I
Bruce McKerras July 2010
After the cleansing of the Land, My people, Israel, that is all the 12 tribes of Jacob, are prophesied to be gathered and judged at a location called the “Wilderness of the People“, or “the Desert of the Nations “.
There are dozens of prophecies about Israel’s return; some belong to the time of Nehemiah, others to the Jewish return, now fulfilled. But most pertain to the time of Israel’s final regathering, judgement and resettlement in the Promised Land.
Those currently in the Land, who are left after the next Mid East war, will be judged first.
ISAIAH 4: 3 The remnant of Judah left in Zion will be called holy.
V 4 when the Lord cleanses Zion by a spirit of judgement burning like fire.
V 6 Then His glory will provide a refuge and shelter.
ZECHARIAH 12: 7 The Lord will set free Judah first, for their greater glory.
Then those from all 12 tribes dispersed throughout the world will be gathered in the Land to be passed under the rod of judgement and the righteous allowed to enter and settle. Not for your sake, but for the honour of My Name, says the Lord. Ezekiel Ch 20.
Here is a reading of abridged scriptures pertaining to the regathering of “My People.”
1 On that day the Lord will exert His power a second time to recover the remnant of His people from the four corners of the earth. He will hoist a standard for the nations and gather those dispersed from Israel and Judah. The enmity between Israel and Judah will cease. 2 For a passing moment, I forsook you, but with tender affection I will bring you home again. 3 I will comfort My people, your term of bondage is served- the penalty paid. Clear a road through the desert, make a way in the wilderness. 4They will neither hunger nor thirst; I will love and guide them. My people, are coming from every direction.
5 Arise, shine Jerusalem for the glory of the Lord has dawned. Look, your children are assembling, coming back to you. Vessels are coming, bringing your children from far away, their treasure with them. At the appointed time, I the Lord will bring this to pass. 6 Come back, apostate Israel – I won’t be angry forever. I shall take you, one from each city and two from each clan and bring you to Zion.
7 You Israelites will be brought back to the soil that I gave to your forefathers. I shall send fishermen and hunters to find you. You are not hidden from My sight. 8 My people that escaped the sword have found favour in the wilderness. Gathered from the far ends of the earth – the blind and the lame and the women in labour. A vast company. I shall comfort them and be their escort. I am a father to Israel and Ephraim is My eldest son. There will be great rejoicing. 9 I shall take the Israelites from among the nations, gather you from every land and bring you to your homeland. I will appoint a King over them all – no longer two nations (Israel and Judah). 10Israel is swallowed up among the nations, like a wild ass that goes its own way. I will now round them up. Their guilt will be remembered and their sins punished. 11I shall assemble you, the whole House of Jacob, the remnant of Israel –
Like sheep in a pen, the Lord leading them. 12Your boundaries will be extended on the day Gods people return, from every sea and every mountain.
13This is the word of the Lord; I am about to rescue My people from the countries to the East and West. They will be My people and I shall be their lord in faithfulness and peace. 14I shall whistle to call them in, those yet in far off lands, they will remember Me. I shall lead them into Gilead and Lebanon – there will not be room enough for all of them. Israel will march proudly in His name. 15When You marched through the desert with your people, the earth shook and the sky poured rain. The Land was restored and Your people settled. 16Give thanks to the Lord all you redeemed and gathered out of all the lands of the earth.
Some wandered in the wastelands, they cried to the Lord. He led them to a city where they could live.
Some were prisoners – they had rebelled against God, they cried to the Lord. He saved them from distress.
Some were fools who took to rebellious ways, their punishment was a revulsion of food, they nearly starved, they cried to the Lord – He saved them.
Others in ships at sea, the storms tossed them about, they cried to the Lord, the storms ceased and He guided them to safe harbour. The desert blooms, they build and plant, flocks and herds increase. Whoever is wise, let him think on things to heart and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.
17Now I shall show compassion and will restore the fortunes of all Israel. They will forget their shame and unfaithfulness when they live once more in their homeland, undisturbed. When I gather them from the lands of their enemies, I shall make them exemplify My Holiness for many nations to see. I will pour My spirit upon them.
However, this may be how the Lord really feels about His people at the moment:
ISAIAH 41v 14 Have no fear, Jacob you worm – Israel you maggot.
It seems there is a long way to go to becoming the “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”. 1 Peter 2:9
Scripture Footnotes :
1. ISAIAH 11v11,12
2. ISAIAH 54:12
3. ISAIAH 40: 1-3
4. ISAIAH 49:10
5. ISAIAH 60:1,4,9,22
6. JEREMIAH 3: 14
7. JEREMIAH 16: 14,16
8. JEREMIAH 31: 8,9
9. EZEKIEL 37: 21,22
10. HOSEA 8: 8,10,13
11. MICAH 2v 12
12. MICAH 7: 11
13. ZECHARIAH 8: 7
14. ZECHARIAH 10: 8-10, 12
15. PSALM 68: 7-10
16. PSALM 107: 1, 3, 4 , 10, 17. 23. 35-43
17. EZEKIEL 39:25-29
(Scriptures taken from KGV, NIV & REB)
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
CLEANSING OF MY PEOPLE: ISRAEL
Who are Israel? All the prophets carefully separate the House of Israel from the House of Judah. Their various names and their current whereabouts is documented elsewhere.
They will rejoin in the last days as in Ezekiel 37v 21-22 –Two sticks joined as one. Isaiah 56v 8 ..added to those already gathered.
An often used allegory for His people in the Bible is ”My sheep”.
Ezekiel 34v 10 Wicked shepherds brought to account.
Ezekiel 34v 20 Fat and lean sheep judged.
Another allegory for Israel is “the vine”.
Amos 5v 17 ..wailing in every vineyard, for I shall pass through your midst.
Jeremiah 6v 9-15 Glean Israel like a vine ..no warning.. cannot hold back the anger of the Lord. This passage may be a parallel of Matthew 24v 37-41 one taken, another left
Micah 7v 1 Summer fruit gathered at the gleaning.
Ezekiel 20 v 34-38 I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered—with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. I will bring you into the desert of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you. As I judged your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
So, Israel is cleansed and the righteous allowed to settle in the Land. (v40)
When can this happen?
Isaiah 63 v 1-6 describes the Lord taking a “Day of Vengeance” as “the Year for redeeming My own had come”. The parallel for this event is Revelation 14 v 17-20 .. the earth’s grape harvest gathered and thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath.
Note that in Isaiah 63 the Lord has bloodstained garments and at His glorious return, Rev. 19 v 13, His garments are dyed in blood. Therefore, the Day of Vengeance is some time before His return.
They will rejoin in the last days as in Ezekiel 37v 21-22 –Two sticks joined as one. Isaiah 56v 8 ..added to those already gathered.
An often used allegory for His people in the Bible is ”My sheep”.
Ezekiel 34v 10 Wicked shepherds brought to account.
Ezekiel 34v 20 Fat and lean sheep judged.
Another allegory for Israel is “the vine”.
Amos 5v 17 ..wailing in every vineyard, for I shall pass through your midst.
Jeremiah 6v 9-15 Glean Israel like a vine ..no warning.. cannot hold back the anger of the Lord. This passage may be a parallel of Matthew 24v 37-41 one taken, another left
Micah 7v 1 Summer fruit gathered at the gleaning.
Ezekiel 20 v 34-38 I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered—with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. I will bring you into the desert of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you. As I judged your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
So, Israel is cleansed and the righteous allowed to settle in the Land. (v40)
When can this happen?
Isaiah 63 v 1-6 describes the Lord taking a “Day of Vengeance” as “the Year for redeeming My own had come”. The parallel for this event is Revelation 14 v 17-20 .. the earth’s grape harvest gathered and thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath.
Note that in Isaiah 63 the Lord has bloodstained garments and at His glorious return, Rev. 19 v 13, His garments are dyed in blood. Therefore, the Day of Vengeance is some time before His return.
Friday, July 23, 2010
HOLOCAUST THREE
by Bruce McKerras July 2010
Over the 20 centuries since the time of Jesus Christ’s first coming to earth, the Jewish people have suffered terrible persecutions, pogroms and discrimination.
This fulfils several prophecies – that the Jews will be a curse and a derision in the world
JEREMIAH 17; 1-4 The sin of Judah is recorded on their hearts, the fire of My anger will burn forever.
