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Gomer and Hosea. A study by Gavin Finley MD endtimepilgrim.org Feb. 2003
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 Image used by permission of Christian dramatist Anita Gutschick. Click on the image to go to womenofthebible.com |
IN THE FALL OF 2007 DURING SUCCOT THE AUTHOR HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF INTERVIEWING YAIR DAVIDIY, A RENOWNED ORTHODOX JEWISH RESEARCHER ON THE LOST TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL. IN ONE SEGMENT WE DISCUSSED THE BOOK OF HOSEA AND HOW GOMER RELATES TO THE LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL. YAIR DAVIDIY BRINGS SOLID EVIDENCE THAT THEY WENT WEST, INTO EUROPE AND INTO THE GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS WE ONCE CALLED CHRISTENDOM. YAIR'S BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE FROM HIS WEBSITE BRITAM.ORG.
THE LOST TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL MIGRATED INTO EUROPE FROM THE EAST, FROM THE ASSYRIAN DISPERSIONS NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS. BUT THE STORY OF GOMER IS ALSO A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY. IT IS MAGNIFICENT STORY OF A LOST PEOPLE WHO AT THE CLIMAX OF THIS AGE WILL GO ON TO FIND REDEMPTION, RECONCILIATION, AND RESTORATION.
The story of Hosea and his wayward wife Gomer has been told and retold. It is one of the most magnificent stories of redemption and unbounded love in all of literature. It is a true story and a prophecy. It is an epic ongoing drama and a romance that was, is, and shall be, played out before angels and men.In this Biblical literary classic the God of Israel is telling a story. He is showcasing the divine romance between Himself and His covenant people. It is an account of Israel's idolatry, her scatterings, and her subsequent amnesic wanderings. The life and legend of Gomer is not just an outline of Israel's past history with their idolatry, their captivities and dispersions, and their subsequent wanderings. The story of Hosea and Gomer shines a light on mysteries yet to unfold. The final scenes in this play show the eventual redemption and restoration of Gomer. This is a prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled. Gomer finally remembers her true Husband and in repentance returns to Him. In rediscovering YHVH-God she comes to her ultimate moment of epiphany. She remembers who she really is. This is a foreshadowing of the corporate salvation of all Israel including the Jewish House of Judah. The magnificent conclusion to this romance showcases the final restoration of the whole Commonwealth of Israel.
So the story of Hosea and Gomer and his wayward wife Gomer is not just a prophecy of Israel's past history. The prophecy reaches out to embrace both houses of Israel. The saga of Gomer involves the redemption and restoration of all 12 tribes of Israel which includes all of the covenant people of God.
So Hosea and Gomer were acting out a divine play and a prophecy. But the drama would mirror the entire story of Israel extending right up to the consummation of the age in the final seven years of this age.
Here is how the story began. Israel was descending into idolatry. In the Biblical imagery she was "playing the harlot". Hosea responded to God's instruction. He took a prostitute for a wife. In this he was preparing to act out the faltering relationship between YHVH, the God of Israel, and His covenant people. The life of Gomer looked like it was going to end up an abject tragedy. But in the manner of all true dramas there was more to the story than it would seem. A wrenching time of separation, of scatterings and wanderings led to trial and tribulation. But this was just part of a great adventure and the background to the emergence of an epic drama and a divine romance. Gomer came to realize her lost spiritual state. This in turn led to repentance and redemption and the rediscovery of a lost love. Gomer's return to sweet fellowship with her true husband brought a magnificent conclusion to the story.
The prophecy of Hosea and Gomer shines a light on the end-time salvation and deliverance of the royal Jewish House of Judah (Zech.12:7-13:1, Joel 2. In it we also see the rediscovery and restoration of the lost ten tribes of Israel. But that is not all. In this divine romance we see that it must involve an unveiling of the mysteries concerning the true identity of all 12 tribes of Israel. And as lost Israel comes to the prophesied climactic restoration we begin to see Gomer in her return as not only the remnant of Israel but also the latter day remnant Christian/Messianic Congregation/Church. (Gal.3:29,Eph.2:11-13).
LOST GOMER/LOST ISRAEL;
HER LOST SPIRITUAL STATE IN GROSS IDOLATRY.
HER LOSS OF HER KINGDOM AFTER THE BREACH OF JEROBOAM;
HER LOSS OF SOVEREIGNTY AND AFTER THE ASSYRIAN CAPTIVITY;
AND HER LOST NATIONAL IDENTITY WHICH CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.
After the passing of King David and King Solomon
King Rehoboam took the throne of Israel.
Israel was beginning to take the low road of compromise and was entering into idolatry.
The consequences of this were serious. The glory of Israel was departing.
And with the departing glory went the financial power of the once great superpower of Solomon's Kingdom in Israel.
Solomon had married into the surrounding nations.
He had hundreds of foreign wives and concubines.
They had brought their idolatrous religion into Israel.
Israel's compromise with all these pagan gods of the surrounding nations soon began to take its spiritual toll.
Israel went into serious economic decline. And as always happens the kingdom and the financial power went down with the glory.
Whenever the glory departs men deny that there is a problem and begin to make up for the loss with human strivings. And so the royal tribe of Judah in the south was trying deal with the decline and to compensate for it using the ways of this world. The royal House of Judah began to exact more and more taxes and servitude from the ten northern tribes. The point eventually came when this burden became onerous. And so it was that Jeroboam led Israel to King Rehoboam. The northern ten tribes asked the Jewish tribe of Judah for some tax relief, or some grace, if you will.
The meeting was a disastrous one for all Israel. Yes, the ten tribes were out looking for grace. But Rehoboam just laid down the law. The king of the Jewish tribe of Judah had unwisely accepted the council of the young men instead of listening to the elders. Any hope of retaining Israel's unity under Judah was now lost. God's covenantbuy e gold with credit card people were divided asunder. They were split into the two houses. Judah and Benjamin with the Holy City of Jerusalem continued on in the south. And under Jeroboam the ten northern tribes went their own way.
This was the breach of Jeroboam.
It was an awful wrenching separation.
And it is a division which exists to this day.
And it is a schism from which Israel has yet to recover.
From this point on, until the restoration of all Israel at the end of this age, Israel would be a divided kingdom of two houses. Righteousness and mercy, law and grace, went there separate ways. One kingdom, the royal Jewish house of Judah is visible to the world and can still be seen. They still have their Hebrew language, Hebrew genealogy, Hebrew religion, and connection to their past in greater Israel. The other, the northern kingdom are hidden from view. The lost ten tribes just disappeared into the fog. Did the Lost House of Israel curse themselves? And if they did, did they, - will they, find grace? Will lost Israel ever be found and restored to their Jewish brethren under Messiah?
This is one of the great mysteries of history. There is a tyranny of the status quo against the unfolding Word of God. A campaign of disinformation is waged by the powers of this world against the message of God's Word. Spiritual warfare involves information warfare. And many in Judah along with many in lost Israel in the West prefer the darkness to the Light of God's Word. They have their personal reasons for not wanting to find out what happened back at the Breach of Jeroboam. They have their political and social connections, their traditions, and a vested interest in the systems of this world. And in spite ofoferta husaoffshore banking account the ongoing history of wars, anti-Semitism, and the persecutions against God's people they still like to remain nestled in their castles keeping company with their secular princes. This is why the kings and merchants and their paid religious leaders seek to uphold the status quo. They think that this will always ensure peace and security for them. But history keeps proving them wrong. When will they wake up and return to their true sovereign, their Messiah?
But the scriptures declare that lost Israel will continue to compromise herself until she finally comes into a Great Tribulation.
Is this the end for Israel? No, not at all. Because it will be in the Valley of Achor, (or tribulation), lost Israel will be found again even as Hosea redeemed lost Gomer and saw her restored to him.
We serve a God whose name is Wonderful. The word Wonderful in Hebrew means SURPRISE! As we search the scriptures and keep our eyes and hearts open these mysteries of lost Gomer will surely unfold. They will unfold in our understanding and they will unfold in our histories, and all at the proper time. Remember that Moses was hidden in the waters and among the bulrushes as a "Notzrim", put away for safe keeping. He was trained up in the courts of the Egypt, the worldly superpower at that time. He was kept in the dark about his true origins until he grew toteen credit card debtzone alarm security suite serial manhood. That is the way of the principalities and powers and the politics of this world. They want to keep the glory and the Word of God under wraps.
But the conspiracy of silence cannot and will not last forever. The "cloaking" of the God's Truth by the principalities and powers of this world will not prevail. The lights of Abraham will be seen again, even in a coming night of deep darkness. And Israel's Light to the Gentiles will rise and shine out through a melo-hagoyim, a "multitude of nations", or a "company of nations". The latter days of this age will not be a time of total apocalyptic doom and disaster we have been taught. Oh yes, there will be trouble and tribulation. But God will be among His people in a great End-Time Revival. He will call out His Elect and chosen people and draw them into a new ekklesia just as He has done so many times before. And even in a difficult passage through a strait and narrow gate, "a remnant shall return".
The Book of Revelation is a divine court case. As the dramas of the future 70th Week open up the Ancient of Days will sit. As the courts of heaven are convened the Apocalypse, (or unveiling), will begin. YHVH-God will re-open the two big issues of the latter days. He will be resuming His covenant dealings related to
1. His Holy City, Jerusalem.
And
2. His Holy People, the global Congregation of Israel, (or church).
This will be a time of high drama,
Even the culmination of the divine romance between God and His people.
