Sunday, March 27, 2005

The Israel of God and the Rebuilding of the Temple


Dome of the Rock

God is in control of history, and all that is happening in the world is bringing us to what he has foretold. As we look back we can see how one thing led to another. Much of our foreign policy today is a result of the heresies I have discussed in the previous posts. The religious fundamentalists and their world view have shaped our foreign policy and are directly responsible for the seeming mess we are in, and will continue to be in, in the Middle East. That sounds like a terrible statement, but let us look at the evidence, and what the Bible says.
We have treated Israel with a special care because we have believed that they are Gods chosen people and there is a special purpose for them. As a result we have been unfair and unjust to the Palestinians. No wonder they have been against us. It was true that the Jews were God’s chosen, but that is no longer the case. They were chosen because they were the line through which God was going to bring forth the Messiah and were charged with preserving the scripture. Once he was born, then Gods chosen people became “Who so ever believeth” Rom:9:6: “Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8: That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” (May I suggest you read the entire chapter of Romans 9.) This scripture makes it very clear who Abraham’s seed is; those that are born of the spirit by faith. If you remember when God told Abraham that he was going to have a son, Sarah laughed. Then they tried to fulfill Gods word themselves through Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid. Sarah was too old they thought to have a child. They didn’t give God credit for being able to accomplish his word. The result of this union was Ishmael. He became the father of the Arab nations. Sure enough, in Gods time Isaac was born. The name Isaac means son of laughter or delight. Isaac was a type of Christ. (An item of interest, when Jesus was baptized by John and the heavens opened God said “This is my beloved son in whom I am DELIGHTED”. That would be the more accurate translation.) They have always warred with each other, and always will. Ishmael is a type of the flesh and Isaac is a type of the spirit. Gal: 5:17: “For the flesh lusteth (wars) against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” Now look at what Jesus said about Abraham’s seed. John 8: 33: They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34: Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35: And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth forever.” Notice only the son abides forever. The son is that which is directly begotten of the Father, those truly born of the spirit. Not those of the flesh. He goes on.. John 8: 37: “I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 38: I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.39: They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40: But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41: Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; (accusing Jesus of being born as a result of fornication because his mother was not married when he was conceived) we have one Father, even God.
42: Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.”
No where in scripture has God given any special plan after the Messiah for the Jews to come to God. Jn:14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” The Fundamentalist heresy says “but God promised the land of Israel to Abraham’s seed forever”. Gen:13: 14: “And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
15: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
16: And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” Now in the face of what we have just read, you can clearly see, that Jesus said that only the Son would abide forever. Also in Paul’s writings he says that “Not all Israel is Israel” but that which is of the Seed of faith. God also never gave any specific boundaries to this promised land. Now we must also ask our selves two more things about modern Jews. One; God said that their number would be too numerous to count. That is not the case now. There are only several million Jews in the world today. So God must be speaking of some other SEED. Two; The Jews that are in Israel today had been scattered through out the world. They have mixed blood with every other tribe and race. They are not this day even of the blood line of Abraham.
Please do not take this as anti-Semitic. Jews have the same opportunity as anyone to belong to Christ. Not any special opportunity. There were many Jews that have come to Christ through the ages. In fact most of Jesus’ disciples were Jews. What did not come to Christ was the religious establishment of that day. Just like the religious establishment today, they had too much to give up, too much wealth and power to lose.
What we see in Israel today is man’s attempt to bring about Gods promise just the same way Abraham and Sarah did in having a child with Hagar. In order to have created this current nation called Israel they plotted and planned and it was brought about as a result of an appearance of the forerunner to the Antichrist; Adolph Hitler. Israel is the Fundamentalists Ishmael. God has no special interest in that piece of real estate. His interest is in the entire earth, and Jesus said “The meek (Abraham’s seed) shall inherit the earth”. That is the land that God promised to Abraham, and the countless seed are all the believers.
There is also this talk about the restoration of the Temple. The scripture about the literal temple being restored has already been accomplished. It was recorded in the book of Ezra. 1:1 “ Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 2: Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.”
Man keeps looking at the material world and marveling at the works of our hands. God said Isa: 66:1: “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest?”
Jesus said when he saw how even his disciples were impressed with the Temple that “not one stone would be left upon another.” He wanted it to be utterly destroyed. The only Temple God is interested in is the Temple of his body. John 2: 19: “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20: Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? (Still blind and thinking materially) 21: But he spoke of the temple of his body. 22: When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.” 1Cor:6:19: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” As I have said in the previous posts like “What Day is It” and others. The body of Christ is the only Temple God is interested in. If you don’t think it has been torn down then you don’t know what has happened during the last 2000 years. After the early church, the Body of Christ (His Temple) was in ruins. It no longer walked in power. Don’t believe those that tell you that it was another dispensation. That is only an excuse for their unbelief. Hosea:6:1: “Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2: After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. 3: Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.” As we read in the Book of Acts, the early church walked in great power. If just Peter’s shadow fell on someone they were healed. The day that is coming shall be greater than what the early church walked in. Hag:2:9: “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.”
We look at the apostasy of the Right Wing Fundamentalists. They want to blow up the Dome of the Rock that sits on the Temple mount. This so they can rebuild the Temple. They care not of the horrible havoc, death and destruction that it may bring, possibly the apocalypse. But the flesh must glory, Hagar must attempt to bear Ishmael. The wicked must do Satan’s bidding. That Temple may or may not be built, but if it is it is the works of man’s flesh. The only Temple God is interested in is the Temple which is His Body, which he will bring through the refiners fire to burn away the flesh. Mal:4: 1:”For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3: And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. (Doesn’t sound much like a “Rapture” to me) 4: Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
There is a new day dawning. The day of the Lord. Satan’s time is ending.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess you answered most of my questions except what are we supposed to do? So we all believe Bush is the anti-crist And Mr Hanchett is doing a great job of exposing him but for what? From what I can tell we are not supposed to be concerned with him and go about living a good christian life . Knowing who he is has no meaningful purpose.(I really don't believe Bush is fooling anyone let alone the world & unless he tries to declare marshall law he will be long gone by the time the real trouble starts & won't everyone be surprised who will be in charge then?)
Second did not God also promise that Ishmael would be the father of great nations & his seed would be protected also? And I did a little research on the Koran and they do believe in the resurrection and that Jesus will return what they do not believe is that Jesus is a partner of God and that is what they don't like about christians. I have herd the story of Jesus being saved from the cross but it was from some old religion that no longer exist and not from the Koran maybe you should do some more research on other religions before you condemn them.