EZEKIEL 21: 2 Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and prophesy against the Land of Israel.
V 3 I shall draw My sword to cut off everyone from South to North.
V 4 I will make away with both the righteous and wicked, My sword will be drawn against everyone from the Negev northward.
V 7 All courage will fail – it will surely take place.
V10A sword is sharpened for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning.
Should we rejoice in the sceptre of Judah? No, the sword condemns the Rod of My Son.
V 12 Cry and wail for it falls on My people – all your rulers will be killed.
V13 Testing will surely come – what if the sceptre of Judah, which the sword despises, does not continue?
V14 Swing the sword three times, the great sword of slaughter.
Verse 14 is highly significant, as it may foretell three holocausts of the Jewish people. 1/ The revolt against the Romans, Maccabees to AD 70, when millions were killed.
2/ The Holocaust during the second World War.
3/ The final gathering and judgement of the Jewish people in the Land.
At the trial of Jesus, the Jews said in; MATTHEW 27:25 His blood be on us and our children. In the parable of the King and his servants, LUKE 19: 14 ..his subjects hated him and said “We don’t want this man to be our King “
LUKE 19: 27 As for those enemies of Mine that did not want Me for a King, bring them here ( into the Land ) and slaughter them in My presence.
MATTHEW 21 The parable of the vineyard
V38 The wicked tenants said; This is the Heir, come – let us kill him and get the inheritance.
V 41 The King will bring those criminals to justice and destroy them. He will then rent the vineyard to righteous tenants.
V 43 Therefore the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you ( Jews )
And given to a people who will bear fruit.
EZEKIEL 16: The Lord is saying how He rescued and tended Judah, but her depraved conduct surpassed even that of her sisters, Samaria ( Israel ) and Sodom
V35 Therefore, you prostitute, because of your brazen excesses,
V37 I shall assemble all those around you - whom you loved
V38 I shall bring you to trial for adultery and murder.
V39 When I hand you over to them, they will strip you naked.
V 40 They will punish you with stones and swords
V41 Burn down your houses and execute judgement in the sight of many women.
V46-52 You surpassed the sins of your sisters, Samaria and Sodom.
V 62 Eventual restoration in your shame and humiliation.
JEREMIAH 8 The Lord says to the leaders of Judah; You will be as dung spread over the ground. This wicked race would rather die than live.
JEREMIAH 18; 1-10 The Potter and the clay.
V6 House of Israel, I will remould you as a potter would a spoilt pot.
JEREMIAH 19: 3 Proclaim to the leaders and citizens of Judah.
V11 I shall smash this people as an earthen vessel is smashed beyond repair. There will be no room left to bury them.
PSALM 69; 35 for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah.
This has happened now, with the Jews doing amazing construction and agricultural achievements since 1948.
But, then...
Verse 36 The children of those who serve Him will inherit the Land and those who love His name will live there.
In the land of Israel today, 42% of the Jewish population are secular ( atheist ) 25% believe in God, but do not actively worship Him and 12% practice Judaism, 8% are the extreme ultra orthodox Haredi Jews. In all the amazing things that have happened to the Jews since 1948 – their resettlement, restored language and wars won, they still do not acknowledge Gods hand in their affairs.
Over the 20 centuries since the time of Jesus Christ’s first coming to earth, the Jewish people have suffered terrible persecutions, pogroms and discrimination.
This fulfils several prophecies – that the Jews will be a curse and a derision in the world
JEREMIAH 17; 1-4 The sin of Judah is recorded on their hearts, the fire of My anger will burn forever.
EZEKIEL 21: 2 Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and prophesy against the Land of Israel.
V 3 I shall draw My sword to cut off everyone from South to North.
V 4 I will make away with both the righteous and wicked, My sword will be drawn against everyone from the Negev northward.
V 7 All courage will fail – it will surely take place.
V10A sword is sharpened for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning.
Should we rejoice in the sceptre of Judah? No, the sword condemns the Rod of My Son.
V 12 Cry and wail for it falls on My people – all your rulers will be killed.
V13 Testing will surely come – what if the sceptre of Judah, which the sword despises, does not continue?
V14 Swing the sword three times, the great sword of slaughter.
Verse 14 is highly significant, as it may foretell three holocausts of the Jewish people. 1/ The revolt against the Romans, Maccabees to AD 70, when millions were killed.
2/ The Holocaust during the second World War.
3/ The final gathering and judgement of the Jewish people in the Land.
At the trial of Jesus, the Jews said in; MATTHEW 27:25 His blood be on us and our children. In the parable of the King and his servants, LUKE 19: 14 ..his subjects hated him and said “We don’t want this man to be our King “
LUKE 19: 27 As for those enemies of Mine that did not want Me for a King, bring them here ( into the Land ) and slaughter them in My presence.
MATTHEW 21 The parable of the vineyard
V38 The wicked tenants said; This is the Heir, come – let us kill him and get the inheritance.
V 41 The King will bring those criminals to justice and destroy them. He will then rent the vineyard to righteous tenants.
V 43 Therefore the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you ( Jews )
And given to a people who will bear fruit.
EZEKIEL 16: The Lord is saying how He rescued and tended Judah, but her depraved conduct surpassed even that of her sisters, Samaria ( Israel ) and Sodom
V35 Therefore, you prostitute, because of your brazen excesses,
V37 I shall assemble all those around you - whom you loved
V38 I shall bring you to trial for adultery and murder.
V39 When I hand you over to them, they will strip you naked.
V 40 They will punish you with stones and swords
V41 Burn down your houses and execute judgement in the sight of many women.
V46-52 You surpassed the sins of your sisters, Samaria and Sodom.
V 62 Eventual restoration in your shame and humiliation.
JEREMIAH 8 The Lord says to the leaders of Judah; You will be as dung spread over the ground. This wicked race would rather die than live.
JEREMIAH 18; 1-10 The Potter and the clay.
V6 House of Israel, I will remould you as a potter would a spoilt pot.
JEREMIAH 19: 3 Proclaim to the leaders and citizens of Judah.
V11 I shall smash this people as an earthen vessel is smashed beyond repair. There will be no room left to bury them.
PSALM 69; 35 for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah.
This has happened now, with the Jews doing amazing construction and agricultural achievements since 1948.
But, then...
Verse 36 The children of those who serve Him will inherit the Land and those who love His name will live there.
In the land of Israel today, 42% of the Jewish population are secular ( atheist ) 25% believe in God, but do not actively worship Him and 12% practice Judaism, 8% are the extreme ultra orthodox Haredi Jews. In all the amazing things that have happened to the Jews since 1948 – their resettlement, restored language and wars won, they still do not acknowledge Gods hand in their affairs.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - God's Servant
Bruce McKerras July 2010
Gods “modus operandi “is to use people – kings, armies, scientists, preachers, etc
and even you and me as well as seemingly natural events, to carry out His purposes here on earth. We see King Cyrus, called by God – My servant, Cyrus. His decree allowed the Jews to return from Babylon and rebuild Jerusalem. Earlier, the Assyrians, who captured the Northern tribes, stated in 2KINGS 18; 23.... the Lord Himself said to me “Go up and destroy this Land “ Even Genghis Khan said that God had told him to destroy what he did. Seems that he took great pleasure in doing it, too!!
Right now, the President of Iran has vowed to “wipe Israel off the map“ even though he knows that an attack on Israel will result in their retaliation. Ahmadinejad believes that Israel must be destroyed before the 12th Imam can return. This is the Mahdi, the Islamic
( Satanic ) messiah.
JEREMIAH 49: 34-39 I shall break Elam (Iran ) before their foes – I shall send My fierce anger upon them in disaster..... make an end to them.
But, prophecies given thousands of years ago, must be fulfilled.
EZEKIEL 20: 46 O man, face toward the South, prophesy to the scrublands of the Negev
v47 The Lord God says – I am about to kindle a fire in you, it will consume everything flammable. Its fiery flame will not be put out and everyone from the Negev northward will be scorched by it.
EZEKIEL 21: 4 It is because I intend to make away with righteous and wicked alike that My sword will be drawn against everyone from the Negev northward.
JEREMIAH 21: 11 To the Royal House of Judah...