The Bridegroom will be approaching,
even in the dark hours after midnight.
At that time the call will go out,
"Arise, shine! For your light has come!" (Isa.60)
GOMER/LOST ISRAEL CUTS OFF THE ROYAL JEWISH TRIBE OF JUDAH,
IN THIS THEY CUT OFF AND REJECT THE THRONE OF DAVID.
IN THIS THEY CURSE THEMSELVES INTO NATIONAL BLINDNESS.
DAVID'S THRONE IS THE GOD ORDAINED THRONE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
IT IS THE VERY THRONE FROM WHICH MESSIAH WILL RULE!
200 YEARS LATER THE TEN TRIBES ARE TAKEN OFF CAPTIVE BY THE ASSYRIANS.
THEY ARE MIXED IN THE NATIONS.
THE
TEN LOST TRIBES DISAPPEAR INTO HISTORY.
The northern ten tribes took it upon themselves to cut off the Jewish House of Judah.
They cut themselves off from the royal throne of David, the seat of their own national sovereignty.
This was an awful thing with tragic consequences for them.
The ten tribes would go on to lose their sovereignty, their national roots, and their true identity.
This rejection of David, (and rejection of the coming Son of David), had been done before. The same bitter words had been uttered two generations before. On that occasion the words of rejection and cursing came by the rebel Sheba. He was a man whom the scriptures refer to as a "man of Belial", (a man of Satan). He came against King David throwing stones and with bitter words of renunciation. If we look carefully at the words uttered against the Throne of David back then we can discern that this was a direct and specific cursing of the Throne of David in the Jewish House of Judah, the royal house of Israel. So it was essentially Anti-Semitism.
Clearly the word anti-Semitism is a misleading word. It "cloaks" what is really going on which is a Luciferian hatred of the Throne of David. (2Samuel 20:1) But now the very same words of rejection of the royal Jewish tribe of Judah were being heard again. Again the denunciation was aimed at the House of David in Judah, the house from which Messiah would come. The renunciation was not coming from pagan outsiders but from within Israel itself! The bitter words were coming from the ten northern tribes of Israel. This great divorce, the epic split-up of Israel, is recorded for us in the verses below.
"Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:
'What share have we in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
To your tents, O Israel!
Now, see to your own house, O David!'
So Israel departed to their tents." (1Kings 12:16 and 2Chronicles 10:16)
Woodcut illustration by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld (1794-1872">
This was the great divorce of Israel, the awful 'breach of Jeroboam'.
King Solomon had died. The year was 922 B.C.
And Israel was now divided into two houses.
This terrible grievous situation continues to this day.
Jeroboam had his political reasons for drawing the people away from Judah and from the true worship of YHVH, the God of Israel. He did not want the northern tribes going back under the political covering of the royal tribe of Judah. The separation was deep and long lasting. In fact the scriptures indicate that this division will last all the way up until the end time drama. - Zech.12:7-13:1, Rom.11
There is no doubt that there was a search for grace involved here on the part of the lost tribes. And God did not support Rehoboam's call to wage war on the rebelling tribes. God said that it was from Him. (1Kings 12:24) But there is an element of hatred and rejection in this rebellion which is quite evident here. The scriptures clearly indicate that this is what we would recognize today as antisemitism. The bitter words and the venom is specifically directed at the Throne of David. This is the throne from which the returning Christ/Messiah will rule in the coming Millennium of Messiah. He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who is to sit upon the throne of David for a thousand years. (Rev.20) But in the hearts of many people, (even some fellow Israelites), He is not welcome. The kings and rulers of the nations, (and many of their their hired state churchmen), clearly do not want Him to return either. (See also Psalm 2)
TARGET #1 FOR THE FORCES OF DARKNESS: 
THE THRONE OF DAVID.
We have abundant Biblical poetic and prophetic evidence to show that God will
heal the breach of Jeroboam. YHVH-God will find and restore His covenant people even as Hosea found and restored lost Gomer.
He will regather and restore all Israel as a
single Elect, a royal priesthood and a holy nation. (1Pet.2:9) Israel will be a complete nation once again.
All 12 tribes will be rejoined and restored in the latter days of this age.
And how will this happen?
There will in fact be a great
End Time Revival. The Holy Spirit will draw in the end time saints from both houses of Israel.
We have not seen this great wonder come into its full expression yet, not by a long shot.
We have only seen faint little glimmers of the great Light and glory that will eventually shine out to the Gentiles
in the latter days. This great revival will surely come
even in a time of great darkness and period of
great apostasy.
The prophet Isaiah spoke about this as did Joel and many others. (Isa.60, Joel 2:28-32)
Finally, at the end of the story Isaiah said that
"The redeemed of the Lord shall return.
And come with singing unto Zion".
(Isa.35)
The Apostle Paul concurred with Isaiah.
He said that "All Israel will be saved". (Romans 11)
The Apostle James addressed his epistle to the entire 12 tribe company of God's extended family.
And the Apostle John saw the New Jerusalem, the glorious Holy City accessed by 12 gates
representing the 12 tribes of Israel.
He saw the Holy City, the Bride of the Lamb descending from heaven. (Rev. 21)
LOST GOMER IS SHOWCASED IN THE ART,
LITERATURE, MUSIC, AND THEATER OF THE WEST.
As usual the artists are the first to see and feel an emerging truth.
They they pick it up as a dream fragment from their subconscious and bring it
out as an expression into their art.
But most of the time they've no idea what they are really doing.
They cannot fathom the depths of the beauty and truth their art is expressing.
Such is the way of a fallen race, who have lost touch with their God.
But the truth comes through in dreams and visions,
And in the shadows of the artist's work.
Our popular culture tells the story,
A wanton woman leaves the only One who genuinely loves her
Out in the world she loses her way,
And she also loses her identity.
This is the story of Gomer.
It has been an ongoing saga in the history of the west.
GOMER'S WAYWARDNESS,
AND HER WANDERINGS AMONG THE NATIONS.
As we trace the life of Gomer in the history of Israel we see that after the split under Jeroboam her
waywardness only got worse. The separation of the ten tribes from the royal tribe of Judah
led into a great spiritual disconnect.
When the ten tribes rebelled
from the royal house of Judah in the south they departed from the true worship of YHVH-God.
The venue for this worship, of course, had been in Jerusalem as the tribes
went up to the feasts three times a year.
Jeroboam would have none of this. He handed them a substitute worship involving two golden calves,
one way up in Dan and one way down in Beersheba. This would have awful consequences for the lost ten tribes.
The early part of the saga would see them scattered into the heathen nations.
There they would be lost to view.
And so like Gomer with Hosea, the ten tribes were drawn away from their true Husband. YHVH, the God of Jacob would be replaced with other lesser gods. Lost Israel wandered off into gross idolatry. The love they had for YHVH-God, the Holy One of Israel, faded away. And so they became spiritually lost. As we shall see, it was not long after they became spiritually lost that they became politically lost as well. The Assyrians came into ascendancy and Israel soon lost its sovereignty as a people. Lost Israel was taken off captive to Assyria and then scattered into the nations. Eventually, after many wanderings the northern 10 tribes, the House of Israel, lost the memory of their homeland. Unlike their brethren in the House of Judah, they never came home again.
The Holy Scriptures tell the story. Both houses of Israel ended up in idolatry. And both companies of God's covenant people went into captivity. The northern kingdom was led off by the Assyrians in 722 B.C.. The southern kingdom lost their sovereignty to the Babylonians and went into exile in 586 B.C.. Only the southern kingdom returned to the land to re-establish sovereign presence in the land.
After the edict of Cyrus in 538 B,C. the House of Judah was permitted to return. And finally, under Zerubbabel in 516 B.C. they finally succeeded in rebuilding the temple. Under Ezra in 457 B.C. they rediscovered the Torah and had a revival. And finally, under Nehemiah in 445 B.C. they rebuilt the gates and walls to restore the sovereignty of Jerusalem as a self-ruling city-state.
The "lost ten tribes" were carried off. In typical Assyrian fashion they were mixed in with other nations. The 10 tribes subsequently lost their true identity. The Assyrians transported foreigners to live in the land where the Northern ten tribes had once lived in their God given territory. The House of Israel never returned to the land in numbers sufficient to repopulate their national land or to re-establish sovereignty in Eretz Israel. As we read the awful prophetic judgment upon the northern kingdom in Hosea's prophecy as represented by the names of the children of Hosea and Gomer we realize that under the Old Covenant the Northern tribes would suffer national disruption. They were scattered into the nations. They would not return to the land in sovereign numbers as Judah did. YHVH-God had written them a bill of divorce. And like lost Gomer they had been cut off from the covenant. Remember that the Old Covenant was a national covenant which YHVH-God had made with the children of Israel. He was the One who established them as a nation on the Day of Pentecost back at Mount Sinai.
And so the question is asked.
Where are the lost tribes now?
And will they be found again?
And if so, then how? And when?
