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Who
A study by Gavin Finley MD |
The two sticks become one. (Ezek37) Image from Batya Wootten's book. |
WHO ARE GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE?
YHVH-God first "called out" His Chosen people in the family of Abraham.And it was with this family of faith that He established the Abrahamic Covenant.
The promise given to Abraham was for
1. a promised land from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates River, (Gen.15:18)The Chosen people were to become a huge multitude upon the face of the earth.
and
2. a promised people, a huge multitude of descendants as numerous as the sands of the sea.
Abraham was told that they would be as numerous as the stars of heaven. (Gen.15:5)
And Jacob was told that they would become a a melo-hagoyim, a company of nations. (Gen.35:11)
The Bible is consistent throughout its pages from Genesis to Revelation.
Here is the first mention of the chosen in Holy Scripture.
Moses is referring here to the Children of Israel.
God called them out of Egypt in that earlier great Exodus.
At that time YHVH-God was making covenant with Israel, His chosen people, as a nation.
Deuteronomy 7:6Moses declared back then the plan, the purpose, and the destiny God has in store for His chosen people.
"For you are a holy people to the Lord your God;
the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself,
a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth."
Exodus 19:61500 years later the Apostle Peter recapitulates what Moses said earlier.
"And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
He re-states and confirms the ongoing plan and purpose of God for His chosen people.
1 Pet. 2:9And here is the last mention of the chosen, from the Book of Revelation.
"But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people,
that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light;"
The chosen people at this point are redeemed from the earth as a single glorified company .
And this time we see the chosen they are with the Lamb.
Revelation 17:14There is just one Elect or Chosen people, not two.
"These, (His enemies), shall make war with the Lamb,
and the Lamb shall overcome them:
for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings,
and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."
YHVH-God, is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And throughout history He is drawing out one single company, a Chosen or Elect People.
At sundry times in holy history the God of Abraham has taken the initiative. He has called His people out from one place and delivered them into another. At Sinai He drew them out as a Chosen Congregation, an ekklesia, or a "church in the wilderness". (Acts 7:38) His intent always is to call His people out at heart level. As they walk with God by faith He brings them into a vital blood covenant relationship with Himself.
Here is a
word search of the word 'chosen' with the word "people" throughout the Holy Scriptures.
As we can see, the message of a "Chosen People" is well established in the Bible.
A
word search
of the synonym word
Elect is also seen in both the Old and New Testaments.
This word study shows that as far as God is concerned there but one Chosen People.
There are not two Elects or two Chosen Peoples, one national Israel or "the Jews" and the other "the Church".
Scripture shows God drawing out a single company of His faithful people through time.
He draws His Chosen people from the Jewish House of Judah and from the lost sheep of the House of Israel. (Mat.15:24)
Even heathen gentiles from out in the nations, are drawn into His covenant.
These are the ones the prophet Ezekiel referred to as the "companions". (Ezek.37)
The word "Church" is the Greek word "Ekklesia". It simply means a "called out assembly" or "congregation", nothing more, nothing less. When Jesus Christ/Yeshua Hamashiach said "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" He was referring to a group of people, a 'called out company' or Gr. 'ekklesia'. It was a congregation or assembly of people that belongs to Him!
As Christian believers we have been "called out". We have been 'called out' of idolatry and sin, even as Abraham was 'called out' of Ur, the city of idols. We came into the New Covenant by the same faith Abraham exercised. Our covenant of salvation is an upgrade of the the very same Abrahamic covenant which is a personal covenant the God of Abraham makes with individuals. This New Covenant was a mystery in times past but real in the lives of the faithful. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of this New Covenant when he prophesied nationally to Judah 600 years before Christ. Jeremiah described the New Covenant as the law or the Torah being written into the hearts. (Jer.31:31) And Jeremiah said that this New Covenant would be the one that would be made and would go to work in the house (or nation) of Israel. This New Covenant would be the means of Israel's ultimate restoration.
So the New Covenant does not "do away with" the Old Covenant.