V14 I shall punish you as you deserve, says the Lord. I shall set fire to your scrubland and will consume everything round about.
JEREMIAH 8 The Lord here is talking to the leaders of Judah.
V 6 I have listened to you and heard not one word of truth.
V 8 The scribes with their lying pens have falsified the Law
V 10 Therefore I shall give your lands to new owners, for all look for ill gotten gain, your prophets and Rabbis are all frauds.
V 11 You say “ All is well “ All is well? Nothing is well.
V 12 You have no sense of shame, therefore, you will be brought to the ground on the day of reckoning.
So, terrible as it may seem, it looks likely that a nuclear attack will take place sometime in the future. This clears the Land as in JEREMIAH 12v 14 I shall uproot those evil neighbours from the Land that I gave to My People, Israel, also I will uproot Judah from among them.
Israel’s immediate retaliation will destroy her attackers. All her neighbours are prophesied for destruction, here are examples;
ISAIAH 17: 1-2 Damascus will cease to be a city... a heap of ruins
V12-14 Listen, it is the thunder of vast forces... evening; terror, in the morning all gone.
ISAIAH 15: 1 On the night that Moab meets her doom.
ISAIAH 33:1 Woe betide, you destroyer, you will be destroyed.
V10-12 I shall arise, says the Lord, you will be as chaff and stubble. Whole nations will be heaps of white ash, like thorns cut down and set on fire.
Then, in JEREMIAH 8:10 Therefore, I shall give their Land to them who shall inherit it.
They must be the righteous remnant of all 12 tribes of Israel, who will be gathered and judged.
EZEKIEL 20: 35 I shall bring you into the Wilderness of the Peoples and there I shall confront you ( House of Israel and House of Judah ) and bring you to judgement.
ZECHARAIAH 12 v 8 This also is the word of the Lord: it will happen throughout the Land that two thirds of the people will be struck down and die, while one third of them will be left there. Verse 9 Then I shall pass this third through the fire, I shall refine them as silver and gold is refined. They will invoke Me by name and I myself will answer them. I shall say “these are My people “and they will say “ The Lord is my God “
This resettlement in the Promised Land of all 12 tribes, will fulfil the promise made to Jacob in GENESIS 35: 12 .. to your descendants, I will give this Land.
Not just 2 tribes, the Jews, but to all of Jacob’s sons descendants.
This inspiring prophecy will come true- ZECHARIAH 6:12 ... men from far away will come and work on the rebuilding of the Temple of the Lord. (All 12 tribes)
It will also allow for the selection of the 144,000 righteous servants of God - 12,000 from each tribe, as in Revelation.
Those multitudes of true and righteous believers, who are not of the 12 tribes of Israel – and only God knows who are, must hold fast to the promises of Jesus our Redeemer.
They will experience the joy of His Millennial reign.
ISAIAH 56: 6-7 So too, the foreigners who give their allegiance to Me ....
I shall give them joy in My House of prayer.... their offerings will be acceptable.
ISAIAH 14: 1 .... aliens will join and attach themselves to Jacobs people.
Gods “modus operandi “is to use people – kings, armies, scientists, preachers, etc
and even you and me as well as seemingly natural events, to carry out His purposes here on earth. We see King Cyrus, called by God – My servant, Cyrus. His decree allowed the Jews to return from Babylon and rebuild Jerusalem. Earlier, the Assyrians, who captured the Northern tribes, stated in 2KINGS 18; 23.... the Lord Himself said to me “Go up and destroy this Land “ Even Genghis Khan said that God had told him to destroy what he did. Seems that he took great pleasure in doing it, too!!
Right now, the President of Iran has vowed to “wipe Israel off the map“ even though he knows that an attack on Israel will result in their retaliation. Ahmadinejad believes that Israel must be destroyed before the 12th Imam can return. This is the Mahdi, the Islamic
( Satanic ) messiah.
JEREMIAH 49: 34-39 I shall break Elam (Iran ) before their foes – I shall send My fierce anger upon them in disaster..... make an end to them.
But, prophecies given thousands of years ago, must be fulfilled.
EZEKIEL 20: 46 O man, face toward the South, prophesy to the scrublands of the Negev
v47 The Lord God says – I am about to kindle a fire in you, it will consume everything flammable. Its fiery flame will not be put out and everyone from the Negev northward will be scorched by it.
EZEKIEL 21: 4 It is because I intend to make away with righteous and wicked alike that My sword will be drawn against everyone from the Negev northward.
JEREMIAH 21: 11 To the Royal House of Judah...
V14 I shall punish you as you deserve, says the Lord. I shall set fire to your scrubland and will consume everything round about.
JEREMIAH 8 The Lord here is talking to the leaders of Judah.
V 6 I have listened to you and heard not one word of truth.
V 8 The scribes with their lying pens have falsified the Law
V 10 Therefore I shall give your lands to new owners, for all look for ill gotten gain, your prophets and Rabbis are all frauds.
V 11 You say “ All is well “ All is well? Nothing is well.
V 12 You have no sense of shame, therefore, you will be brought to the ground on the day of reckoning.
So, terrible as it may seem, it looks likely that a nuclear attack will take place sometime in the future. This clears the Land as in JEREMIAH 12v 14 I shall uproot those evil neighbours from the Land that I gave to My People, Israel, also I will uproot Judah from among them.
Israel’s immediate retaliation will destroy her attackers. All her neighbours are prophesied for destruction, here are examples;
ISAIAH 17: 1-2 Damascus will cease to be a city... a heap of ruins
V12-14 Listen, it is the thunder of vast forces... evening; terror, in the morning all gone.
ISAIAH 15: 1 On the night that Moab meets her doom.
ISAIAH 33:1 Woe betide, you destroyer, you will be destroyed.
V10-12 I shall arise, says the Lord, you will be as chaff and stubble. Whole nations will be heaps of white ash, like thorns cut down and set on fire.
Then, in JEREMIAH 8:10 Therefore, I shall give their Land to them who shall inherit it.
They must be the righteous remnant of all 12 tribes of Israel, who will be gathered and judged.
EZEKIEL 20: 35 I shall bring you into the Wilderness of the Peoples and there I shall confront you ( House of Israel and House of Judah ) and bring you to judgement.
ZECHARAIAH 12 v 8 This also is the word of the Lord: it will happen throughout the Land that two thirds of the people will be struck down and die, while one third of them will be left there. Verse 9 Then I shall pass this third through the fire, I shall refine them as silver and gold is refined. They will invoke Me by name and I myself will answer them. I shall say “these are My people “and they will say “ The Lord is my God “
This resettlement in the Promised Land of all 12 tribes, will fulfil the promise made to Jacob in GENESIS 35: 12 .. to your descendants, I will give this Land.
Not just 2 tribes, the Jews, but to all of Jacob’s sons descendants.
This inspiring prophecy will come true- ZECHARIAH 6:12 ... men from far away will come and work on the rebuilding of the Temple of the Lord. (All 12 tribes)
It will also allow for the selection of the 144,000 righteous servants of God - 12,000 from each tribe, as in Revelation.
Those multitudes of true and righteous believers, who are not of the 12 tribes of Israel – and only God knows who are, must hold fast to the promises of Jesus our Redeemer.
They will experience the joy of His Millennial reign.
ISAIAH 56: 6-7 So too, the foreigners who give their allegiance to Me ....
I shall give them joy in My House of prayer.... their offerings will be acceptable.
ISAIAH 14: 1 .... aliens will join and attach themselves to Jacobs people.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The House of Israel and the House of Judah
Still separated – to be rejoined in the future.
It’s an unfortunate fact that most people – Christian and secular, believe that the Jews in the land of Israel and abroad have already rejoined with the 10 lost tribes - OR the 10 tribes are lost permanently, absorbed into the nations.
Certainly, at the time of the Assyrian conquest and captivity of the 10 tribes, many escaped to Judah. These people practised Judaism and became Jews. Note that 200,000 people from Judah were also taken at that time according to Assyrian records.
Also note that some modern Jewish scholars admit that the 10 tribes are still in the world. In 1948, David Ben Gurion, was intending to declare the country of the Jews, to be the State of Judah. At the last moment he named the new country “Israel”.
Speculation as to the identity of the House of Israel has used up many tons of paper and ink, but most make the mistake of thinking that because some people groups have certain Jewish traditions, then they must be a lost tribe. It may be that they are Jews, or have been influenced by Judaism.