LOST ISRAEL CROSSED THE CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS. TO GO UP INTO THE STEPPES, THE VAST GRASSLANDS, OF RUSSIA. THERE THEY WOULD COME TO BE IDENTIFIED WITH THE CIMMERIANS AND THE KHAZARS. THIS IS WELL RESEARCHED BY YAIR DAVIDIY OF www.britam.org
We actually have some unrecognized ancient memories of these early wanderings of the lost tribes of Israel. It seems that after the Assyrian captivity portions of the Northern Kingdom traveled northward. They crossed the Caucasus Mountains to go up into the steppes, the vast grasslands, of Russia. Our culture still retains a significant body of evidence of these scatterings, migrations, and subsequent encampments of the lost House of Israel. These are legends we once thought were merely pagan and of no historical significance for the nations of Western Christendom.There is no doubt that the lost tribes of Israel would have appeared to Judeo-Christian eyes as basically pagan people as they wandered west. They were disconnected from their God. They no longer celebrated the sabbath or the 7 Feasts of Israel. The Holy City was just a distant memory and they had long before left the ministry of the Levitical priesthood. They no longer remembered their Hebrew roots. The pagan female deity worship was still apparent among them even up into the so called "Christian Eras" of the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages We are now learning that a significant number of these legends stowed away inside our culture are actually based upon historical fact. These half-forgotten memories of a past culture actually belong to 'Lost Israel". A host of vaguely remembered stories of wayward Israel lie buried in our Celtic subculture. They are still retained in our western literature and music.
Here is
A MUSICAL VIDEO by Loreena McKennitt from youtube.com on this theme.
It is called
NIGHT RIDE ACROSS THE CAUCASUS.
Idolatrous Israel then, (as the West is now), was steeped in gnostic paganism. God was "up there" in His heaven, and not down here in this evil place with men and women of clay. Israel as a nation, never has yet really come to know her true Beloved in any personal sort of a way. But this will surely happen, in times to come. Here during the Dark Ages in the west we had the ARTHURIAN LEGENDS. In them we see the history of Gomer coming out in the storyline all over again. Israel had her false gods, and Gomer had her lovers. And so we see the Lady of Shalott with her Sir Lancelot and Isolde with her Tristan. It is the same story. The same lost and disconnected woman is showcased time and time again. She is suffering from amnesia. Gomer in the Dark Ages is as the woman in distress. She drops her handkerchief signalling her appeal for protection to the worldly princes of Camelot/Babylon. And why? She is a woman who has lost her covering. She is naked and unprotected. So she needs to find new coverings. She needs to make deals and enter into trysts with her lovers. And why? Because she is in need of security. The stories usually end up in tragedy. In the case of Isolde she is spurned and dies of a broken heart. We see her body being ferried down the river. In the case of the Lady of Shallot we see her drifting down the river to Camelot/Babylon. There she lies, pale in death.
Why all this tragedy? And why are the nations of the West becoming more insecure with every passing year. Why are the nations raging and wars becoming more and more destructive? What is the root cause, the essential rebellion that is causing us all this grief?
There is an answer, and an explanation for the great dangers we are now facing.
See
THIS MUSICAL VIDEO by Loreena McKennitt.
The video is called
THE MISTS OF AVALON.
THERE IN WESTERN CHRISTENDOM THEY ARE STILL LOST.
THEIR SELFISM AND THEIR PAGANISM CAUSE AMNESIA.
THEIR IDOLATRY AND WITCHCRAFT STILL BIND THEM.
THEY DO NOT REMEMBER THEIR GOD OR WHO THEY ARE.
THEY AWAIT THE PROMISED END-TIME REVIVAL AND
A MAGNIFICENT REDEMPTION AND RESTORATION.
Here we see the spiritual and moral misbehavior of lost Israel. We see the worship of the female deity Gaiea. Asheroth was the goddess worshiped in Egypt, Assyria, and in Babylon. It was because of this evil practice that YHVH-God allowed the enemies to come. Both houses of Israel were conquered and taken off into captivity.
The Jewish house in the Southern Kingdom of Israel learned their lesson as they went off into captivity in Babylon. The royal Jewish house of Judah never returned to their former idolatry. But in the westward migrations of their brethren, a group of people who came to be called, (by others), the Celts we still see the pagan worship of female deities continued on. It is somewhat cloaked and underground but nevertheless it is still present in our culture. We find it nurtured in the politics of the left.
All 12 tribes went off into captivity. But only Judah, the southern Jewish kingdom, returned home to the land of Israel in numbers sufficient to re-establish any sovereignty for themselves as returning exiles. It was Cyrus of Persia who allowed the first returns of Judah from Babylon. This came after 70 years. It would not be until over 140 years later that the exiles were given an edict from the Persian superpower to restore sovereignty. And that consideration, the edict given to Nehemiah in 445 B.C., was for Judah and Judah alone. This edict from Artaxerxes Longimanus in his 20th year allowed the restoration of Jerusalem as a self-governing sovereign city-state.
So what became of the Northern Kingdom?
Whatever happened to the lost ten tribes?
Will they be restored?
THESE VIDEOS and the Yair Davidiy interviews provide some answers.
And shall we see all 12 tribes of the nation of Israel re-emerge as a single sovereign nation again?
Shall we see the "royal priesthood and the holy nation" of which Moses and our Apostle Peter both spoke?
(Exodus 19:6 & 1Pet. 2:9
LOST GOMER / LOST ISRAEL WILL ONE DAY BE REDEEMED AND RESTORED
THE PROPHET EZEKIEL SAW THEM COMING BACK FROM THE DEAD
IN A DEEP AND DREADFUL VALLEY OF DEATH,
THE VALLEY OF DRY BONES.
Quite clearly the lost ten tribes of Israel are out there, - somewhere. They must be.
They are in a low state, even dead. Or are they?
Certainly they are part of a great nation, yet a nation with amnesia, cut off from their past.
The nation is now all but dead to watching human eyes.
If not dead then she is nobbled, drugged, and in some sort of a toxic swoon.
And so Sleeping Beauty slumbers on.
Surely she is in need of revival.
Who will awaken her?
The prophet Ezekiel saw lost Israel sprawled out as though dead, in a
valley of dry bones .
He saw the bones begin to come together with a rattling sound.
This national movement towards restoration of Israel was seen in the late 19th century
and early 20th century. Then came the flesh and skin covering over those bones.
This was the movement towards a unifying national sovereignty of Israel.
Israel became a nation again after nearly 1900 years.
which we saw happen
The state of Israel was recognized after the holocaust of World War 2.
This was in May of 1948.
Quite clearly God's great and marvelous work of restoration of Israel is still not complete. The final act of God was to call for the wind to blow upon the slain, the Breath of Life, even a spiritual Revival to bring spiritual salvation to attend the epic final military deliverance of Israel. Zechariah saw this climactic long-awaited revival and prophesied about this remarkable turnaround. (Zech.12:7-13:1)
The Apostle Paul concurred.
He said that at the end of the age "all Israel will be saved". (Romans 11)
John saw 12 tribes represented in the 144,000 and in the innumerable multitude mentioned in Revelation 7.
And when John saw the Holy City he saw that it had entrances through 12 gates.
These 12 gates represent the 12 tribes of Israel.
Quite clearly all of them will be saved.
And a restored re-united
single Elect will be glorified at the end of this age.
And they will be established forever in the New Jerusalem. (Rev.21)
MESSIAH DECLARES,
"I WAS SENT TO THE LOST SHEEP
OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL".
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Jesus/Yeshua declared that
"I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Mat.15:24)If they were lost in the Old Covenant then is the situation completely hopeless for them?
Are the lost sheep of the House of Israel to remain lost and cut off forever?
Apparently not.
From what we read in the scriptures it would appear that there is still hope.
Because the grace the ten tribes went looking for and failed to get from Rehoboam in the matter
of taxes and servitude in Judah is now available.
This grace now comes to them from another newer updated covenant.
It is from the same Source in YHVH,
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
But the Gospel, the Good News of God's grace is available to lost Israel in the New Covenant.
And this is precisely what Jeremiah spoke of in Jeremiah 31:31-36.
Jeremiah 31So it would appear that the lost sheep of the House of Israel are not lost forever. The connection to YHVH-God these people lost nationally under the Law is now being restored in a personal way under the Gospel of Grace. These people who were lost under the Old Covenant with national Israel are now being picked up by the New Covenant Yeshua/Jesus cuts with individuals. (Jer. 31:31) And so at the climax of the age all Israel will be saved individually. They are being brought back to Israel one soul at a time. Then His great salvation will then take a new national turn. The returning Messiah will do His awesome work of deliverance at the end of the age.
31. "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah--
32. not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.
33. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:
I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
34. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
The story of the covenant people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is truly a magnificent story of redemption and salvation. The lost ten tribes will not end up in a lost oblivion. Their restoration will turn out to be a 'wonder', a word in Hebrew which means "Surprise!" The story of the lost tribes of Israel will re-emerge after a passage through over 2700 years of history. These great hidden secrets are yet to unfold. And God's great mysteries will be unveiled in the Apocalypse at the end of this age.
National Israel's history has been heating up in recent years, as we well know. And the Light of Israel is going out to the nations and even to the ends of the earth. The history of God's covenant Congregation for this era has not yet come to its grand and glorious conclusion. Holy history, (or as our German friends say, Heils geschicte, (salvation history), is still up ahead. The crucible of the end time will see the refining and the regathering of both houses of Israel. This will surely come to pass at the consummation of this age.
GOMER AND HOSEA.
THE FORMER AND PRESENT AGONY;
. . . . . . . . . AND THE FUTURE ECSTASY.
The story of Hosea and Gomer was a sad and tragic story as it began.
Yes, Gomer would depart from Hosea, just as Israel
had departed from God. She would wander off and allow herself to be drawn to her worldly
lovers. But her would-be protectors would all double cross her. They were pretenders.