The Melchizedek priesthood may have superseded the Levitical or Mosaic priesthood. (Hebrews)
But the New Covenant YHVH-God cuts with individuals embraces the Old Covenant.
The New Covenant fulfills the Old Covenant YHVH-God made with the nation of Israel back at Sinai.
Men of faith, from righteous Abel to the last saint that will see the Light. And they will respond to YHVH's Good News. They will respond in the prototypical personal faith that was seen in the life of Abraham. Christian believers are redeemed today in the same way that Old Testament saints were saved. We come to salvation by God's grace through faith in the shed blood of Israel's Sacrifice Lamb. We repented of our sin, cried out to God for mercy, and received God's cleansing. Our sin was washed away by the blood of the Lamb. This is the Gospel. There is no other Gospel. There never has been, and never will be. This pathway to God has always been open. And sincere and seeking hearts have always found God going back to the days of old. Even if the person did not know all the details of how this salvation would be accomplished. Old Testament saints knew of the blood of atonement. They saw it demonstrated in the Feasts of Israel The pathway of salvation comes by a response to God's calling. This is not a legal matter only. This response to God is always an act of faith and it is pleasing to God. Salvation is based upon a response to the Light one has seen. No matter how small that light was, that response of faith is sufficient for salvation before a gracious God.
The faith in God, the faith that He would provide a sacrifice for sin, even a Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, is enough to save. The shed blood of the promised Sacrifice Lamb is the key to salvation. Trues saints respond to God's call. This is the only the path to salvation this world will ever know. It has always been the same. It has never changed. And it never will.
So our redemption comes from the New Covenant Gospel plan of salvation.
This, in turn, comes from the covenants of Israel. (Eph.2:12-13)
There simply is no other salvation plan offered by our God. (Act 4:12)
Nowhere in the Holy Scriptures does God ever speak of two covenants.
Nowhere does He speak of two Elects or two Chosen peoples.
Nowhere in Holy Scripture do we see one salvation plan for Israel and another for the Church.
All who come to salvation are saved by grace through faith in Israel's promised Sacrifice Lamb.
But this error of "two covenants" has crept into our thinking.
This is due to the deep and longstanding politico-religious rift between Christianity and Judaism.
But in Christ our Jewish Savior we become new creatures. (2Cor.5:17)
We become identified in Abraham's Seed. (Gal.3:29)
A person who was formerly a heathen goy is now "saved".
(Joel 2:28-32)
He finds Messiah and enters into the Eternal Covenants of Israel. (Eph.2:12-13)
And so we become heirs according to the promise. (Gal.3:29)
When gentiles repent and are saved they are no longer gentiles, uncircumcised of heart.
They are no longer heathen outsiders, or goyim.
They are grafted into the Olive Tree of Israel. (Rom.11)
The Holy Scriptures only speak of one covenant people of YHVH-God.
Israel may have been split into two kingdoms back in 900 B.C..
And today we may have "the Church" and "Israel" as the status quo.
But this is not Israel's ultimate destiny; And there is no "Apartheid of the Elect".
The present dualism is not God's ultimate will for His Chosen People. It is an accommodation to the Breach of Jeroboam. The present split is an aberration, a sickness, a schism, a temporary separation. It is temporary partitioning of God's royal tribe of Judah from the lost ten tribes of Israel. The ten northern tribes were the ones that rebelled against the 'law' they experienced under Rehoboam. They came to him looking for 'grace' in the matter of taxes and servitude.
So the present divided state of God's people is not going to last forever. And if it seems that there is an apartheid of God's Chosen People this is an annatural state of affairs. The division into "people of the law", (God's righteous rule), and "people of grace", (God's grace in the Gospel), merely reflects unfinished covenant business. God will attend to this unhealed wound. And the Breach of Jeroboam will be healed in the End Time drama.
YHVH-God is at work in restoring His Chosen People.
He will restore all Israel in the
70th Week of Daniel.
All His lost sheep will all be found.
He will bring every last one of them home.