Anonymous said...

I was reading through your comments from previous posts and something concerned me. You said that 'baptism' is a part of salvation. Since I've not been baptized with water, I wonder if this means that I'm in someway condemned or falling short of Heaven.

PursuingTruth said...

Dear Anonymous above: Do you want me to do all the work and find out what God wants for your life? As I have said before, this is not just about being saved from damnation. It is about discovering the fullness of God’s purpose for your life. If you are so concerned about the Islamic people, then may I advise you to find the truth and start helping to spread the truth as God directs. There is much work to be done.
Yes God did say he would bless Ishmael by multiplying him.
Gen:17:20: “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.” That has happened.
As far as me condemning anyone, you are wrong. I don't believe you have seen me condemn anyone, that is not my place. I have taught in other posts that many know the true doctrines, and do not know God, and many may not know the true doctrine and do know God. You are confusing me condemning people and teachings. With truth you are lead to the person of Jesus Christ. With false teachings you are led away. I have not condemned Islamic people, but I do say someone is believing a lie. You also accuse me of not doing my research or knowing what I am talking about. I think you will find that I am not a man that speaks when I don’t know what I am talking about. The Koran teaches that Jesus was not the Son of God and those that believe that should be killed (Koran 9:30). You are correct that Islam does believe in the resurrection, just not that Jesus has already been resurrected. They are looking for one at the end of time. They DO NOT believe that he was crucified. Koran 4:157 That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of God"; but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow for of a surety they killed him not.
4:158 Nay, God raised him up unto Himself; and God is Exalted in Power, Wise.
4:159 And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Judgment He will be a witness against them. Islam makes a pretence of honoring Jesus by calling him a prophet and an Apostle of God. It is not an honor when what you are really doing is making Him less than He is. I think you may still not quite understand who Jesus IS. He is the Almighty eternal Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh God, become man. He is the manifestation of the Father. Think of him as the target. How can you get to the target by going around it. If he is where we want to go, than we can’t get there by going in the other direction. My plan is to do a post soon on true believers that may be trapped in other religions.
God Bless, Keep up the seeking.

To Kay. It is not me that says you should be baptized, it is the Bible.
Acts:2:38: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”. I said it is a part of our salvation experience. We are a 3 part being, we are Body Soul and Spirit. When we are water baptized we are making a physical identification with the death then burial (under water) and resurrection (coming out of the water) of the Lord Jesus. This seems also like a subject in need of a full teaching post.