The Bible says that Israel will lose its language and identity and be scattered to the ends of the earth. But Judah will be an object of derision and horror in the world. Jer. 29v18
1Kings 12v24 The Lord says- the split between Israel and Judah is My doing.
Zech.11v14 Brotherhood annulled between Israel and Judah.
2 Chron. 10v19 From that day to this, Israel is in rebellion against Judah.
2 Sam. 7v10 I shall assign a place for My people , Israel
Eze. 11 Ezekiel is talking to the leaders of Judah, delivering judgement on them for not keeping the laws of the Lord.
• Verse 13 - all the Israelites who are left?
• v.15 They are your brothers and kinsmen, this whole people of Israel, to whom the inhabitants now in Jerusalem have said, “They are separated far from the Lord; the land has been made over to us to possess”
• v16 Say, therefore.... When I sent them far away among the nations and dispersed them over the earth... I became their sanctuary....
• v17 Say, therefore..... I shall gather you from among the nations..... I shall give the land of Israel to you.
Zeph.10v6 Triumph to Judah, Victory to Joseph... as though I had never cast them off
• v7 Ephraim like warriors.... rejoice in the Lord.
• v8 I shall whistle to call them in.
• v9 In far off lands, they will remember Me
• v10,11,12 Enemies destroyed.... resettled back in Lebanon and Gilead.
It is no wonder that so many ignore prophecy, as when they think that Israel and Judah are a single entity, only confusion results.
So, the prophecies to Judah, Jerusalem and the Jews pertain to the House of Judah.
The House of Israel, led by Ephraim (Joseph), also called by several other names in the Bible, has many prophecies telling of their blessings and final rejoining with Judah in the land. Each House has tasks appointed to it for the present days.
Isaiah 29 v 22 This is no time for Jacob (all Israel) to be shamed
v 23 His descendants will hallow My name.... regard Israel’s God with awe.
v24 The confused will gain understanding and the obstinate accept instruction.
It’s an unfortunate fact that most people – Christian and secular, believe that the Jews in the land of Israel and abroad have already rejoined with the 10 lost tribes - OR the 10 tribes are lost permanently, absorbed into the nations.
Certainly, at the time of the Assyrian conquest and captivity of the 10 tribes, many escaped to Judah. These people practised Judaism and became Jews. Note that 200,000 people from Judah were also taken at that time according to Assyrian records.
Also note that some modern Jewish scholars admit that the 10 tribes are still in the world. In 1948, David Ben Gurion, was intending to declare the country of the Jews, to be the State of Judah. At the last moment he named the new country “Israel”.
Speculation as to the identity of the House of Israel has used up many tons of paper and ink, but most make the mistake of thinking that because some people groups have certain Jewish traditions, then they must be a lost tribe. It may be that they are Jews, or have been influenced by Judaism.
The Bible says that Israel will lose its language and identity and be scattered to the ends of the earth. But Judah will be an object of derision and horror in the world. Jer. 29v18
1Kings 12v24 The Lord says- the split between Israel and Judah is My doing.
Zech.11v14 Brotherhood annulled between Israel and Judah.
2 Chron. 10v19 From that day to this, Israel is in rebellion against Judah.
2 Sam. 7v10 I shall assign a place for My people , Israel
Eze. 11 Ezekiel is talking to the leaders of Judah, delivering judgement on them for not keeping the laws of the Lord.
• Verse 13 - all the Israelites who are left?
• v.15 They are your brothers and kinsmen, this whole people of Israel, to whom the inhabitants now in Jerusalem have said, “They are separated far from the Lord; the land has been made over to us to possess”
• v16 Say, therefore.... When I sent them far away among the nations and dispersed them over the earth... I became their sanctuary....
• v17 Say, therefore..... I shall gather you from among the nations..... I shall give the land of Israel to you.
Zeph.10v6 Triumph to Judah, Victory to Joseph... as though I had never cast them off
• v7 Ephraim like warriors.... rejoice in the Lord.
• v8 I shall whistle to call them in.
• v9 In far off lands, they will remember Me
• v10,11,12 Enemies destroyed.... resettled back in Lebanon and Gilead.
It is no wonder that so many ignore prophecy, as when they think that Israel and Judah are a single entity, only confusion results.
So, the prophecies to Judah, Jerusalem and the Jews pertain to the House of Judah.
The House of Israel, led by Ephraim (Joseph), also called by several other names in the Bible, has many prophecies telling of their blessings and final rejoining with Judah in the land. Each House has tasks appointed to it for the present days.
Isaiah 29 v 22 This is no time for Jacob (all Israel) to be shamed
v 23 His descendants will hallow My name.... regard Israel’s God with awe.
v24 The confused will gain understanding and the obstinate accept instruction.
Interesting Times
It’s quite obvious to me, living in the Middle East that some cataclysmic event will happen here in the near future. Sheer population pressure will dictate this, let alone the political agendas of all the parties involved.
However, as Bible believers, we know that God’s agenda will prevail.
The Palestinians have high expectations of getting their own state, as Israel is forced to give more and more concessions, but to them, control over all the land is their ultimate goal. Soon, I believe, Iran, as the leader of Hezbollah and Hamas, will threaten nuclear attack on Israel. As the Israeli nuclear facility is at Dimona in the Negev desert, this is their probable target. This will kill all those nearby and cause the rest of the land to be evacuated to allow the fulfilment of Eze.28v24-26 after Israel retaliates and destroys her enemies.
Jeremiah 12v14 ... evil neighbours encroaching on the Land allotted to My people, Israel; I shall uproot them. But note that v14 continues ... Also I will uproot Judah from among them.
So, here is where the ‘Joes’ – My people, the 10 tribed House of Israel, come in and settle the Land.
The rest of Jer 12v 15-17 says that the Jews must “learn the ways of My people “
That is, accept the Lordship of Jesus Christ, before any of them can join the House of Israel, thus fulfilling Eze 37v 15-23. From verse 24 to 28 will come after the Lord returns.
Then in Jer. 12v 18... the nation that will not listen, I will destroy. Maybe fulfilling Obadiah v 17& 18 .. Jacob a fire....Joseph a flame.... House of Esau- no survivors.
But, before “My people, Israel” can return to the Land of Israel they must be cleansed and that will fulfil a lot of other prophecies.
However, as Bible believers, we know that God’s agenda will prevail.
The Palestinians have high expectations of getting their own state, as Israel is forced to give more and more concessions, but to them, control over all the land is their ultimate goal. Soon, I believe, Iran, as the leader of Hezbollah and Hamas, will threaten nuclear attack on Israel. As the Israeli nuclear facility is at Dimona in the Negev desert, this is their probable target. This will kill all those nearby and cause the rest of the land to be evacuated to allow the fulfilment of Eze.28v24-26 after Israel retaliates and destroys her enemies.
Jeremiah 12v14 ... evil neighbours encroaching on the Land allotted to My people, Israel; I shall uproot them. But note that v14 continues ... Also I will uproot Judah from among them.
So, here is where the ‘Joes’ – My people, the 10 tribed House of Israel, come in and settle the Land.
The rest of Jer 12v 15-17 says that the Jews must “learn the ways of My people “
That is, accept the Lordship of Jesus Christ, before any of them can join the House of Israel, thus fulfilling Eze 37v 15-23. From verse 24 to 28 will come after the Lord returns.
Then in Jer. 12v 18... the nation that will not listen, I will destroy. Maybe fulfilling Obadiah v 17& 18 .. Jacob a fire....Joseph a flame.... House of Esau- no survivors.
But, before “My people, Israel” can return to the Land of Israel they must be cleansed and that will fulfil a lot of other prophecies.
West Bank Politics
The West Bank area of Israel is quiet and normal life goes on, with good signs of increasing prosperity. Tourism is booming and businesses are thriving.
The Fatah government of the Palestinian Authority, led by Abbas, is practically irrelevant, only seen as a figurehead by international diplomacy. Real authority is exercised by Salam Fayyad, the E.U. appointed Prime Minister and Gen. Keith Dayton - head of security. They control the $2.8 billion annual budget, mostly donated from the E.U. An article from the Washington Post (Tuesday April 27th) reads, “He is moving ahead with an ambitious plan to get the Palestinians ready for statehood by August 2011 by trying to build it from the ground up: paving roads, reforming the judiciary, planning new cities.”