Throughout the history of Israel and the Church God has called out one single stream of Chosen People. Every person who has ever cried out to God for forgiveness and has been saved by grace through faith in Him are known to God. And our returning Messiah will be coming for them. God's true Chosen People, from righteous Abel to the last Tribulation saint, will be regathered. At the end of the age all the saints from both sides of Calvary will all be glorified, - together!. They will rise up together as one single glorious Elect and Chosen People in the Resurrection-Rapture.
Not every member of the Judeo-Christian people are God's Chosen people. The broad Church of Christendom and the Jewish nation have suffered significant separation from the God of Israel for and varied reasons. The two companies have also endured a long and painful alienation from each other. They have been divorced for over 2900 years. One group, because of sin and compromise with the princes of Europe, (broadly speaking), does not recognize their roots in Israel. And the other group, (broadly speaking), does not recognize their Messiah. Both groups in Israel are currently in a state of partial blindness. (Heb.11) So it is not surprising that they scarcely recognize each other.
The breach of Jeroboam, broke Israel into two kingdoms.
And the lost ten tribes have been scattered to the ends of the earth.
Many of them are out there still, making
protection deals with the
princes in the nations,
They are lost. And they have amnesia .... even as lost
Gomer.
But hundreds of millions of them have already been found.
Lost Israel is being picked up in the New Covenant.
And both houses of restored Israel are destined to bring home a multitude of companions with them. (Ezek.37:16)
The worldwide ministry of the Gospel is bringing in Israel's great global harvest.
The Jewish house of Judah will not be forgotten and they will be saved in the end time drama. (Zech.12:7-13:1)
Lawlessness and rebellion will be purged from the Commonwealth of Israel in the Church. (Eph.2:12-13)
All this will surely come to pass in the bonds of love as the fullness of the gentiles is brought in to Israel. (Rom.11)
Because in the New Covenant God’s Law, His Torah, is surely and silently being written into the hearts. (Jer. 31-31-33))
The New Covenant and salvation came into the world via the Messiah of Israel. (Acts 4:12)
His great salvation is the Light that was sent to the heathen (or gentiles). (Isa.42:6, 49:6, 60:3)
Christ/Meshiach brought us the blood of atonement that brings reconciliation with God. (1John 1:7)
The only salvation this planet will ever see comes through the blood of Israel's promised
Sacrifice Lamb.
THE DIVORCE OF ISRAEL INTO TWO HOUSES OR KINGDOMS.
THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM RETURNED TO THE LAND UNDER EZRA AND NEHEMIAH.
JERUSALEM WAS RE-ESTABLISHED AS A SOVEREIGN CITY-STATE.
THE NORTHERN KINGDOM AND THE TEN TRIBES REMAIN SCATTERED IN THE NATIONS.
The breach of Jeroboam split Israel. And it continues on today. The fracturing of Israel into two camps definitely involves the Church.
The rift between the Jewish nation and Western Christendom is very deep and dark.
This broken relationship is the reason for much of the jealousy and the vexation. (Isa.11:13)
This is the bad blood that brought us the crusades.
And much shameful
Church Anti-Semitism continues to this day.
Apostasy has infected both houses of Israel.
And sin continues to alienate the Church and Israel from their Messiah.
The Judeo-Christian people are a deeply divided and dysfunctional family.
This is our present political and religious reality.
It goes back to Israel's great divorce around 900 B.C..
But in the fullness of time God will bring both factions back together again.
Woodcut illustration by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld. (1794-1872)
1Kings 12:16This was the great divorce of Israel,
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.
the awful 'breach of Jeroboam'.
Israel was split into two houses.
One majored in Law, and the other favored Grace.
The object of the hatred and rejection is quite apparent here.
The venom and the rebellion against Israel's king is directed towards the Throne of David.
And so the feud goes on.
It continues to this very day.
But Messiah will bring reconciliation.
In Him comes the Grace and the Shalom each side seeks in the other.
The breach will be healed in the
end time drama,
When the fullness of the gentiles is brought in.
- Zech.12:7-13:1, Rom.11
The people of the lost ten tribes bring with them a "melo-hagoyim".
They are a multitude of companions from the nations.
Over two millennia hundreds of millions have made their way into the Congregation of Israel.
Half of them are alive on this planet right now.