Anonymous said...

Is the book of Ezra the same as the two books of Esdras wich I have been reading? The quote you took from it sounds very similar.
I was reading the second book & it seems to verify what you were saying about "what day is it" & how we are just the begining of what God intends us to be & the 7th day . And I am sorry for claiming you to condemn other religions you are correct in that you did not.

PursuingTruth said...

The name Esdras is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Ezra, however no scholars attribute them to the same author, and they are not the same book. The 1st Esdras, seems to be very similar to what is in Ezra, and II Chronicles, and Nehemiah. It is dated to some time before Christ. Josephus the famous Jewish historian from around 100 AD seemed to quote from it. II Esdras was more likely written much later, sometime after 100 AD. It seemed to be directed to deal with the theological problem posed to the Jews after the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Both are what are known as Apocraphal Books. They were never considered to be Scripture, That is to say they are not considered to be infallible. That does not mean that you may not glean truth from them, just we don't know of their authenticity. As a new and hungry person being obviously drawn by God, may I suggest the Bible as your main source of revelation. All the quotes I have used unless otherwise noted are scripture.(from the Bible)

Anonymous said...

I was born-again in 73', but only the last 2 yrs. have I surrendered my life completely. Now I know HE is getting his church ready for the times ahead. The day after the elections, I was cleaning my house, and I believe God revealed to me that George Bush was the antichrist. I was amazed, because I knew he was not who he was betraying himself to be, and possibly corrupt, but not the antichrist. Later, I started looking up antichrist on the web and found that others were believing the same. I have been studying this very closely and have mentioned this to very few people. The ones I have confided in do not believe this. I live in Georgia a very republican state, and they all love GB. The only avenue I have to talk about this is your web site and a few others. I pray for a sound mind, and a heart that seeks only the TRUTH. I've read most of what you have written and the Holy Spirit in me agrees. Please add more to your site because it is informative.

Anonymous said...

What happens to all the people who were born into no religion or a different belief other than Christianity......live their lives as "good" people but are unsure of their beliefs??........Are they not saved? Are they damned? I've met many many religious hypocrytical people (mainly Christian).....What happens to them for judging so harsh towards those who are not Christian or do not believe in Christ? God loves us all for who we are. I don't think Christians are any better than Muslims, Hindu, Bhuddist, even Atheist. We must speak through our actions not through our words. What are your thoughts?

PursuingTruth said...

To the first Anonymous above; I completely understand. We are like strangers in a strange land. The world knew you not because they knew Him not. Anytime you start seeing the bigger picture, people will think you are nuts. It seems as though God has begun to establish a kind of Cyber Church. We can gather in his name and talk about the things that are really meaningful to us.
To the next Anonymous; first let me ask you a question. If you saw someone hanging on the edge of a cliff, about to fall into a pit below, would you run around yelling “why doesn’t someone help that person?” Or would you go and find a rope and pull them to safety? If you are really concerned about all the lost in the world, than find the truth so you can be of help. When you say there are “good” people” The scriptures say Mt: 19:17: “And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” I am not meaning to be short or smug. I do intend to answer this question much more thoroughly in a post. I have said over and over, and again here. There are many that know the doctrine and don’t know God and many that don’t know the doctrine and do know God. We will let God be the judge. If you will read my posts, you will find some of the answers you are looking for. Truth is true weather you believe it or not.

Anonymous said...

While I agree that God has given us much to wonder and ponder and it makes for a marvelous adventure in life, he is enormously generous. All of the stars planets and everything you can find true beauty and life are all but gifts from our father. There are many truths to behold and they do bring us closer to our Lord, it makes sense because they are all from him. All Glory is to be given to the father. :) So, in a sense, Jesus is the sun, but he is the son... of God almighty who created all that you may ever discover in your quests. Jesus is truth, there is no denying that the sun is very crucial to our existence, but it and all forms of truth are only a part of his body. God bless you in our endeavors, I too appreciate the many wonders of God.

I look forward to PeterZ's reply along with you.

PursuingTruth said...

To WyteFyre, I find it sad that you can come to the door and not open it. You have put the cart before the horse. Yes it is true that we see a form of Sun worship through out the world. But that is because God has created the universe as a type of understanding spiritual truth. God is the author of truth. The Sun is a type of the Son, not the other way around.
I will explain more thoroughly in my next post.