And when they were finished using Gomer for their pleasure they abused her.
Her scattering into the nations would take her far from home.
She wandered off among the mountains and into a world of sin.
Gomer ended up in a dissipated life of hopelessness, amnesia, and despair.
Her spiritual life along with her memories of home would fade from her as she drifted off into the mists.
Her true identity would slip away from her into a sea of forgetfulness.
Her lodgings were tenuous and dangerous as she wandered among the heathen/goyim.
Fortunately this was not the end of the story. Gomer would come to a time of self realization. She would be scorned by all the biggest and baddest of her lovers. Finally, after entering into a seven year covenant with a certain peacemaker she would come to the ultimate crisis in her life. He would turn out to be a beast. This would be her final fling. After that she would fall on hard times and go into a period of Great Tribulation. She would find herself an outcast from the nations. Moses prophesied that God's covenant people would eventually come into a tribulation. The prophet Isaiah saw the Lord upon His throne, high and lifted up. He was given much the same message. (Isaiah 6)
But here is where we begin to pick up the wonderful redemptive elements woven into the story. Gomer's life would not end up in a lost state of spiritual and national oblivion. Her husband Hosea went out looking for her. And He eventually found her. She was in a slave market being offered up for sale. By that time Gomer/lost Israel was in a very low state. She had been left with nothing. And at this point she had even lost her freedom. Is this a prophecy of a future time of tribulation for God's covenant people, even a time of exile?
Hosea would purchase her there. He paid out
fifteen pieces of silver, five bushels of barley, and a measure of wine.
He would not take her home to himself at that time.
Gomer would find herself at a certain place, even the Valley of Achor.
Achor means "trouble" or "tribulation".
Was this the end for her?
No. Not at all.
Here is where we see God at work in His wonderful mysterious way.
There, right in that place of trial and tribulation, Gomer would begin to remember her true Husband.
And she would rediscover the great love she had for him.
The end of the drama would see her love him as never before.
Eventually Gomer would be restored to Hosea.
PROPHETIC INTERPRETATIONS AND
PERSONAL DEVOTIONAL APPLICATIONS.
Evangelicals have found that the story of Gomer and Hosea
can have personal and devotional application.
It is also a vivid demonstration of that great tragedy
which is divorce. See the poem
'Gomer's Song' by J. Marcus Weekley.
In Christian circles we have been taught that the story of Hosea and Gomer is the story of the Jews in their wanderings, their regathering in the 20th Century and their eventual spiritual salvation. (Zech.12:7-13:1) There is no doubt that this is true. But is there more to this poetic prophecy? Might there be a much bigger story here than than we have been told? Is it possible that the prophetic message is not only for our Jewish brothers and sisters but for us as Christians today?
Conventional Christian interpretation of this saga is that this story relates to Israel, - and it does. The story is usually just applied to the Jewish nation, spiritually lost Judah. But is the story bigger than this? Are the lost ten tribes of Israel a part of the picture here? And might the Song of Hosea be a foretelling events that are soon to transpire in the west among the covenant people of Abraham inside the western church?
It is a very strange thing.
Christians open their Bibles.
And they read about their new identity in the Seed of Abraham. (Gal.3:29)
And they read about their new status in the Commonwealth (or citizenship) of Israel. (Eph.2:12-13)
And they read about themselves as the wild olive branch grafted into the olive tree. (Rom.11)
And they are fully aware that this olive tree represents Israel.
But even after they read the message they still fail to appreciate their connection to Israel.
They are now new creatures in vital union with Israel through Christ.
He is Yeshua Hamashiach, Israel's
Sacrifice Lamb and coming King.
So why are Christians still unable to "see" this, their new identity in Israel?
The Bible tells us why.
As lost Gomer, lost Israel, even the Church, is in a state of partial blindness. (Rom.11)
Of course, (as we are quick to see), our Jewish brethren are in a state of partial blindness as well.
The royal Jewish House of Judah cannot (yet) "see" their Messiah as YHVH in the flesh, having descending Jacob's ladder.
But the Church cannot, (yet), see themselves in Israel.
Both houses of Israel, (and not just the Jewish house of Judah), are groping in partial blindness.
But the scriptures have shown us that there is an Anointing ointment for blinded spiritual eyes.
And this is the healing that will be ministered by a loving God at the close of this age.
The
End Time Revival will see the hard scales of blindness fall off, even as foreskins from circumcised hearts.
And all Israel will see, and be saved!
Gomer's story certainly has a grand finale.
Is there a wider prophetic application to the life of Hosea and Gomer?
And if so, has it been hidden from us?
Have we heard the "rest of the story"?
THE STORY OF GOMER AS IT RELATES TO THE NORTHERN 10 TRIBES.
THEIR DEPARTURE FROM GOD, THEIR SUBSEQUENT SCATTERING AND WANDERINGS.
AND THEIR EVENTUAL REDEMPTION AND RESTORATION.
Hosea prophesied to the northern kingdom
of Israel in the 8th century B.C.. This was after that great divorce
had split the northern ten tribes off from the southern kingdom.
The royal house of Judah along with Benjamin and much of Levi
remained. The southern kingdom possessed the holy city of Jerusalem
and the Temple.
Under Jeroboam and the kings that followed him the northern kingdom
was cut off from the temple worship and went further into deep idolatry.
The inevitable judgment of God came. The Assyrians
first came for tribute. Then in 722 B.C. they eventually invaded and carried
the northern ten tribes off into captivity.
 The Assyrians lead the northern 10 tribes of Israel off into captivity and deliberately scattered and mixed them in the nations. |
The southern kingdom of Judah went into captivity as well.
They were carried off by the Babylonians a century later.
And the Jewish tribe of Judah did return.
And they did restore Jerusalem.
It was the edict of Cyrus that allowed the captives of Judah to return from the Babylonian captivity. Zerubbabel restored the Temple. And later Ezra revived the people. After that Nehemiah obtained permission from Artaxerxes Longinus to restore the gates and walls of Jerusalem. This allowed its restoration as a sovereign city state.
But the lost ten tribes of the northern kingdom never returned as a sovereign people. They forgot who they were. They lost their identity. Wasn't this like lost Gomer?
Where did the ten lost tribes of Israel go?
Are they simply scattered, dispersed, and swallowed up among the heathen, (the nations).
Or did they coalesce and clump together? Could they have regathered as sovereign nations,
each with a national character, (or spirit), we might recognize today?
What did the patriarch Jacob have to say would happen to each his 12 sons
in the "latter days"? (Gen.49)
These are just some of many mysteries we shall definitely see unfold as Israel's upcoming
fall feasts come into their New Covenant fulfillment in the
70th Week of Daniel, the last seven years of this present age before Messiah returns.
Because the lost ten tribes are still out there. They are unrecognized. They are in partial blindness.
They have amnesia.
Where are they?
We shall find out.
Jewish scholar Yair Davidy has written about this in his book, 'The Tribes'. Apparently most of the people of the lost ten tribes emerged from their Assyrian captivity north of the Tigris river to begin some extensive wanderings among the nations. They came out from the shadow of the Caucasus Mountains. Some went across the Caucasus into the steppes of Russia. Others went east even as far as India and Japan. Nuclear physicist turned missionary Victor Schlatter discovered significant connections to lost Israel among the islanders of southeast Asia. See this article from South Pacific Island Ministries.
But the main drift was towards the west in the Celtic flows into Europe. There is good evidence that in spite of being dislodged from the Holy Land the lost tribes and are still in tribal/national groupings. Yes, perhaps they may have been scattered. But perhaps they are now being regathered and are now actually clumped together as nations. The prophet Micah said that YHVH-God would in fact regather all of Israel. (Micah 2:12) Could it be that the lost ten tribes have been brought back together after 27 centuries? Are the tribes like bands of colors moving together in a paper chromatography? God's people are are clearly being gathered. And it would seem that they are being pushed along by their histories. Are they also being gathered together by the drawing which comes from their God-given spiritual character?
LOST GOMER AND THE AWFUL CONSEQUENCES OF ALIENATION FROM GOD. THE "ANGST", THE INNER EMPTINESS, THE SEARCH FOR MEANING IN LIFE.
Of course some would like to think that the lost ten tribes are irrevocably lost. But if we are to believe the Holy Scriptures they are most certainly not lost. No, not at all! They are out there. If they are out there than where are they? Are they the classic story of the person who has had an accident and is suffering from amnesia. Have they been cut off from their past and their memories lost? Do they not know who they are?Of course this might explain some other things as well. Perhaps they also have a problem with "self esteem". Nowadays they are probably bored with the current merchant world. If the ten tribes are around might we expect that they could have a problem with ADD? Perhaps they have been put on 'Ritalin' by their keepers.
Like the Ugly Duckling of legend if they are out there then we might well expect them to have an identity crisis. They are living among strangers and in a strange land. Is this why they have become stir crazy in their erratic nationalisms? Is this why they and gone off misbehaving and crusading in the promised land? If lost Israel is still around then they are displaced from their spiritual and national roots. They are lost. They do not know who they are. But all is not lost. If they enter the New Covenant and begin to read the Holy Scriptures they might begin to make some discoveries for themselves.