In the1967 war, Israel conquered the area from Jordan. King Hussein of Jordan was told by President. Nasser of Egypt that the Arabs were winning, so join in to destroy Israel. This was at the same time that the Egyptian army was surrounded and Israeli troops were advancing to Cairo!!
Jordan has now ceded the West Bank to Israel, but the United Nations, pressured by the Arab bloc, refuse to ratify the Jordan River border.
Time and again the Palestinians have been offered their own State by Israel.
This is always turned down, as their clearly stated goal is to remove Israel and rule the entire area. Nothing less is acceptable.
Gaza is controlled by the Hamas faction. Their annual budget is $540m of which $480m is aid from Iran. Hamas leader, Khaled Mashaal stated recently to Fatah “we will not succumb to your terms. We won’t pay a political price no matter how long the blockade lasts. God is with us and He will grant us the victory.”
So the split in the Palestine National movement is ultimately a function of the broader strategic situation of regional cold war in the Middle East, currently divided into a loose alliance of states to the U.S. and the West, and an Iranian led “resistance bloc” of states and movements.
Gaza and also the Hezbollah in Lebanon serve Iran well, giving an effective veto over any attempt to revive the peace process.
In the near future, Iran will announce its possession of nuclear weapons. This will alter the situation dramatically, causing Israel to reconsider its “Samson Option”of a pre emptive strike. The next Mid East war must have vast repercussions and will probably usher in the end times countdown.
The Fatah government of the Palestinian Authority, led by Abbas, is practically irrelevant, only seen as a figurehead by international diplomacy. Real authority is exercised by Salam Fayyad, the E.U. appointed Prime Minister and Gen. Keith Dayton - head of security. They control the $2.8 billion annual budget, mostly donated from the E.U. An article from the Washington Post (Tuesday April 27th) reads, “He is moving ahead with an ambitious plan to get the Palestinians ready for statehood by August 2011 by trying to build it from the ground up: paving roads, reforming the judiciary, planning new cities.”
In the1967 war, Israel conquered the area from Jordan. King Hussein of Jordan was told by President. Nasser of Egypt that the Arabs were winning, so join in to destroy Israel. This was at the same time that the Egyptian army was surrounded and Israeli troops were advancing to Cairo!!
Jordan has now ceded the West Bank to Israel, but the United Nations, pressured by the Arab bloc, refuse to ratify the Jordan River border.
Time and again the Palestinians have been offered their own State by Israel.
This is always turned down, as their clearly stated goal is to remove Israel and rule the entire area. Nothing less is acceptable.
Gaza is controlled by the Hamas faction. Their annual budget is $540m of which $480m is aid from Iran. Hamas leader, Khaled Mashaal stated recently to Fatah “we will not succumb to your terms. We won’t pay a political price no matter how long the blockade lasts. God is with us and He will grant us the victory.”
So the split in the Palestine National movement is ultimately a function of the broader strategic situation of regional cold war in the Middle East, currently divided into a loose alliance of states to the U.S. and the West, and an Iranian led “resistance bloc” of states and movements.
Gaza and also the Hezbollah in Lebanon serve Iran well, giving an effective veto over any attempt to revive the peace process.
In the near future, Iran will announce its possession of nuclear weapons. This will alter the situation dramatically, causing Israel to reconsider its “Samson Option”of a pre emptive strike. The next Mid East war must have vast repercussions and will probably usher in the end times countdown.
Suffering for Lack of Wisdom
What is wisdom?
Job 28v28 The fear of the Lord is wisdom and to turn from evil, that is understanding.
Psalm 53v1 Only a fool says; there is no God.
Where can wisdom be found?
Job 28v20 Where, then, does wisdom come from? v23 God alone understands the way to it; He alone knows its source.
Micah 6v8 The Lord has told you mortals what is good and what it is that the Lord requires of you; only to act justly, to love loyalty, to walk humbly with you God.
Deut 4v6 Observe My laws ....show your wisdom to the nations.
Who gets wisdom?
Dan 2v21 God gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have discernment.
1Corinthians 1v21 As God in His wisdom ordained, the world failed to find Him by its wisdom, and He chose the folly of the Gospel to save those who have faith. V23 The Gospel proclaims Christ crucified and resurrected; this offends the Jews and is foolishness to the Gentiles, yet to those who are called, Christ is the power and wisdom of God.
Matthew 11v25 ..these things hidden from the learned and wise and revealed to the simple.
James 1v5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God and it will be given you.
V6 But whoever asks must ask in faith, with no doubts in their mind.
Proof of wisdom:
James 3v13 Which of you is wise or learned? ... practical proof is by your right conduct.
V17 The wisdom from God is pure, peace loving, considerate and open minded. Sincere, compassionate and deeds of kindness are its fruit.
Matthew 11v19 Gods wisdom is proved right by its results.
His people
Hosea 4v6 My People rejected knowledge and wisdom, so will I, your God forsake you.
Jeremiah 4v22 My people are fools, they have no understanding.
Isaiah 29v10 The Lord has poured on you a spirit of deep stupor.
V11 The prophetic vision is like the words in a sealed book.
V13 Because this people worship Me with empty words.. their religion is but a human precept, learnt by rote.... the wisdom of the wise shall vanish.
V17-21 In a very short time.....the evil doers will be cut down.
V22-24 Therefore.... this is no time for Israel to be shamed...when they see what I have done in their midst....they will regard Israel’s God with awe; the confused will gain understanding and the obstinate will accept instruction.
Deuteronomy 32v29 O that they were wise- consider the latter end!
Results of gaining wisdom and righteousness:
Proverbs 3v13 Blessed is the man who finds wisdom... more profitable that gold.
Righteousness and faith will gain you eternal life, but to gain rewards-crowns- we must live wisely and bear fruit. The righteous must also seek wisdom, as the Bible says “Apply our hearts to wisdom to escape all these things”, that is the punishment of unbelievers.
Free will is God’s plan for mankind. We choose our own path in this life. God is testing us.
God tells us to watch, pray and be wise. This must make a significant difference in the results we experience, or free will is a sham.
Luke 21v36 We will stand before the Son of Man in judgement.
God's 7000 year Plan
Hands off for 6000 years to prove that man cannot live in peace. God must allow full and final results – every chance for man to get it right. Then comes the Millienial reign of Jesus.
Job 28v28 The fear of the Lord is wisdom and to turn from evil, that is understanding.
Psalm 53v1 Only a fool says; there is no God.
Where can wisdom be found?
Job 28v20 Where, then, does wisdom come from? v23 God alone understands the way to it; He alone knows its source.
Micah 6v8 The Lord has told you mortals what is good and what it is that the Lord requires of you; only to act justly, to love loyalty, to walk humbly with you God.
Deut 4v6 Observe My laws ....show your wisdom to the nations.
Who gets wisdom?
Dan 2v21 God gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have discernment.
1Corinthians 1v21 As God in His wisdom ordained, the world failed to find Him by its wisdom, and He chose the folly of the Gospel to save those who have faith. V23 The Gospel proclaims Christ crucified and resurrected; this offends the Jews and is foolishness to the Gentiles, yet to those who are called, Christ is the power and wisdom of God.
Matthew 11v25 ..these things hidden from the learned and wise and revealed to the simple.
James 1v5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God and it will be given you.
V6 But whoever asks must ask in faith, with no doubts in their mind.
Proof of wisdom:
James 3v13 Which of you is wise or learned? ... practical proof is by your right conduct.
V17 The wisdom from God is pure, peace loving, considerate and open minded. Sincere, compassionate and deeds of kindness are its fruit.
Matthew 11v19 Gods wisdom is proved right by its results.
His people
Hosea 4v6 My People rejected knowledge and wisdom, so will I, your God forsake you.
Jeremiah 4v22 My people are fools, they have no understanding.
Isaiah 29v10 The Lord has poured on you a spirit of deep stupor.
V11 The prophetic vision is like the words in a sealed book.
V13 Because this people worship Me with empty words.. their religion is but a human precept, learnt by rote.... the wisdom of the wise shall vanish.
V17-21 In a very short time.....the evil doers will be cut down.