"The Church" is partially blind to its roots in Israel.
Even as Judah is partially blind to her Messiah.
The Church is therefore estranged from Judah and the Jewish nation.
They do not recognize their Jewish brethren.
Instead, they see two companies, "The Church" and "Israel".
Sadly, they see them as forever separate.
But this rift between the Church and Israel is not a permanent eternal state of affairs.
From God's eternal perspective it is a temporary aberration.
It was not the state of affairs in the predominantly Jewish Church of the first century.
And it is certainly not God's ultimate eternal plan for the future.
THE PRESENT BROKEN AND DIVIDED STATE OF ISRAEL WILL NOT LAST FOREVER.
THE SCRIPTURES SHOW A GLORIOUS RESTORATION AT THE CLIMAX OF HOLY HISTORY.
The wall of separation between Israel and "the Church" is an open wound. It is a broken bridge, an artificial man-made division in the family of God.
It exists because of Israel's sin and Lawless rebellion.
And it exists because of of Judah's unwillingness to receive God's Grace.
God's redemptive plan will bring this broken communication to an end.
All this, and more, will happen in the fullness of holy history.
It will happen in the crucible of the latter days.
The mysteries will unfold when
Bible Prophecy is fulfilled.
The breach of Jeroboam must be healed, and it will be.
The two houses of Israel will surely be re-united.
The two sticks will come together as one,
Just as the prophet Ezekiel has said. (Ezek.37:15-28)
The prophet Zechariah saw two olive trees supplying oil to a golden bowl,
And the oil flowed through two golden pipes to a lamp stand of seven lamps. (Zech.4:7)
Two candles are placed on our tables in the west for fellowship meals.
And two witnesses are seen in the end time drama. (Rev.11:3)
Two offices and two anointings are also seen in the
Order of Melchizedek.
He was King of Salem, shalom, or peace).
And he was Priest of God Most High or God Almighty.
These are the dual offices of our Messiah.
The two offices of Melchizedek are
1. the kingdom, and
2. the priesthood.
We might view these as
1. Law, (God's righteous rule and precepts), and
2. Grace, God's priestly ministry for salvation to all who come to Him.
Both anointings and authorities are in Israel.
Both of them are wrapped up in our Messiah.
We have already seen the priestly ministry of Messiah.
It was showcased in His
first coming.
Messiah was sacrificed on
Passover.
He was buried on
Unleavened Bread.
And He rose again from the dead on
Firstfruits.
The
Fall Feasts of Israel are up next.
The
Apocalypse will see His Kingdom come.
Messiah's royal authority in Judah will come to earth.
His Kingdom will be established at His
Second Coming.
Messiah will wrap up the history of this age.
No Ecumenical resolution, no United Religions Initiative,
no
Kingdom Now
movement by
Ecclesiastical Dominionists will do this.
Only the returning Messiah can wrap up history.
And He is the One who will do it, - not established religion.
Messiah will deliver His Holy City, Jerusalem, at Armageddon.
And He will be the Breaker who comes in the
Bozrah Deliverance.
He will regather the outcasts of Israel from all the places they have been scattered.
He will refine, restore, and reunite all Israel in the crucible of the end time.
The
70th Week of Daniel has been written into the play and determined by God.
This is a certain and established future time period cut out of time.
Seven years have been set for God’s dealings with His covenant people.
He will be settling all issues with both houses of Israel.
The Ancient of Days will be holding court during the Apocalypse.
He will also be dealing with the raging nations regarding
1. His holy city,
and
2. His holy people (singular).
All this has been determined and the
70th Week of Daniel has been set.
All these matters must be settled before this age comes to its awesome glorious climax.
ONE SALVATION PLAN. ONE CHOSEN PEOPLE.
THE RESTORATION OF ALL ISRAEL AT THE END OF THE AGE.
Let us get back to basics. Our salvation is not a gentile/heathen or even an ecclesiastical or churchy thing.
Our redemption is in the atoning blood of Israel's Sacrifice Lamb.
This is our great salvation. And it is nestled there within the covenants of Israel.