TRACING THE WANDERINGS OF LOST GOMER. REJECTED FROM THE OLD COVENANT WAS GOMER BEING PICKED UP IN THE NEW COVENANT? WAS SHE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE AND DRAWN INTO THE EARLY CHURCH? CLUES FROM THE MISSIONARY JOURNEY'S OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. CLUES FROM THE HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHIC SPREAD OF THE EARLY CHURCH AND THE SUBSEQUENT SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY INTO WESTERN EUROPE.
What can we say of the Christian church? Jesus said that He would go first to the 'lost sheep of the House of Israel'. (Mat.10:6,15:24) After the dispersion from Jerusalem the Gospel caught up with certain peoples northwest of Israel along the Mediterranean coast at Antioch and in Asia Minor, (present day Turkey). It was at Antioch where the followers of Christ were first called 'Christians', (people of the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One).Prior to that the Jews had called these mysterious people 'Notzrim', which means "people of the Branch". Hebrew speaking Jews still call Christian believers by that name to this day. The word 'Notzrim' also carries with it the meaning 'watchman' or to 'safe-keep' in such a way that it will be revealed later. Surely this is a mystery yet to be revealed in its time. Does European Christendom carry within it a past history going back to the scattered northern kingdom of Israel?
The Christian church is now spread out across the world. The New Covenant has gathered people from every nation, race and tribe. Yet when 'the Elect' or "chosen people" are gathered at the end of the age they are a single company of people. Not only that, they are very much connected to the 12 gates of Israel. (Rev. 7) What is going on here?
The Bible also clearly shows us that the Bride of the Lamb, (the Bride of Christ), is the New Jerusalem. John saw the holy city, a city full of special people, even jewels or living stones. John saw the Holy City descending out of heaven as a Bride adorned for her husband. (Rev.21) How did this happen?
The New Covenant took off from Jerusalem where the Old Covenant began. It overflowed Israel and spread out into the nations on the From Antioch, near Tarsus, the Gospel went forth. Day of Pentecost. This is the same day on the Hebrew calendar when Moses brought the law down from Mount Sinai. So the birthday of the Church is also the birthday of Israel. From Antioch, near Tarsus, the Gospel went forth. It picked up certain peoples in Asia Minor as they bunched up at the Dardanelles. The missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul went out to meet them and the seven churches in Asia were at the western reaches of Asia Minor in the first century. In the time when John the Apostle wrote the book of Revelation the 7 churches in Asia had sprung up. The early Church was flowering among peoples who at that time were gathered against the shores of the Aegean Sea in a geographical area which is now western Turkey. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the Apostle Paul would take the Good News westwards. His journeys would take him across the Hellespont and into Macedonia and Greece. (Acts 16:9) As history unfolded the movers and shakers among these people would be moving westards towards Rome which had taken power from Greece. So the general drift of the coastland peoples, (of which the Bible has something to say), was towards the west. Is this ringing any bells with us?
In the centuries that followed this trend continued. The decline of Rome gave place the rise of to Byzantium in the east. And in the 7th century during the first Jihad the attacking Muslims took over the southern Med. The main bulk of Christendom was then pushed towards the north and the west. Christendom then began to occupy the landmass north of the Mediterranean that became western Europe.
Europe is the name for a vigorous and colorful group of nations that would go on to dominate world history. But this is not a particularly helpful handle to identify this company of people. Europe's other name of course was 'Christendom' which helps to fix these lands as belonging to people who embraced Christianity. The name Europe comes from the word "Europa". She was a heroine in Greek mythology. Curiously she was a young woman who was seduced by the chief pagan god Zeus. And in what form did he carry her off?
Well this is where it begins to get interesting. The pagan god on this occasion took the form of a desirable richly adorned bull. And it was in this form that he carried Europa off. She was swept away from Mount Olympus in Greece towards the Mediterranean. Is this myth a literary shadow of Israel's obsession with the golden calf, (Heb. young bull). Is this a retelling of the story of Israel's earlier misbehavior under Aaron and the matter of the golden calf? After the split with Judah Jeroboam also set up the two calves for idolatrous worship in the northern kingdom. Is this the same bull that is even today being lifted up for worth-ship on today's stock market?
The early church spread out from Jerusalem and went off in all directions. It went southwards into Ethiopia. (Acts 8:27-40) And according to tradition our Apostle Thomas even took the Gospel eastwards into India. But these westward moving people made up the bulk of the Christian believers. And as the centuries rolled on and the first Jihad swept Christianity out of North Africa. The lands south of the Med were taken over by Islam. And the European land mass north of the Med became the homeland of Western Christendom.
GOMER'S STORY OF REDEMPTION.
THE FIRST SIGNS OF HER SALVATION ARE SEEN IN THE EMERGENCE OF THE EARLY CHURCH.
SEVERE PERSECUTION LEADS TO GLORY IN GOD. THEN COMES POPULARITY AND INFLUENCE WITH ROME.
HEREIN LIES THE DANGER OF COMPROMISE. AND GOMER IS TEMPTED ONCE AGAIN. THIS TIME BY ROME.
During the first three centuries the church expanded in Rome and throughout the Empire.
But the saints endured severe persecutions under ten Caesars.
The bloody outrages of Diocletian in the late third century were monstrous in their barbarity.
And they proved to be counterproductive.
More people were being won to Christianity in these persecutions than were being
killed. The Roman powers eventually realized this.
As the 4th century opened up it was clear that the awful
persecutions under the last Caesar, Diocletian,
had failed to stamp out Christianity. In fact the bloody campaign had been
a total failure. Even the pagans were becoming sickened by the spectacles.
And for every Christian that was martyred hundreds of new Christians popped up.
Emperor Constantine, who had arrived on the scene early in the
4th century, realized all too well that he
was fighting a losing battle with Christianity.
Something would have to be done about these people.
Quite clearly he would have to try a new tactic.
Early signs of a thaw in Roman-Christian relations came in 308 A.D. At that time the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan. This favored Christianity above all other religions. This effectively halted the persecutions.
Throughout those first three centuries the early church had remained true to their Saviour. But when the persecutions stopped Christianity began to become a bit popular with the crowds. Christians were starting to become a significant spiritual influence in Roman society. They were even starting to become a bit trendy. Caesar Constantine realized that the congregation of Christians were an influential body of people that would have to be reckoned with. The Emperor needed some new clothes. In order to clothe himself with the new up and coming Christian religion. He would have to get them on his side. He would have to step in and offer to manage things on their behalf. He would have to make a deal with them on some sort of a political level.
And so the Christian Church was approached. How did they respond to this enticing offer? Had they just won over the emperor of Rome? (That was an enticing thought to some Christian leaders.) Or were they being seduced by the principalities and powers of this world?
Of course there was a larger issue involved here. If they did go up to Nicea to make deals with the political poers would they continue to remain faithful to their Lord? Or were they going the way of Gomer> Were they leaving their Bridegroom to take up with other lovers?
Well there was no doubt about it. At the Council of Nicaea a new day had dawned for the Church. The persecutions had been halted. And the political rewards for opportunistic church leaders who went to Nicea were substantial. But how about the spiritual state of their people when they went home? Were they still trusting their God to protect and keep them from that point on?
After Niceae things were different for Christians. But they had been compromised. Were they now under the thumb of Rome? They were now under the covering and protection of the princes of this world. Gomer had been approached by a lover. And she had gone to bed with him. Was she aware of the dangers of such a compromise? This is the subject we shall now examine.
CHRISTENDOM DALLIES AND FINALLY MARRIES ROME.
GOMER BEDS HER ROMAN IMPERIAL LOVER AT THE COUNCIL OF NICEAE IN 325 A.D..
|
| The early church bishops go to Nicea to deal with the Arian heresy but end up making a deal with the Roman Emperor Constantine. |
Strange to say, the church had just emerged victorious from the most horrific head on persecutions. It had won in the spirit. Yet now it was caving in to the Fabian political tactics. They were giving in to the very secular powers that had tried to destroy the church. This was right at the very time when the church had been winning in the spiritual arena. So what was really going on here?
Politics, not just the resolution of Arian heresies, was the real motive behind the Emperor when he convened the Council of Nicaea. The Roman Emperors had seen the writing on the wall. Paganism, the established religion of Rome, no longer had the pull on the masses that it once had. The Greco-Roman pantheon of gods was becoming passe'. They were beginning to become tiresome, even boring. But this new up and coming religion of Christianity, then under persecution, was intriguing to the people. Every week they saw the spellbinding and awesome Christian witness in the arenas. They couldn't forget what they had seen.
There was also this new idea of a savior-god who could be known. This was something new and inviting to them. And so the Christian faith began to captivate their hearts and minds. The lifestyles of Christians was also refreshingly different. Christian believers evidenced an energy that was fresh and vital. Christianity was clearly beginning to capture the imagination of the people. The Greco-Roman pantheon was made up of an earthy collection of humanistic gods. They lived soap opera lives just like them but in a magical way. And so the Greco-Roman gods were beginning to look a little shabby and indifferent to them in comparison to this exciting new Christian God. He was a Savior-God. Clearly He operated in a personal relationship of love and devotion with His covenant people.
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IS SEDUCED BY ROMAN EMPEROR CONSTANTINE.
SHE BEGINS A PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR THAT WILL GO ON FOR 1700 YEARS.
SHE ACHIEVES HER "DOMINION" BY COMPROMISING HERSELF WITH THE TEMPORAL POWERS.
AND SO THE "HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH" GOES TO BED WITH THE HEATHEN.
GOMER ABANDONS THE WAY OF THE CROSS
TO EMBRACE THE WAY OF THE SWORD.