V22-24 Therefore.... this is no time for Israel to be shamed...when they see what I have done in their midst....they will regard Israel’s God with awe; the confused will gain understanding and the obstinate will accept instruction.
Deuteronomy 32v29 O that they were wise- consider the latter end!
Results of gaining wisdom and righteousness:
Proverbs 3v13 Blessed is the man who finds wisdom... more profitable that gold.
Righteousness and faith will gain you eternal life, but to gain rewards-crowns- we must live wisely and bear fruit. The righteous must also seek wisdom, as the Bible says “Apply our hearts to wisdom to escape all these things”, that is the punishment of unbelievers.
Free will is God’s plan for mankind. We choose our own path in this life. God is testing us.
God tells us to watch, pray and be wise. This must make a significant difference in the results we experience, or free will is a sham.
Luke 21v36 We will stand before the Son of Man in judgement.
God's 7000 year Plan
Hands off for 6000 years to prove that man cannot live in peace. God must allow full and final results – every chance for man to get it right. Then comes the Millienial reign of Jesus.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
The Lord's Chosen People
Let's be absolutely clear about the fact that Gods plan involves His chosen people, who are a nation that He designated to be His servants in the world.
Way back, Abraham was picked out of the civilization then in existence in what is Iraq today. The descendants of his son Isaac, grandson Jacob and 12 great grandsons constitute the real nation of Israel today.
It’s an amazing fact that we can still identify most of the descendants of Judah, Benjamin and part of Levi, known to the world as Jews. But the other tribes are lost to memory, as God planned.
However, it isn’t hard to see who they might be, as they are the recipients of the blessings and promises of God to His people. They have His commandments as their guide and His true followers bear fruit. See John 15 v 1 -17
The Bible is full of passages of how He chose Israel, settled them in Egypt, rescued them, gave them the Promised Land, then uprooted and punished them because of their sins. Now the time is near for their regathering and judgement
DEUERONOMY 14:2 You are a people holy to the Lord God, and He has chosen you out of all the peoples of the earth to be His special possession.
1 CHRONICLES 16:13 Give thanks, you descendants of Israel, His servants, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones.
PSALM 105:1-5 Look to the Lord and be strong... you offspring of Abraham, His servant, the children of Jacob, His chosen ones.
ISAIAH 44:1 Hear Me now, Jacob My servant , Israel, My chosen one.
1PETER 2:9 You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, a people claimed by God for His own.
ISAIAH 14:1 The Lord will show compassion for Jacob ( the 12 tribes ) and will once again make Israel His choice. He will resettle them on their native soil, where aliens will join them.
Way back, Abraham was picked out of the civilization then in existence in what is Iraq today. The descendants of his son Isaac, grandson Jacob and 12 great grandsons constitute the real nation of Israel today.
It’s an amazing fact that we can still identify most of the descendants of Judah, Benjamin and part of Levi, known to the world as Jews. But the other tribes are lost to memory, as God planned.
However, it isn’t hard to see who they might be, as they are the recipients of the blessings and promises of God to His people. They have His commandments as their guide and His true followers bear fruit. See John 15 v 1 -17
The Bible is full of passages of how He chose Israel, settled them in Egypt, rescued them, gave them the Promised Land, then uprooted and punished them because of their sins. Now the time is near for their regathering and judgement
DEUERONOMY 14:2 You are a people holy to the Lord God, and He has chosen you out of all the peoples of the earth to be His special possession.
1 CHRONICLES 16:13 Give thanks, you descendants of Israel, His servants, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones.
PSALM 105:1-5 Look to the Lord and be strong... you offspring of Abraham, His servant, the children of Jacob, His chosen ones.
ISAIAH 44:1 Hear Me now, Jacob My servant , Israel, My chosen one.
1PETER 2:9 You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, a people claimed by God for His own.
ISAIAH 14:1 The Lord will show compassion for Jacob ( the 12 tribes ) and will once again make Israel His choice. He will resettle them on their native soil, where aliens will join them.
Suppose WE are Israel
Archaeology, Biblical research and modern translations have done wonders in substantiating the validity and in the elucidation of the Word of God. But all of these are subservient to the great discovery that God is a God of order; that He actually devised a plan and program for the redemption of our planet; that essential to that plan and program, he chose Ten Tribed Israel; and that they are extant on the earth today.
But like the prophets of old, this great truth has met with indifference, unbelief and opposition.
Ten Tribed Israel will experience the great awakening foretold by the prophets. The blindness will pass away in the spiritual light which will break upon their souls regarding their identity and their responsibilities as the chosen people of God.
Suppose we are Israel. What of it? If I am saved, what difference does it make? The spirit in which the statement is made ranges from mere flippancy to sincere declaration.
Few, if any, of those who make such a statement have considered for a moment its true import... There is here the manifestation of egotism unbecoming a child of God. It smacks of the idea that God set in operation all that is revealed in the scriptures solely to save the individual, and when that is accomplished, what else is worthy of consideration? There is also present a form of selfishness.
1. Lacks Reverence
It discloses the want of due regard for God and His word. ... The spiritually minded should always remember that god is holy and His word holy;
2. Presumption
There is here, plainly implied, that fact that the speaker does not intend to accept or live by it anyway. This assumes the right of the individual to look the word of God over, select what suits his/her whim and discard the balance.
3. Insults, Stultifies One’s Own Spiritual Intelligence
Suppose we are Israel – what difference does it make? This is an attenuated idea of the Scriptures and the great purpose of God in furnishing them to mankind; or a closed mind; or a spiritual indolence which does not want to be disturbed... There is presented, for our enlightenment, a great volume of information, involving the origin and history of the various races of the earth, the divine plan for the ages, the division of the world into Israel and Gentile nations, the marvellous covenants made by God, the exceeding broad sweep of the atonement, the place allotted the Church in God’s world program the meaning and movement of the present world crisis, who constitute the Kingdom of God on earth, what it will be when it comes, Israel’s work for the new age, the new order under the reign of Christ and the ultimate restitution of all things which were lost in Eden. .... It makes the difference of being informed or ignorant of God’s purposes, the place He gave His elect people in His program and His march down the centuries toward fulfilment. I makes the difference of merely being saved by the skin of one’s teeth, as Job put it and being an intelligent student of the Bible and world events, this being “thoroughly furnished unto all good works “in our day and generation.
4. Disparages the Wisdom of God
God in His wisdom chose Israel to be used by Him in His great plan for the transformation of a lost world. He also wrote a large portion of the Bible to tell us about Israel’s part in that plan. Can we not see that to select only a portion of the book, and that only the portion which pertains to ones individual salvation is to simply tell God that He was silly in furnishing any more? Can we not see that it sets up the finite in judgment of the Infinite? It practically declares Him to be foolish in doing any more or revealing any more than would get us saved eternally.
5. Repudiates About Five-Sevenths of the Bible
Allowing ample space in the bible for the presentation of the Gospel to the individual, God wrote about five-sevenths of the Bible as His message to the nations. An important integral part, related to almost every phase of this revelation, is the great nation Israel, promised by God to Abraham. Five-sevenths is a lot of Bible to scrap!
6. Throws Away the Key to the Bible
Earnest Bible students have found the Israel truth to be the key which opens up the Bible from the first promise made at the fall, until Jesus delivers up the finished Kingdom unto God. It may be likened to a spiritual thread which runs through almost every chapter of Bible history, every doctrine, symbol, type, promise, covenant and act of God: The thread which, when found, makes possible the unravelling of most of the mysteries of the Word. This is the reason that everyone who has conscientiously sought and found the Israel Truth has declared the Bible to be a “new book”, consistent, harmonious, symmetrical, progressive and most satisfying to mind and soul. ... Take the whole gospel of individual salvation wherever presented in the word of God, and careful study will almost always disclose the fact that the Israel Truth is the context that makes it plain and sits it in its proper spiritual perspective.
7. Belittles the Faithfulness of God
If we are Israel, then God has done a stupendous thing. He has kept faith with Abraham. Centuries ago He made an unconditional, irrevocable, covenant with Abraham to increase and preserve his posterity throughout all generations. And now, here we are, many nations of Israel, right here on the planet after almost 4,000 years.