There is no other salvation. The Messiah of Israel is our only Source for all things eternal.
When we are saved we become new creatures in Christ our Messiah. (2Cor. 5:17)
Our Savior Jesus Christ is the Holy One of Israel.
He is the Anointed One, the Chief Cornerstone, the foundation for a building not made with hands. (Eph.2)
So our citizenship as evangelical Christians is not just in our national flag. Because when the mysteries are unwrapped we shall see the glory we see in the nations are reflections of the Light shining forth from the 12 gates of Israel. So our eternal citizenship is an allegiance to a higher loyalty, even the Commonwealth of Israel. (Eph.2:12-13) It is an allegiance of the heart, not in the bonds of national law but in the bonds of love. Our Messiah writes His Law in our hearts. (Jer.31:31-33) And this, by a divine serendipity, becomes our zeal and our devotion.
Profane religion knows little of these holy things. Church life in the west has been taken over by business interests. They supply us with the best high priests of modern antinomian psychology. Today's post-modern church teaching is most often a mixed fare of merchant motivational materials and selfist psychobabble. But the "success in life" it sells is an illusion. Our life is not to be found in ourselves. Nor is our life meant to be spent in the pursuit of personal happiness for ourselves alone. Our self worth cannot to be found in these carnal endeavors. And our "self esteem" cannot be pumped up with religious hype. This narcissistic deception leads downwards to Luciferian selfism.
Psychologists cannot give us self esteem. Nor can they give us self worth.
Our self respect comes only when we enter into a true and real blood covenant
with someone far greater and more worthy than ourselves.
If the Church continues to coddle Christians in this vain selfism
and prevent them from entering into true
Blood Covenant Christianity
then two sad outcomes lie ahead of us.
1. Our present malaise may continue. Or
2. We shall be led off by pied pipers into
Dominionism.
This will lead to a tragic crusade at the end of the age.
Both of these pathways are low roads.
They lead down from the Highway of holiness. (Isa.35)
And away from the glory road.
They will lead Christian believers to shame and personal tragedy.
Christian politics is not the answer.
Our ultimate destiny is not in our present political encampment.
We shall find our way home in the faith and covenants of Abraham.
And the God of Abraham is leading His people each step of the Way.
If we are in Christ then we are Abraham's Seed. (Gal.3:29)
Our Savior is not just Someone who gives us a free ticket to heaven.
We are in a blood covenant relationship with Israel's Messiah.
He calls us to take up our cross and follow Him.
We have our loyalties here below. And we are called to be good citizens in our country.
But our destiny is not in Paris, Berlin, London, Washington D.C., or Canberra.
When the great multitude is gathered before the Crystal Sea they do not sing their national anthem.
They sing the Song of Moses. (Rev.15:1-4)
Many are the mansions or dwelling places we have been promised.
And they are to be found in the New Jerusalem, a city not made with hands.
John saw the Holy City, the Bride of the Lamb, descending from heaven. (Rev.21)
All the Chosen People of YHVH-God will be there, gathered from Israel and from all nations.
YHVH-GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE AS ONE SINGLE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD/HOLY NATION
The Elect are drawn into the Kingdom of Messiah.It is a Kingdom of Godly Law and Righteousness.
This was, and remains today, the burden of the royal tribe,
the Jewish House of Judah in the Southern Kingdom.
The Chosen People are also drawn into the Priesthood of Messiah.
It is a priesthood of Divine Grace, of atonement and of forgiveness of sin.
This was the burden of God's priesthood in joining man to God.
It was not seen in the Levitical priesthood but in the Priesthood of
Melchizedek.
Grace was also what the Northern Kingdom went seeking back in 900 b.c..
At that time they went to King Rehoboam looking for Grace.
They were seeking relief in the matter of the heavy labor and servitude in Judah.
And they wanted some relief from the high taxes issuing from the debt left by the waning glory of Solomon.