Constantine was a great leader and organizer.
He was a savvy politician as well.
When it comes to exerting power over the people
one fact stands out clearly in all of history.
Every politician, prince, or warlord can be greatly helped
in his leadership ambitions by the able assistance
of some religious leader who has "pull" over the
hearts and minds of the king's subjects. The Christian elders or bishops
providing leadership in the emerging western church provided valuable assistance
in the king's main agenda, that of "controlling the masses".
Constantine knew this very well.
Here was a ripe plumb of religion standing before him.
The Christian Congregation was ready to be plucked.
If the Christian Church could be co-opted and forced into a worldly hierarchical mold then it could be
assimilated into Rome. This would bring the princes of worldly powers two huge advantages.
1. He could control the people of the land.
2. He could control the Christian Church
Constantine knew that the time had come for himself, as the Emperor of Rome, to trade up into some new "spiritual clothes". Pagan religion would have to go. It was going out of fashion like a worn out sitcom. The Emperor would find out who had the most power and pull over the people and then "make a deal" with him. In order to do that he would have to invite the leaders of the up and coming Christian religion to a "party" of sorts. If he could manage to forge a pagan-Christian compromise then he, the Roman Caesar, would be in a very powerful position. He would unify the Christian Church and use it for his own political agenda.
The Roman Emperor knew that if he could get the Church to compromise spiritually and come alongside him then he would become an immensely powerful leader. He could manage, manipulate, mold and bend, this potentially troublesome Christian people out of shape.Then he would use their vibrant energy for his own purposes.
This admixture of Christianity with paganism was just the ticket. The mixture would weaken the Christian communion. He would reward them materially and so make them beholden to him. Constantine's governmental "Christian Church" then became an attenuated less "harmful" form of Christianity more in keeping with the pagan mores of Rome and more to his own liking. He could also harness the energy of these Christians for his governmental purposes.
The sad thing was Christians didn't realize they had been compromised. Like Sampson losing their hair to Delilah these Christians wouldn't even realize what as going on. They wouldn't even know that they had lost their true Christian anointing. Slowly and insidiously they would become servants to a church-state system. The new Roman state Church would slip further and further away from true Christianity.
Compromise always leads to pathways that bring ruin to the true faith. Balaam had told Balak about this technique way back in the days of Israel. (Numbers 22,23&24) Of course Constantine had to move fast. Christianity was beginning to have a very profound influence on the Roman world. He had to get the Christian Churches unified. If he could then make a deal with the churchmen at the top of the pyramid of ecclesiastical power it would be all over. This was how the Roman Emperor Constantine was going to take over the Christian Church. He would get them compromised!
The big question was how would he get the Church Elders/Bishops to convene at a single place where he could "talk turkey" with them. And would they come to him when he called?
Fortunately for Constantine, the Church was divided at that time and ripe for conquest. It was having to deal with a number of emerging heresies which were damaging the Church. It was not united in the faith under sound doctrine and harmonious fellowship as it had been at the beginning of the Church. There was true unity in God when the 120 gathered in one Spirit and one accord in the upper room on that epic Day of Pentecost. It was now 300 years later. The Arian heresy was even denying the deity of Jesus Christ. Here was an issue in which Constantine could play a part. He could gather the Christian Church elders from around the Roman Empire. Then he, the politician, could preside as the Church entered into their important deliberations and dialogs on holy matters. Along with spiritual things being discussed he, Constantine, could slip in his "offer of protection" and this could be discussed as well. What a plan!
It was a great temptation for the church. Many were excited and flattered that the Emperor was apparently beginning to tip his hat, even his crown, towards them! Wow! Here was an opportunity! It was too good to resist!
It was a heady moment. The church elders were invited to come and sit down with the Roman Caesar of all persons. Caesar Constantine was bidding them to come and sup with him. It was a "covenant meal" of sorts. Should they go? Just what was the Emperor up to? Was this a trap? Or was it an answer to prayer? Many Church leaders thought that this was a great God-given opportunity? They began to pack their bags and prepare for the journey. Where was that place over to the east again? Ah yes. Nicea!
Unfortunately many of the Christian bishops and elders of the Roman Empire did respond to Constantine's invitation. They should have stayed away. This epic meeting, held at the town of Nicea near present day Istanbul, would come to be known as The Council of Nicea.
It was an exciting day. As politico-religious deals go it was an epic and historic occasion. When the responding bishops arrived at Nicea in 325 A.D. the meeting which followed was a turning point in holy history. (Well, unfortunately the history really wasn't all that holy.) A politico-ecclesiastical feeding frenzy was in the making. It was wall to wall churchmen gathering around the rich and powerful Emperor like flies around a basket of overripe figs. The plum of political favoritism, property, and power was ripe for the plucking. And greedy, ambitious, power-hungry Christian hands were reaching across the table where Constantine sat to pluck the dainties off the platter.
"The brokers came to meld and deal.
Miry clay embracing Roman iron.
The Church at table with Constantine.
Gomer, once again, with a lover."
AFTER NICEAE CHRISTIANITY BECOMES ESTABLISHED IN THE CHURCH-STATE POLITICS OF WESTERN CHRISTENDOM. THE ROMANCE WITH GOD IS OVERSHADOWED BY GOTHIC ROMANCES AND THE ARTHURIAN LEGENDS OF CAMELOT. GOMER IS SEDUCED BY EUROPEAN PRINCES, MERCHANTS, AND OTHER "DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH". THIS OCCULT COMPROMISE OF THE HOLY CHRISTIAN FAITH CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.
Ever since that time the pathway of political and economic
compromise of the Church
has been very much the standard practice of the western church.
WIth it, of course, comes compromise of the holy things of God.
The very same church-state relationship is still the common
and prevailing pattern in western Christianity.
Nowadays, under the current Pax Americana
the Church-merchant or Church/customer relationship is the dominant
compromise. Our Church programs and priorities are set
by the dominant principle of "customer satisfaction".
Do the Christian people/crowds want to support missions overseas?
Or do they want bigger church buildings. Do they want to see the Gospel
preached in holiness and the Bible taught to the children with due diligence?
Or do they want to major on motivational self-help seminars?
Shall we pad the pews and make a taller steeple?
Or shall we use the tithe money
to smuggle Bibles into China where only one
in five of our Christian brothers and sisters has a Bible?
Like Gomer with her lovers, our current church practice is to compromise in order to please the worldly powers who come into the church on Sunday. The church and the state exercise authority together. Between the two they monitor and control the unruly. This is how western civilization maintains law and order in a peaceful society. It works pretty well for government work. But when the times are changing and the status quo is disturbed to make way for a new order there is always a new church-state alignment to be made. The church-state duo is a power sharing relationship. The two authorities keep the peace by controlling and pacifying the masses. The State rules in political and civic matters using criminal and contract law to control the behavior of the outward man. The established church rules in matters of the soul laying down God's law to mold the attitudes and mores of the inner man. The methods the church uses are partly legitimate and holy. Other elements of their ecclesiastical agenda are illegitimate and profane. But this is another story we cannot pursue at this time.
There are two main authorities which the Christian church involves itself with. One is God's authority. The other is man's authority or governmental authority. The more compromised the Church is the more it becomes obsessed with governmental authority. This was Gomer's problem as she departed from Hosea. She headed out the door into the world in search of her lovers.
God's authority comes in two stages. The first is God's Law written on tablets of stone. Stage two is God's righteous rule within the bonds of love presiding in peace on the throne of those human hearts who have come to love God.
The corporate authority written on tablets of stone was established by God at Mount Sinai in the Ten Commandments. This was how we first came to know the character of YHVH God. This law of the Old Covenant was administered by Moses over the nation of Israel. It is also now administered by Christian ecclesiastical hierarchies over the church and society at large to some degree.
The other authority is greater than this. It is the law that comes from throne of the indwelling Christ ruling to varying degrees in individual Christian hearts. This is the power of the Gospel and the only authority that can really change and transform a society. This authority is not policed externally but rather this authority grows from the inside out. In a Christian society the peaceful rule of the indwelling Christ in individual hearts might or might not be present in addition to all this laying down of the law from the outside. But God through the Gospel brings true and lasting peace to men from the inside out. The presence of Godly men in a society who know and walk with God is a great blessing over and above the imposed peace produced by a policing and laying down of the law by statutes. God originally wrote the law for Moses on tablets of stone. But the nation of Israel demonstrated to us that they, (and any other nation for that matter), cannot keep the law of God. A New Covenant would have to be brought in to get the job done right. And so we have the New Covenant brought in by our Lord Jesus Christ. He is God in the flesh and a Light to the gentiles. (Isa.42:6, 49:6, 60:3) We see the peaceful ministry of the Lord Jesus as He lived and walked among us. And we see His passion, laying down His life to redeem and transform sinful men.
This is where the divine romance begins to reach out to lost Gomer. The laying down of the law, which she hated, is now being replaced by an inner ruling Presence. He is a gracious ruler who comes in by invitation and never forces her or imposes His will on her. He rules in her heart by the gentle bonds of love. Something has happened to Gomer. She obeys the gentle leading of her Betrothed and Husband because she now knows it is the best Way. And she follows her Betrothed because she loves Him.