8. Rejects the Birthplace of Race
.. “suppose we are Israel, “ then we are the lineal descendants of Abraham through Sarah, Isaac and Jacob. There is a world of difference in the blessings of race, country, enlightenment and opportunity bestowed upon the descendants of these and that which was bestowed upon the Brahmins, the Arabs, and the Turks. While there is no place here for race pride, there is a large place for grateful joy in the arbitrary goodness of God, and for appreciation of the gifts bestowed by God upon us as a race. ... We are the recipients of the only God ordained royal blood on this planet through Abraham, the divinely appointed father of kings.. We participate in the great covenant made by God with Abraham, so comprehensive that it included all the covenants which followed it, both temporal and spiritual. In fact, if we be Israel, then that covenant of God was made directly with us –Genesis 17:7 “I will establish my covenant between me and they seed (plural) in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to your seed after thee.” Note the ‘seed’ of Abraham in this promise is plural.
“Suppose we are Israel,” then we are members of the Kingdom of God on earth. He established that Kingdom at Sinai. Constituting that Kingdom was twelve tribed Israel. Mathew 21 v 43 tells us plainly that He took the Kingdom from the Jews and turned it over to a “nation” (Greek: ‘Ethnos’ which never could mean church) That nation was to bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom. Thos fruits are both political and religious.
The Israel nations: Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, The British Commonwealth and the USA are the only nations on earth which have made the law of God, the 10 Commandments, the common law of the land; the only nations which have established their form of government after the model given at Sinai with its constitution, laws, statures and judgements. Does the fact that a man is saved eternally, preclude the possibility of his appreciating the civil blessing which he enjoys under the Abrahamic covenant in these Israel countries? A short sojourn in gentile lands of the dictators would show the difference and be quite convincing.
The other fruits of the Kingdom of God on earth which were to be brought forth by the Israel nation were religious. True to Christ’s assignment, the Israel nations, lead the world in evangelistic work, home and foreign missions, church extension to the ends of the earth, Bible translation, publication and distribution.
9. Spurns the Honours conferred by God
It does not require great research to find a host of texts in which God reveals the exalted position given to his chosen race: Isaiah 43 v 1,4; I Kings 8 v 53; Psalm 135 v 4; Deuteronomy 7 v 6; Deuteronomy 14 v 2;
God has certainly lavished the hours and blessings upon Israel and, in the few texts cited, there is enough to give the Israel Christian abundant reason for joy and thanksgiving. Note the honours conferred: He chose them; redeemed them; claimed them for his own; separated them; made them precious; his peculiar treasure; his special people; his inheritance above all peoples of the earth.
10. Rejects God’s Comfort for the Last Days
When we go through the Scriptures, and find the blessings promised by God to Israel, it is most remarkable that in very many instances, the blessings foretold are for the last days, the very hour in which we are now living. For us, upon whom, Paul says, the ends of the age have come.
The blessings pronounced upon Abraham were to culminate in the last days. The blessings pronounced by Jacob upon his sons were for the last days. The farewell blessings proclaimed by Moses upon twelve tribed Israel were to befall them in their latter end, the last days.
It is very evident that God was quite anxious that His Israel people should have a clear vision of all that was to come to pass in these trying times, and consequently, sent prophets after prophet, telling of world conditions which we would experience in our day...
God, in His mercy, intended that we should have the benefits of knowing what He is doing in the world what the world events actually mean, how he is going to make it all world out to the good of His people Israel, and through all that is happening bring in the Kingdom of God on earth.
11. Turns down the High Call of God
The high call of God is not only to accept Christ and to build a Christ-like character, but to gain a broad, genuine, comprehensive Biblical knowledge, in order to be thoroughly furnished unto every good work....
God chose the Israel people as His servant race and appointed them His witnesses to set up the ensign of divine truth to the nations of the world. If there ever was an hour when such a work was needed, it is now, as the nations wade in the welter of woe. ...
The great Divine climax of the ages is about to break upon the nations. God, in His mercy, has given the great Gospel of the Kingdom of God on earth, not merely to be held but to be heralded in these closing hours of a dying age. Now is the time to earn your “well done, thou good and faithful servant,” promised in the great Kingdom parable.
Reference James MCGraw
But like the prophets of old, this great truth has met with indifference, unbelief and opposition.
Ten Tribed Israel will experience the great awakening foretold by the prophets. The blindness will pass away in the spiritual light which will break upon their souls regarding their identity and their responsibilities as the chosen people of God.
Suppose we are Israel. What of it? If I am saved, what difference does it make? The spirit in which the statement is made ranges from mere flippancy to sincere declaration.
Few, if any, of those who make such a statement have considered for a moment its true import... There is here the manifestation of egotism unbecoming a child of God. It smacks of the idea that God set in operation all that is revealed in the scriptures solely to save the individual, and when that is accomplished, what else is worthy of consideration? There is also present a form of selfishness.
1. Lacks Reverence
It discloses the want of due regard for God and His word. ... The spiritually minded should always remember that god is holy and His word holy;
2. Presumption
There is here, plainly implied, that fact that the speaker does not intend to accept or live by it anyway. This assumes the right of the individual to look the word of God over, select what suits his/her whim and discard the balance.
3. Insults, Stultifies One’s Own Spiritual Intelligence
Suppose we are Israel – what difference does it make? This is an attenuated idea of the Scriptures and the great purpose of God in furnishing them to mankind; or a closed mind; or a spiritual indolence which does not want to be disturbed... There is presented, for our enlightenment, a great volume of information, involving the origin and history of the various races of the earth, the divine plan for the ages, the division of the world into Israel and Gentile nations, the marvellous covenants made by God, the exceeding broad sweep of the atonement, the place allotted the Church in God’s world program the meaning and movement of the present world crisis, who constitute the Kingdom of God on earth, what it will be when it comes, Israel’s work for the new age, the new order under the reign of Christ and the ultimate restitution of all things which were lost in Eden. .... It makes the difference of being informed or ignorant of God’s purposes, the place He gave His elect people in His program and His march down the centuries toward fulfilment. I makes the difference of merely being saved by the skin of one’s teeth, as Job put it and being an intelligent student of the Bible and world events, this being “thoroughly furnished unto all good works “in our day and generation.
4. Disparages the Wisdom of God
God in His wisdom chose Israel to be used by Him in His great plan for the transformation of a lost world. He also wrote a large portion of the Bible to tell us about Israel’s part in that plan. Can we not see that to select only a portion of the book, and that only the portion which pertains to ones individual salvation is to simply tell God that He was silly in furnishing any more? Can we not see that it sets up the finite in judgment of the Infinite? It practically declares Him to be foolish in doing any more or revealing any more than would get us saved eternally.
5. Repudiates About Five-Sevenths of the Bible
Allowing ample space in the bible for the presentation of the Gospel to the individual, God wrote about five-sevenths of the Bible as His message to the nations. An important integral part, related to almost every phase of this revelation, is the great nation Israel, promised by God to Abraham. Five-sevenths is a lot of Bible to scrap!
6. Throws Away the Key to the Bible
Earnest Bible students have found the Israel truth to be the key which opens up the Bible from the first promise made at the fall, until Jesus delivers up the finished Kingdom unto God. It may be likened to a spiritual thread which runs through almost every chapter of Bible history, every doctrine, symbol, type, promise, covenant and act of God: The thread which, when found, makes possible the unravelling of most of the mysteries of the Word. This is the reason that everyone who has conscientiously sought and found the Israel Truth has declared the Bible to be a “new book”, consistent, harmonious, symmetrical, progressive and most satisfying to mind and soul. ... Take the whole gospel of individual salvation wherever presented in the word of God, and careful study will almost always disclose the fact that the Israel Truth is the context that makes it plain and sits it in its proper spiritual perspective.
7. Belittles the Faithfulness of God
If we are Israel, then God has done a stupendous thing. He has kept faith with Abraham. Centuries ago He made an unconditional, irrevocable, covenant with Abraham to increase and preserve his posterity throughout all generations. And now, here we are, many nations of Israel, right here on the planet after almost 4,000 years.