The prophets are unanimous in their wonderful predictions of the restoration of all Israel. The Kingdom embraces the House of David and the throne of David. This is in the Jewish House of Judah. And the Priesthood, (uniting God with man), is surely being ministered in a mighty way in the New Covenant. The Gospel, (the Good News of salvation), spilled out from Israel on the Day of Pentecost. 50 days after the Resurrection of Messiah Israel's Congregation, (or Church), began to be established out in the nations.
These two great ministries of God are yet to come back together.
This eventual union of
the Kingdom and the Priesthood,
of Law and Grace,
of Israel and 'the Church'
is a glorious future reality. The re-union and restoration of all Israel, both houses, will surely come.
The Holy Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments give abundant evidence of this.
The promised restoration of all Israel will see the Kingdom and the Priesthood rejoined.
This is God's divine plan.
It was laid out for the covenant people of God way back at Sinai.
Moses's charged the Children of Israel with this exhortation and challenge,
Exodus 19Notice that God does not speak of a 'royal nation' and a 'holy priesthood' as we would do today. This would be our inclination, (in Greek logic and mindset). We would bundle them up in this way. But that is not the way our God does things. He is not into boxing things up. He is for free interchange in the two offices of Melchizedek and between all the gates of His Holy City. God, through this message to us from Moses, crosswires the two virtues, (royalty and holiness), and re-wires them with the two offices, (the kingdom and the priesthood.
5 'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,
then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples,
for all the earth is Mine;
6 and you shall be to Me
a kingdom of priests and
a holy nation.' -Exo.19:5-6 NKJV
The priestly virtue of
holiness
He applies to the kingdom, and
the kingdom virtue of
royalty
He applies to the priesthood.
So we have a 'royal
priesthood'
and we have a 'holy
nation'.
Our Apostle Peter brings us the same message from out of the New Testament.
It is precisely the same message Moses brought to us 3500 years ago.
1 PETER
2:9 But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises
of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; - 1Pet.2:9
DISPENSATIONALISM HAS GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE FOREVER SEPARATED
INTO TWO CAMPS AND NEVER RESTORED. THE DOCTRINE SMOKESCREENS
GOD'S PLANNED RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. ACCORDING TO DISPENSATIONALISM
"THE CHURCH", HAS THE GLORIOUS FUTURE DESTINY. "ISRAEL", OR
(THE JEWISH NATION), DOES NOT. DISPENSATIONALISM FIXES
AN "APARTHEID OF THE ELECT". THE BREACH, (THEY SAY), WILL
NEVER BE HEALED AND WILL LAST FOREVER. THIS IS A TRAVESTY.
Dear saints, we need to "unlearn" the dispensationalism that has been programmed into us.
Churchmen should never have put those false Masonic walls in our timelines and in our doctrines.
They should never have imposed their man-made divisions upon Holy Scripture.
And they should never have denied the prophesied full restoration of God's Chosen People.
This is so sad to see. We get teachings of a so-called the "Age of Grace", a time period extending between Calvary and the beginning of the 70th Week of Daniel. Their "age of grace", (so-called), is the "age of the Church". It does not extend into the last 7 years of this age. They say God has a separate deal for Israel inside the 70th Week. Some even say that since the Age of Grace will end at the beginning of the final seven years of this age that Israel will "have to keep the Law" to be saved! Where do they get this notion of salvation by the Law? Has anyone ever been saved by the keeping of the Law?! Is there one scintilla of evidence in scripture to support this ecclesiastically dispensed "apartheid of God's Chosen People"?
Where did dispensationalists get this brash idea of an "Age of Grace" stopping short of the 70th Week? Who are they to dare to limit God's Divine Grace? Who gave them the authority to jam God's Divine Grace into a box, an arbitrary time period that fits their ecclesiastical and political agenda?
The answer is now becoming clear. Freemasons infiltrating the Church through Rev. Darby and C.S. Scofield and a host of others had an agenda and a job to do. They had to "hoodwink" the western Church. They wanted to ramrod their Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine into the Holy Scriptures. Of course it does not fit. The resulting botched eschatology is not a pretty sight. Pre-tribulation Rapturism is a confusing mess. The jigsaw puzzle never comes together. It remains a morass of confusing conflicted pieces jammed together where they do not belong. And these were the dispensationalists who decided to cut up God's Chosen people forever.