This is the serendipity of the divine romance. It is discovered by those who respond to the Good News of the Gospel. God comes inside us. He changes us and empowers us to do what we cannot do ourselves. He brings us into His likeness. He is in the process of changing us from the inside out just as fast as we light the lamp of His Word and with the oil of His Holy Spirit we surrender ourselves to His gracious leading. The prophet Jeremiah predicted that a time would come when God would indwell His people by His Holy Spirit and write His law in men's hearts. (Jer.31:33) The bonds of His Love would bring them into unity and harmony and so bring peace on earth. Into this Love would come Gomer. She would begin to remember her true Husband. And she would come to love Him. Instead of calling Him 'Lord' she would come to call Him by a new name reflecting that new relationship. She would call Him 'Ishi' or 'Beloved'.
All this glorious future lies before us. Until that time we have to deal with this present age. The admixture of the church with the state is a matter of present political necessity and present political expediency. This is the iron and clay mixture that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon saw in his dream. (Dan 2). The Rome in this instance was the iron. Religion was the clay. He saw the iron-clay mixture down at the bottom of the statue making up the structure of the legs and feet and ten toes. So this state of affairs will continue up into the end-time. The climax of this age will see and event of momentous significance happen. A Stone will strike the ten toes to shatter the iron and the clay. This will be the return of Christ as Messiah. This was Nebuchadnezzar's nightmare. The the whole humanistic colossus we have seen with the 'Times of the Gentiles' will come down at the climax of this age. Humanistic Luciferian political systems, angelic and human rulers of darkness, the principalities and powers of this world which have brought us such misery, will all be replaced when the Kingdom of God is established on this earth.
So much for the iron and the clay. Ever since that Nicean church-state accord the same pattern of accommodation by the established Christian Church to the worldly powers has been seen. An established church must be broad based and 'politically correct'. The bulk of Christendom just will not go into the strait and narrow way. A life of holiness in consecration to God is too much to expect of most church-goers in this instance. Big establishment religion must therefore stay with the masses of middle of the road Christians in order to maintain its popularity and hold over the people. If it does not then it will lose its position of privilege with the state. A more ambitious or "successful" religious conglomerate will get the church contact with the state.
This is just the way it always is in politico-religious matters. Evangelical Christians should not try to change this by political means. That is not the Way. They will fall into the same trap which now has the ecumenical church held fast in government religion. Our orders, as given to us by Jesus Himself, are quite clear. It is to take the Good News to the ends of the earth and to make disciples of all races, nations, and tribes. This is the Great Commission.
Dabbling in politics is not the Pilgrim way. It has been truly said that the paths to Hell are strewn with the wreckage of what began as good and great intentions. God obviously allows this church-state accord to continue for His good purposes. We would be wise to go along with this present compromised system just as far as our consciences will allow.
Yes, the world system will come to judgment at the end of this present evil age. We see this beautifully presented in Handel's Messiah in the Hallelujah Chorus where "the kingdoms of this world (will) become the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ/Messiah, and He shall reign for ever and ever." (Rev. 11:15) But right now it is His permissive will for this present church-state system to continue to preside and to maintain what peace it can in the world. This is important too for our continued Gospel and missionary outreach.
The Council of Nicea was both a triumph and a tragedy for the Christian Church. First the triumph. The Roman Christian Church would be given prime status at the top of a hierarchical pyramid sitting next to the Roman Caesar. And the tragedy? The Christian church would be established in the state, cut off from the Word of God, and then paganized. Gomer was locked up by her lovers. She was limited in her movements, bound up by fear, and beholden to her political protectors, men of the sword. Gomer was incarcerated in a Roman castle for a long 1,000 years. Our literature gives us glimpses of Gomer from time to time. We see her reflected in the waters surrounding the boat where the Lady of Shalott drifts sadly down the River towards her knight in shining Roman armour. She is barely conscious and fading away.
How did this happen? How did Gomer get into this sorry state. There she is, enclosed by thorns. It is very easy to trace what happened. She left her first love. And in that derelict spiritual state of denial of her true sins she became fearful of what might happen to her. But why was she fearful? Didn't she belong to a powerful and caring Husband? And was He not the Sovereign all powerful God of Israel?
And so Gomer became enamored with her lovers, the princes of this world. They were quite taken with her beauty. And she was taken by the seductive power of their big sword. In the legends of Arthur it was the Excalibur. Then it was the gun, and now the missile. They even promised her "protection" from her fears.
Gomer honored the princes in turn, imparting her glory to them. She gave them titles such as "Defender of the Faith". She was seduced by the powers of this world.
Meanwhile, back at Nicaea, the pagan priests and shamans hearing what had happened at the Council in 425 A.D. knew that they had lost religious favor with Rome. Moneys going into pagan temples slowed to a trickle. They had to do something fast. Quickly, they "converted" themselves to "christian". and came rushing into the Roman church as it was being established. They wanted to cash in too. Making their presence known at the various committees they proceeded to install their own pagan traditions, vestments and architecture, (including gargoyles), inside Constantine's Church. The Roman Emperor was still at work overseeing and forging the ongoing church-state compromise. He continued to sit in on the discussions and direct the religious "dialogue".
The annual festivals of the early Church were re-engineered as well. The Passion of our Lord Jesus at Passover, His burial on Unleavened Bread, and His resurrection at the Feast of Firstfruits was put aside. In its place we got a Christian Resurrection Day celebration mixed in with a pagan springtime fertility festival. Over time the Resurrection celebration was pushed aside. The spring festival was named 'Easter' for the Egyptian fertility goddess Ishtar.
The very worst effect of this pagan admixture was this. Over time the pagan practices became "normalized" in the emerging church tradition. The shift in the celebration was less and less noticed. And why was that? Because the Holy Scriptures had been locked away from the people. No longer was God's Word a matter for discussion. It had now become ritualized. The Christian religious ceremonies the early Church had practiced faded away. In their place they were given an impersonal gnostic ritual performed vicariously by the priest up on the platform or altar. This was nothing like the open church meetings of the early church. And it was a far cry from the Holy Spirit led order of service we see laid out in scripture. (Eph.5:18-21, 1Cor.14:26)
The result of all this was absolutely disastrous. A great darkness invaded the church. In the place where a faithful priesthood would normally usher seeking men into the Presence of God a gnostic semi-pagan priest craft now installed itself, blocking the Way to God. Jacob's Ladder, the portal where man is led to God, was clogged with the showy trappings of a dark and earthy gnostic religious ritualism.
The descent of the Christian Church and Christendom with it into the ignorance of the Middle Ages is quite understandable. The low road after Nicea led into this dark medieval forest. The loss of access to holy scripture was the killer. The scriptures would be locked up by religious elites. The Bible would be kept in locked up in Latin, the dying language of Rome. Only the priests had access to God's Word. The life in Christ in human hearts would be squeezed out. The true Christian life in relationship with Jesus Christ would be curbed by an oppressive gnostic priest craft. Church life would eventually degrade into a plethora of idolatrous pagan/Christian rituals. While insolently laying claim to the Millennium or Kingdom of God for herself the western church would become increasingly beholden to secular and pagan princes. That was the tragic cost of a church being politically established as a structure and owned and controlled by the state.
This was a great spiritual tragedy for the church. This pattern would go on for centuries. Western Christendom would suffer greatly from this corruption. This spiritual darkness would then lead the west into an awful period. This time of fear and ignorance and superstition would last for a thousand years. Instead of the glorious Millennium the established church actually got the Dark Ages. Gomer was lost in a dark forest like Little Red Riding Hood. And voracious wolves in sheep's clothing owned the darkness.
The only light shining during that period came from another realm south across the Mediterranean Sea. Those centuries saw the ascendancy of the Arab world. They made many discoveries in science, mathematics, and ruled the sea in trade throughout the Mediterranean.
Will Gomer ever be convinced that Her true Husband loves her? He has provided a magnificent future for her. If only she will just believe Him. He has prepared a mansion for her personally in a glorious Holy City. A Kingdom awaits her. Can she believe this?
It is truly sad that the established church seeks no other millennium than a contrived ecclesiastical sort of eartly millennium of their own making. Embracing this Amillennial, (no Millennium), view, most of the older Christian denominations still refuse to believe the scriptural prophecies of a coming Millennium of Messiah.
THE WESTERN CHURCH AS GOMER AND THE CONTINUING PATTERN OF SPIRITUAL UNFAITHFULNESS AND DRIFTING DEVOTION
We saw what happened to Gomer as we read the story in the Old Testament. Her compromise led her away from her true beloved and husband Hosea. What can we say about a church compromised by the world? Is she ready to be a bride right now? Or will she have to change her heart and her garments?The story of Gomer is surely the story of the western church just as much as it is the story of Israel. When the true and legitimate relationship with her betrothed is neglected a replacement devotion begins to creep in. This spiritual vacuum provides an opportunity for profane desires to take over in the heart. Lust for secular princes and an unholy reverence given to the mystical psycho-sexual power of the sword was the result.
Of course the old pagan
Gnosticism still persists in the Church.
Like the gargoyles in the cathedral wall
these dark medieval fantasies go unnoticed.
But a look through the images on the front cover of magazines and
paperback novels or in video stores will show that these hidden fantasies
of illicit sex and killing killing on behalf of or in company with
the damsel in distress still rule the hearts and imaginations of many throughout
Western Christendom.
Like Gomer, the western church,
is still to this day obsessed with power. Not the inner power of a life lived out in the walk with God.
But the raw earthy power that
this world deals in.
The power of goods and guns and money still captivates and entrances us,
even as Christian people.
A daily "quiet time" or devotion with our true Beloved
seems insignificant in comparison.
