Our home is not in heaven, it is with Jesus (Jn. 14:23). Our marriage to Jesus takes place at His Father's house but then we go back to the earth with our groom and after that we will go wherever else Jesus is going to go. That's what a wife does with her husband, she goes where he goes. Jesus is our forever home, when we see Him we will be instantly changed to His likeness and will be forever with Him (Phil. 3:21). How are we setting ourselves apart from the world and making ourselves more desirable to Jesus? Are we going to be found ready with expectation and our wedding garments all made when Jesus comes back or will we be found naked and sleeping with other lovers that have caught our eye since our promised groom has been gone (Rev. 3:18) ? It's never too late to get started on making your wedding clothes, the Holy Spirit is the fabric you are using and the good works/righteous acts you do with Him is the intricate design that's being woven (Rev. 19:8). On our birthday today lets stand up and choose to start getting ready for the return of Christ, lets clean the old junk out by confessing our sins to Jesus (1 Jn. 1:9) and have Him clean us and get us ready for our wedding day to Him.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.0
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Why was Jesus Weeping?
Luke 19:41-44 and Matthew 23:37-39.
Why was Jesus weeping?
This is a very important question to ask ourselves. Finding the answer may give us insight into the heart of God and what has been unfolding in front of us for many years.
In Luke 19:37-38 right before Jesus started to weep over Jerusalem, He was greeted and praised while riding a donkey throughout the city and then on the Mt. of Olives by a great multitude singing the Messianic song from Ps. 118. We may read this and not think it was very important but if you were Jewish and present on that day you might begin to understand what was happening. Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy of Zech. 9:9 by lowly and humbly coming to Jerusalem as their King. When the crowd started singing the Messianic Psalm 118 "blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" and that person they were singing about was arriving on a donkey, those two things combined to equal "the day" (Ps. 118:24) that the Lord had made, Israel's day to receive their Messiah. That exact day was told to Daniel by the Angel Gabriel in Daniel 9:25 and the Pharisees recognized it as an important event as well. That is why the Pharisees are in the back row of the crowd complaining to Jesus about what is going on, they don't believe Jesus is the Messiah, but they recognize that what the people are doing is declaring that He is the Messiah. That's why they ask Jesus to rebuke His disciples for singing that Psalm and in their eyes, stop blaspheming. Jesus' response to them is that this must happen (He is the Messiah) and if these people don't cry out these things the rocks around them will.
So, what we have here is a very important day that was long awaited for by Israel when their King would come to them and bring them peace. It started to slip away and bring behind it a darkness that would linger a very long time over them. Israel did not on this day receive their Messiah, instead He was crushed for man's sins and lifted up on the cross to become our curse (Gal. 3:13). At this moment Jesus turns away from His own people and is instead opening Himself up to all who would receive Him (Jn. 1:11-12).
This is why Jesus is weeping.
Jesus declares after He is finished weeping (or maybe declares this while He is weeping) "But now the things that would bring your peace are hidden from your eyes" (Lk. 19:42). Meaning Israel will be blind for a while, but only until Romans 11:25 is finished (the church is complete). There is a very important "until" placed here by Paul. "Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in". Then Israel will be saved.
Matthew 23:37-39 continues Jesus' lamenting over Jerusalem but also gives us the purpose, tragedy, and triumph of all history.
The Purpose
(vs. 37) - "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
The Tragedy
but you were not willing! (vs. 38) See! Your house is left to you desolate: (vs. 39) For I say to you, you shall see me no more
The Triumph
until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'"
And this "until" is what the world is waiting for Israel to do today. According to Hosea 5:15 in order for the second coming of Jesus to happen (not the rapture), Israel must repent and acknowledge their rejection of their Messiah "until" He can return to them. The "affliction" that Israel will go through according to this verse is the same "great tribulation" that Jesus labels in Matthew 24:21, Jesus quoting Daniel 12:1. "For then there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be." This is given to Israel to go through so that they will call on the name of the Lord and recognize and acknowledge their offense of rejecting the Messiah.
Hosea 5:15 starts out with an interesting statement about the Messiah returning to His place. That implies that He must have left His place in order to be returning to it. This of course is the promise in John 14:2-3,12 that Jesus tells His church, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may also be, because I go to My Father". At this very moment Jesus is on His Father's throne right now in the role of High Priest for His church preparing a place for His bride (Rev. 3:21/Heb. 4:14).
No matter what you believe about the rapture happening before or after or not at all, when Jesus returns to the earth for His second visit, He will be in the role of King and will be coming back to the earth to sit on His throne, the throne of David. His kingdom will be a kingdom of righteousness on the earth, ruling the nations from Jerusalem on His throne (Jer. 3:17,1 Cor. 15:25, Dan. 2:44,7:13-14, Psa. 2:8-9, Amos 9:11, Mic. 4:3-5, Zech. 14:16-17). In order for this to happen Israel must first acknowledge their offense of rejecting Him, this is what the great tribulation time will be for (Rev. 6-19), but most importantly this is what the church is doing now. We are to be giving Israel an example of how to worship the Lord God and not run after false gods. When Israel "earnestly seeks Jesus"(Hos. 5:15b), they will find Him, coming on the clouds of heaven to be their long awaited for King and Messiah to bring them the peace they have so long waited for.
This is the Triumph of all history and one of the reasons the church is here on the earth at this time. Let us pray for Israel today and help them see what we see. There is a blessing in helping Israel and a curse in going against them. Isaiah 60 tells of Israel being a future light to the Gentiles living in dark times. This is very easy to see happening in our day, Israel has taken a deserted land of wilderness and turned it into an oasis of beauty and rich worth. Israel is the only nation on the earth that has a truly prospering and stable economy and which their government is not full of crooks and robbers. Isaiah 60:12 tells us that "the nation and kingdom which will not serve Israel shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined". Jesus is getting His people and land ready for Him to come back to. When He does He will judge the nations that went against Israel and will reward those who helped her. Thats what the parable of the sheep and goats is about in Matthew 25:31-46. We need to be a people and nation that helps Israel see who her Messiah is when they welcome Him back the second time, not on a donkey but riding on a great white horse with authority and power as King of the world (Rev. 19:11-16).
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