This is indeed a sad state of affairs. This doctrine of eternal separation between the Church and Israel is bad theology. It will also spawn some grievous political consequences down the line. Dispensationalists say that they are not espousing replacement theology. But their early glorification doctrine of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture achieves the same result. The doctrine effectively prevents the Jewish nation and the Tribulation Saints from entering into the glory. They have boxed up God's glory up for themselves in their Pre-Tribulation Rapture program. This is the "special deal" they have laid out for "the Church". However, there is a problem. By cutting out repenting returning Israel from the flows of Grace they have cut returning repenting national Israel (Zech.12) from out of the Church. This may be just as bad as Replacement Theology. Because the Jewish nation is "left behind" as a "B" grade "lesser elect". Dispensationalists say that the Jewish nation will not be joined to the Church in the end time. Their glory train is ready to go out imminently. So they are not going to be waiting for the Jewish nation. The western Church has bought their ticket to glory. And most of them right now are dead sure that they will be pulling out seven years early.
The Holy Scriptures are in direct opposition to this apartheid policy.
The Bible shows us one single Chosen People at the climax of history.
But Dispensationalists do not wish to have this pointed out to them.
They are bound and determined to "have it their way".
This is not the only travesty we see in western Christendom. Dispensationalists paint the End Time a just a hellish wrath zone, with no Grace, no Holy Spirit, and no Church. They deny the truth concerning the End Time Revival.
This is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit Joel saw at the end of the age! It is exceedingly good news. It would be a great morale booster for the Church, (if they would make it their "purpose" to tell it to the people). This is the basis for the epic national salvation of the Jewish nation. (Zech. 12:7-13:1, Joel 2:28-32) The Holy Spirit must surely be there inside the 70th Week. The presence of the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary to bring in the huge international harvest of the Tribulation Saints we see in Revelation 7. But Pre-Tribulation Rapture Dispensationalists refuse to acknowledge any revival at all in the Tribulation Period.
What has happened here? Popular prophecy teachers have erroneously identified the Restrainer of 2Thes. 2 as the Holy Spirit. They have the Comforter taking leave of His divine omnipresence, (if that were possible). They have the Holy Spirit deserting the planet and deserting God's Chosen People for seven years. They have Him abandoning the saints during the 3.5 Harlot years and the 3.5 Tribulation years. Does this scenario fit the scriptures? Does it jive with what we know about our omnipresent God and His omnipresent Holy Spirit?
This Church vs. Israel dispensationalism gives rise to a lot of very strained and tortured eschatology. This could have some unfortunate political consequences. We have seen what German Replacement Theology did. This American Dispensationalism could provide a theological basis for Western Christendom to once again bring grief to the nation of Israel. Tough hearted carnal Christian fundamentalists might say,
"These Jewish people are taking too long to repent!Such self-serving irresponsible eschatology has the Jews "left behind".
They are probably ’not going to make it’ into the glory.
So why should we worry about them.
I’ve purchased my ticket for as Pre-Tribulation Rapture.
So I’m outta here!"
When the Pre-Tribulation Rapture fails to materialize the results could be grievous.
Christian Fundamentalists could get extremely angry about a perceived "raw deal" from God.
This failed doctrine could even fuel another seething round of Anti-Semitism.
Shameful political fallout does come down from bad theology.
Remember, we have seen this before.
We saw it played out in the earlier histories of the European nations.
Pray God this never happens in America.
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'the rest of the story'. ....................... Art used by permission of Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992. Visit her 'Revelation Illustrated' website. |
Christian believers must get back to the Bible. We must see the eventual confluence of Israel and the Church as one single Elect. God has only ever called one Chosen people, one covenant family of God. If we see two Chosen Peoples today that does not mean God intended for them to remain in this broken disconnected state forever. In the Olivet Discourse Messiah said that He would gather His Elect, (singular), at the end of the age. (Mat.24:31) He will regather and glorify His Chosen People at the last day in the Resurrection-Rapture. He will be gathering "all who are Christ's at His coming". (iCor.15:22-23) This is God's wonderful plan. The plan calls for the completion of the Great Commission, the salvation of the Jewish nation, (Zech.12), and the restoration of both houses of Israel. All of them will be gathered up at the last day. They will be gathered up together as one big happy family. This is simple, it is uncomplicated, it is elegant, and it is Bible truth.