And so Western Christendom still fantasizes.
She secretly longs for that ultimate "affair" with another lover.
Even if that prince attacks her, as in the vampire fantasies, and sucks her life blood from her.
Compromise with the world has always had the effect of decreasing Christian devotion. This is how the Church has become distanced from her Saviour. Physicians know all about Gomer. They often make clandestine references to certain patients as "Gomers". These are patients who are repeatedly prone to trouble trouble usually of their own making. The story of Gomer is told repeatedly in our literature. Many of our Hollywood movie stars are "Gomers" although no editor would ever allow them to be referred to as such. These are the stars from which many in society get their inspiration. In the fantasy world Gomer gets into trouble but is always saved by her hero or by her own power or the manipulation of someone else's power. But in the real world Gomer gets in a jam from which there is no recovery. A classic poem which tells the tragic story of Gomer is The Lady of Shalott.
Here we see a girl who fantasizes about her Sir Lancelot
in his castle down the river in Camelot/Babylon.
Her true Betrothed is strangely absent.
In the final scenes we see her lying in her boat,
slowly dying as
she sadly drifts down the river toward Camelot.
Can she be revived?
Pray God that she is awakened from her deadly reveries.
Pray God she remembers her Betrothed.
Because He is the only One who really loves her.
'Click' on the image at right to to the classic poem, the Lady of Shalott.
Through the centuries that Nicaean church-state accord has prevailed in many forms. In 800 A.D. the Emperor Charlemagne engaged in a marriage of sorts with the papal rulers of the Church of Rome. He would receive the title, "Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire". When Martin Luther looked like he was about to be taken to Rome to burn at the stake the German princes came to his aid. They were the ones who gave his Lutheran Church the political protection it needed. In the Anglo-Saxon world the Church of England had their King Henry VIII. The Puritan Church, in need of political patronage, had Oliver Cromwell and Parliament. Today's American churches have their secular champions in their president, their congress, their supreme court, and also their merchant moguls and lawyers.
Out of all this post Nicean church-state dualism it is little wonder that the medieval Arthurian romances still hold sway in western Christendom. From Camelot to Star Wars these earthy tales of sex and sword still capture the imagination of Christian women and men. They provide the dominant themes for books and the movies. Like Gomer, the church continues to be seduced by her earthy princely lovers. It is these earthy fables that bridge the gnostic gap between the realm of the spirit and the earthbound mortal Christian man and woman today. The average Christian churchgoer is happy for all this double dealing to go on it seems. We are satisfied.
GOMER IN TROUBLE AT THE END OF THE STORY MIRRORS THE THE CHURCH IN TRIBULATION AT THE END OF THIS AGE.
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'the rest of the story'. ....................... Art used by permission of Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992. Visit her 'Revelation Illustrated' website. |
As Christians we imagine that we are now modern people of the 21st century. We think that we are now well clear of this medieval gnostic spell. But are we? Has it been superseded yet? Is the divine romance between us and Christ an established reality yet? Or are we still under the spell of Sir Lancelot and his sword/gun/ICBM missile etc? How many Christian saints are in love with Jesus first and foremost? How much time do we spend with Him and in His Word? How many of us long for His Presence with us now? Do we know and understand His plans for us as we come into the end-time drama? How many are preparing to witness on behalf of the Bridegroom, before kings and rulers, even under threat of death? Do we still long for His appearing upon this earth?
Have we, like Gomer, being seduced by our worldly political lovers? Are we too on the way to being hedged up with thorns? And in this final drama will the church, like Gomer with her lovers, get into trouble with the princes of this world?
AT THE END OF THE STORY GOMER REMEMBERS HER TRUE HUSBAND AND BEGINS TO FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM. IS THIS THE FUTURE OF THE WESTERN CHURCH? JOEL PROPHESIED THAT A GREAT END-TIME REVIVAL WILL ACCOMPANY THE TRIBULATIONS AT THE CLIMAX OF THIS AGE. (JOEL 2:28-32)
As we continue to trace the story of Gomer we make an exciting discovery. In the process of going through her tribulations an amazing thing happens. Even though he is not living with her at that time she remembers her true husband. And at that time and in that place she begins to fall in love with Him.What can we say about the church in the end time wilderness? Shall we, like Gomer, end up finding true love out in a wilderness place, Even the valley of Achor, (tribulation)? -Hosea 2:14-16
Will the western church, as Gomer, be wooed into her destiny
in the true bride of Christ?
Will she go beyond calling Him 'Lord"?
Will she come to call Him 'Ishi' or 'Beloved'?
(Hos.2:16)
Quite obviously we have only just begun to ask ourselves these questions. It is clear that great adventures lie before us. It is very important that we know and understand church history. We must then link this to future events as revealed to us in the Bible. As holy history unfolds we shall come into the end-time drama and at that time both the Church and Israel will flow into and become the woman in travail of Revelation 12. John saw her as she cried out to be delivered from the encircling dragon. In the days before the written Word the patriarchs saw the story outlined in the literature of the constellations. In the constellation of Andromeda they saw the woman chained at the seashore under threat from the sea monster. Turning around Polaris they saw the little dipper, known to them at that time as the lesser sheepfold. They saw the sheep of God's pasture in the sheepfold encircled by the dragon. And they saw the magnificent deliverance by Messiah as 'the Breaker' spoken of by the prophet Micah. (Micah 2:12-13) At that time the woman of Revelation 12, as Gomer, will respond to the last message given to her as she sojourned in the Church of Laodicea. Her confession and her profession to her Husband will be something like the words in this song by Brian Doerksen.
"I am here to buy gold
Refined in the fire,
Naked and poor,
Wretched and blind I come,
Robe me in white
So I won't be ashamed.
Lord light the fire again."
We must understand that we need to go through this period. This period of re-adjustment and refining will bring us as a people into our final glorious destiny in Christ. And by His grace we shall find our covering in His glory.
The highway of holiness, (Isa.35:8-10), a new and Living Way is up ahead. Our passage along that highway will call for everything we have within us. It will turn out to be a race for the finish line.
The journey ahead will take us into the heart of the Shepherd of Israel. It is a serendipity more glorious than we have ever known. We shall enter into a relationship of unspeakable splendor. This is the divine romance, and the pathway to the mansions of glory to which we are called.
Grace and shalom to all the saints,
GOMER, THE LOST HOUSE OF ISRAEL, HAVE UNDERGONE GREAT NATIONAL TRAGEDY. 2,700 YEARS AGO THEY WERE PLUCKED UP FROM THEIR NATIONAL ROOTS IN THE OLD COVENANT OF ISRAEL. THE ASSYRIANS TOOK THEM CAPTIVE. THEN THEY SCATTERED THEM AND MINGLED THEM IN THE NATIONS. THEY ARE OUT THERE TODAY THEY HAVE COALESCED IN THEIR HISTORIES AND IN THEIR MIGRATIONS. THEY ARE IN THEIR TRIBAL COMPANIES AS NATIONS AND STILL SUFFERING FROM AMNESIA. BUT YHVH-GOD IS DOING SOMETHING WONDERFUL. LOST GOMER IS NOW BEING REDEEMED AND PURCHASED OUT OF HER SLAVERY TO SIN. AS "THE CHURCH/EKKLESIA" SHE IS BEING "CALLED OUT" AND REDEEMED TO THE GOD OF ISRAEL. (Gal.3:29) BUT THAT IS JUST THE BEGINNING. THE TIME OF 'JACOB'S TROUBLE' IS UP AHEAD. IN GREAT TRIBULATION GOMER WILL BE WOOED BACK TO HER ORIGINAL HUSBAND. THE END OF THE STORY WILL SEE HER FULLY RESTORED.
THE VALLEY OF ACHOR, (OR TROUBLE), IS A SPIRITUAL DESTINATION. THIS WILL BE THE PLACE WHERE IT WILL HAPPEN. LOST GOMER WILL FIND HER ISHI, HER BELOVED. (Hos.2:14-16) THIS WILL COME IN WITH THE LATTER DAY REVIVAL. THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL BE POURED OUT IN A GLORIOUS FLOODING WAVE. AND THE INDWELLING MESSIAH WILL COMPLETE HIS MARVELOUS WORK INSIDE THE HEARTS OF ALL HIS COVENANT PEOPLE. (Jer.31:31) IN THE DIVINE ROMANCE GOMER WILL BE AWAKENED AS FROM A BAD DREAM. THE TOXIC GNOSTIC FOG WILL CLEAR AND GOMER'S AMNESIA WILL END. ISRAEL'S PARTIAL BLINDNESS WILL AT LAST BE HEALED. THE CLIMAX OF THE AGE WILL SEE THE ARMIES OF THE NATIONS GATHER AGAINST JERUSALEM. BUT THE JEWISH NATION IN JUDAH WILL CRY OUT TO GOD TO FIND SALVATION AND DELIVERANCE. (Zech.12:7-13:1) AT THE SAME TIME THE CHURCH WILL BE IN HER REFINING AS WELL. AND HER PARTIAL BLINDNESS WILL ALSO COME TO AN END. THE REMNANT CHURCH WILL REDISCOVER HER TRUE IDENTITY IN THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE CITIZENSHIP OF ISRAEL. (Eph.2:12-13) THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL WILL RETURN AS MESSIAH TO WRAP UP THE HISTORY OF THIS AGE. AND SO ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED. (Rom. 11:26)
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