8. Rejects the Birthplace of Race
.. “suppose we are Israel, “ then we are the lineal descendants of Abraham through Sarah, Isaac and Jacob. There is a world of difference in the blessings of race, country, enlightenment and opportunity bestowed upon the descendants of these and that which was bestowed upon the Brahmins, the Arabs, and the Turks. While there is no place here for race pride, there is a large place for grateful joy in the arbitrary goodness of God, and for appreciation of the gifts bestowed by God upon us as a race. ... We are the recipients of the only God ordained royal blood on this planet through Abraham, the divinely appointed father of kings.. We participate in the great covenant made by God with Abraham, so comprehensive that it included all the covenants which followed it, both temporal and spiritual. In fact, if we be Israel, then that covenant of God was made directly with us –Genesis 17:7 “I will establish my covenant between me and they seed (plural) in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to your seed after thee.” Note the ‘seed’ of Abraham in this promise is plural.
“Suppose we are Israel,” then we are members of the Kingdom of God on earth. He established that Kingdom at Sinai. Constituting that Kingdom was twelve tribed Israel. Mathew 21 v 43 tells us plainly that He took the Kingdom from the Jews and turned it over to a “nation” (Greek: ‘Ethnos’ which never could mean church) That nation was to bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom. Thos fruits are both political and religious.
The Israel nations: Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, The British Commonwealth and the USA are the only nations on earth which have made the law of God, the 10 Commandments, the common law of the land; the only nations which have established their form of government after the model given at Sinai with its constitution, laws, statures and judgements. Does the fact that a man is saved eternally, preclude the possibility of his appreciating the civil blessing which he enjoys under the Abrahamic covenant in these Israel countries? A short sojourn in gentile lands of the dictators would show the difference and be quite convincing.
The other fruits of the Kingdom of God on earth which were to be brought forth by the Israel nation were religious. True to Christ’s assignment, the Israel nations, lead the world in evangelistic work, home and foreign missions, church extension to the ends of the earth, Bible translation, publication and distribution.
9. Spurns the Honours conferred by God
It does not require great research to find a host of texts in which God reveals the exalted position given to his chosen race: Isaiah 43 v 1,4; I Kings 8 v 53; Psalm 135 v 4; Deuteronomy 7 v 6; Deuteronomy 14 v 2;
God has certainly lavished the hours and blessings upon Israel and, in the few texts cited, there is enough to give the Israel Christian abundant reason for joy and thanksgiving. Note the honours conferred: He chose them; redeemed them; claimed them for his own; separated them; made them precious; his peculiar treasure; his special people; his inheritance above all peoples of the earth.
10. Rejects God’s Comfort for the Last Days
When we go through the Scriptures, and find the blessings promised by God to Israel, it is most remarkable that in very many instances, the blessings foretold are for the last days, the very hour in which we are now living. For us, upon whom, Paul says, the ends of the age have come.
The blessings pronounced upon Abraham were to culminate in the last days. The blessings pronounced by Jacob upon his sons were for the last days. The farewell blessings proclaimed by Moses upon twelve tribed Israel were to befall them in their latter end, the last days.
It is very evident that God was quite anxious that His Israel people should have a clear vision of all that was to come to pass in these trying times, and consequently, sent prophets after prophet, telling of world conditions which we would experience in our day...
God, in His mercy, intended that we should have the benefits of knowing what He is doing in the world what the world events actually mean, how he is going to make it all world out to the good of His people Israel, and through all that is happening bring in the Kingdom of God on earth.
11. Turns down the High Call of God
The high call of God is not only to accept Christ and to build a Christ-like character, but to gain a broad, genuine, comprehensive Biblical knowledge, in order to be thoroughly furnished unto every good work....
God chose the Israel people as His servant race and appointed them His witnesses to set up the ensign of divine truth to the nations of the world. If there ever was an hour when such a work was needed, it is now, as the nations wade in the welter of woe. ...
The great Divine climax of the ages is about to break upon the nations. God, in His mercy, has given the great Gospel of the Kingdom of God on earth, not merely to be held but to be heralded in these closing hours of a dying age. Now is the time to earn your “well done, thou good and faithful servant,” promised in the great Kingdom parable.
Reference James MCGraw
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Ultimate Reality
The question in our atheistic age is why does the evidence for God’s existence seem so weak and ambiguous? It’s clear that certain knowledge has been withheld – that is, if the created world is so dominated by God, then belief in the existence and nature of God would be forced on everyone, with the resultant demand on their behaviour. This would be the case if it were absolutely evident in creation making it obvious that there had to be a creator.
The hiddeness of God is knowable through the nature of creation as we see it, apparently governed by impartial physical laws which nevertheless, allow hints as to God’s existence and true nature.
Sufficient evidence is given for knowledge of God’s existence and an outline of God’s will but this evidence is not overwhelming; human sinfulness can make us see without seeing and hear without hearing. The ability to see the truth is dependent on readiness to listen and openness to the message.
Before Charles Darwin wrote his doorstopper book “Origin of the Species” people simply believed that God created all things or at least in some kind of supernatural creation.
The theory of evolution is the main stimulator of atheism, communism, and the simple loss of faith of so many. Scientists in particular, work assiduously to prove evolution, making every attempt to establish a complete fossil record – spending millions trying to replicate organic life in the laboratory, etc. Real success has eluded them despite more than a hundred years of almost desperate (sometimes fraudulent) trying.
The recent, widely publicised, production of a “synthetic cell “actually used a natural cell with rearranged DNA inserted into it.
Nowadays an increasing number of scientists and enquiring people have turned back to at least a theory of intelligent design. A fairly general agreement, kept quiet to avoid doubt about evolution, is that the universe consists of Matter, Energy and Information.
The evolutionary theory has been invented by human minds in an effort to explain the presence of a creation without the existence of a Creator. A theistic explanation is a more coherent account of reality. A quote by Bertrand Russel; From evolution, no ultimately optimistic philosophy can be validly inferred.
Once having leapt that fence then, one must apply one’s mind to hypothesize what God’s ultimate plan might be for His creation. The aim of God to create God-related beings out of recalcitrant ‘matter’ is achieved slowly, indirectly and painfully because the quality of relationship toward which God aims is not to be achieved by a process that violates that very quality. Therefore the process, too, must reflect non-coercive, persuasive, painstaking love all the way from the beginning to the end, from the least of God’s creatures to humans. Just as sin is a by-product of the creation of free and intelligent beings, suffering and disorder are by-products of a non-coercive creative process that aims at the development of free and intelligent beings.
Some quotes from: “The Moral Nature of the Universe” by Murphy and Ellis
The hiddeness of God is knowable through the nature of creation as we see it, apparently governed by impartial physical laws which nevertheless, allow hints as to God’s existence and true nature.
Sufficient evidence is given for knowledge of God’s existence and an outline of God’s will but this evidence is not overwhelming; human sinfulness can make us see without seeing and hear without hearing. The ability to see the truth is dependent on readiness to listen and openness to the message.
Before Charles Darwin wrote his doorstopper book “Origin of the Species” people simply believed that God created all things or at least in some kind of supernatural creation.
The theory of evolution is the main stimulator of atheism, communism, and the simple loss of faith of so many. Scientists in particular, work assiduously to prove evolution, making every attempt to establish a complete fossil record – spending millions trying to replicate organic life in the laboratory, etc. Real success has eluded them despite more than a hundred years of almost desperate (sometimes fraudulent) trying.
The recent, widely publicised, production of a “synthetic cell “actually used a natural cell with rearranged DNA inserted into it.
Nowadays an increasing number of scientists and enquiring people have turned back to at least a theory of intelligent design. A fairly general agreement, kept quiet to avoid doubt about evolution, is that the universe consists of Matter, Energy and Information.
The evolutionary theory has been invented by human minds in an effort to explain the presence of a creation without the existence of a Creator. A theistic explanation is a more coherent account of reality. A quote by Bertrand Russel; From evolution, no ultimately optimistic philosophy can be validly inferred.
Once having leapt that fence then, one must apply one’s mind to hypothesize what God’s ultimate plan might be for His creation. The aim of God to create God-related beings out of recalcitrant ‘matter’ is achieved slowly, indirectly and painfully because the quality of relationship toward which God aims is not to be achieved by a process that violates that very quality. Therefore the process, too, must reflect non-coercive, persuasive, painstaking love all the way from the beginning to the end, from the least of God’s creatures to humans. Just as sin is a by-product of the creation of free and intelligent beings, suffering and disorder are by-products of a non-coercive creative process that aims at the development of free and intelligent beings.
Some quotes from: “The Moral Nature of the Universe” by Murphy and Ellis
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