THE CHOSEN PEOPLE IN THE END TIME DRAMA.
THE TRAVAIL OF THE WOMAN OF REVELATION 12.
One question that is commonly asked is this.
Who is the woman John saw in Revelation 12?
Who does she represent? If she has a crown of 12 stars then we must assume that
all of God's covenant people are represented, Jewish and non-Jewish. All of God's Chosen People
who are alive in that future time will go into the crucible of the end time.
The Chosen People, as a remnant will emerge victorious at the climax of history.
Yes, the time of 'Jacob's trouble' is in view here. (Jer.30:7) And it does indeed involve the Church. The woman of Revelation 12 is a representation of every believer who died in the faith of Abraham and who trusted in the shed blood of the promised Sacrifice Lamb. And here in Revelation 12 we see the woman coming into her magnificent destiny wearing the starry crown. She is entering into the glory at the climax of the age.
So when we see "the woman of Revelation 12" in scripture this is not just a picture of "Israel = the Jewish nation" as we have been told. She is that of course, but more. The woman clothed with the glory of the sun is a picture of the covenant people of Israel as they relate to YHVH-God.
We first saw the woman in the Garden of Eden. She was carrying the Seed that would crush the serpent's head. She was in the family of Noah, who was perfect in his generations. Later we see her leave Ur with Abraham, the father of all those who by faith sought a city with eternal foundations whose builder and maker is God. Later we saw the woman become a nation at Mount Sinai after the Exodus. The woman of Israel is the "Church in the Wilderness" who was to enter into the Promised Land. (Acts 7:38) She is the Israel that gave birth to our Messiah 2,000 years ago. We saw her in the Church that emerged after Pentecost. And John saw her at the glorious climax of this age. The woman of destiny we see in Holy Scripture is just one more picture of God's Chosen People
The woman of Israel John saw in Revelation 12 has a crown, or diadem, of 12 stars. This cannot be a picture of the house of Judah or the Jewish nation alone. If there are 12 stars upon her crown this must be a picture of fully restored Israel. The nation of Israel, a nation of twelve tribes is obviously now restored and complete. The ten lost ten tribes have clearly been found. Twelve stars now adorn her crown. It is in a garland of victory. The woman of destiny is clothed in the sun, the glory of her Father.
The travail of the woman of Revelation 12 is not limited to the birth of Jesus/Yeshua two millennia ago. From the two time references we are given in Revelation 12 the flight and exile of the woman is 1260 days or 3.5 years. (Rev.12:6 & 12:14 respectively) This is the last half of the 70th week of Daniel. It is the time of "Jacob's trouble" in the latter days.
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it:John tells us that the woman is given the wings of a great eagle.
it is even the time of Jacob's trouble;
but he shall be saved out of it. (Jer.30:7)
She flies off to her place. Is this the Bozrah exile?
The woman is to be nurtured, or spiritually fed for 1260 days.
These are the 3.5 biblical years of the Great Tribulation.
One of those 12 stars on the diadem is the royal tribe of Judah. How about the other stars? Benjamin is there with Judah. How about the other ten? We must assume that all the lost 10 tribes will emerge from the fog of mystery. All 12 tribes will be there. They will be bringing home with them a boatload of companions from their sojourn in the nations. ALL of the saints, from every kindred, race, and tribe, are grafted into the olive tree of Israel. (Rom. 11) Here in the woman of revelation 12 we see Israel undivided. We see the Chosen People all together at last.
So there is no Apartheid of God's true Chosen People. There never has been. And there never will be. All the saints, the Elect from all of human history will be together at the end of the story. They will be coming home to Zion. (Isa.35) They are on their way to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
"Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return.Grace and shalom to all God's Chosen People.
And come with singing unto Zion.
And everlasting joy shall be upon their heads."
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