Welcome to Thus Say the Prophets!
The Revelation of Y'shua the Anointed:
A Study into the Noahide Nazarene Way
By Ben Ruach ha Kodesh (John of AllFaith) © 9.18.09 (3.15.08)
Chapter Three
Go to the index page for: The Revelation of Y'shua the Anointed
The Seven Periods of the Church Continued
The Church of Sardis: The Reformation to the Peace of Westphalia and beyond.
1520 CE - 1726 CE: The Church was now fragmented on several fronts despite the Master's instruction:
John 17:21 ... that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.And again:
I Corinthians 1:10 Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Master, Y'shua the Anointed, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 1:11 For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you.
1:12 Now I mean this, that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," "I follow Apollos," "I follow Kefa [Cephas]," and, "I follow Christ."
1:13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius, 1:15 so that no one should say that I had baptized you into my own name.The Nicean Christians were now woefully divided on almost every point of doctrine and the Christian world shook its collective head not knowing what to believe anymore!
It was during this period that Deism -- the belief that God exists but is completely unknowable -- and Secular Humanism arose in earnest. Secular Humanism of course is the Humanist religion/philosophy that espouses reason, ethics, and justice while specifically rejecting the supernatural and spiritual as the basis of moral reflection and decision making. While the term wasn't coined until the twentieth century, its origins as a belief system arose during this period among the Elite. The term "Secular Humanism" was coined in contradistinction to the growing influence of "Religious Humanism." Both belief systems developed and were embrace due to Christian divisiveness and disharmony.
Toward the end of this period the United States was preparing to declare its independence from Great Britain and while most of its founders deeply believed in the God of the Bible, they established the nation under the principles of Deism due to the doctrinal infighting within the hopelessly divided Church. The nation was therefore established on "Judeo-Christian principles" but without allowing any of the rival factions to usurp control of the reigns of power.
Due to the destructive influences of the Nicolaitane heresy now embraced by all segments of the Nicean Church (as discussed in Chapter two) it was now objectively impossible to demonstrate what the Master actually taught, but the Nicean Christians nonetheless debated endlessly hoping to further their own denominational views and authority!
Jumping ahead a bit, taking advantage of this ever worsening religious chaos, in the twentieth century Secular Humanism gained control of the nation and the United States government virtually declared war on the Christian faith. The "Supreme Court" essentially outlawed all public expression of religion and then President and Bilderberg Group members Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary even ordered the murder of the Branch Davidian Christians of Waco, Texas as an example to the rest. The government run schools began openly indoctrinating the children of the nation into Secular Humanist beliefs and values, essentially reducing the human race to slightly evolved monkeys and placing all morality under the determination of cultural relativism. And it wasn't just in the United States. Around the world hearts hardened as the people embraced the lies of Secular Humanism. Since the end of World War Two more than 1.5 billion children have been legally murdered through abortion and few Nicean Christian seem to even care. This movement of Secular Humanists and Luciferian Geneticists was beginning to gain power during this Church age. They are now setting the stage for the coming of the Master, Rex Mundi.
Had the Way Movement obeyed the Master and not abandoned his teachings things would have gone quite differently. The Church has only itself to blame for its many woes and loss of influence.
During this Sardis period religion had become little more than a habit to which one tenaciously clung without question or reason. These Christians, religiously the freest in history, could have researched and prayerfully restored the Way, but instead they faithlessly clung to the status quo passed down to them. And in the Eastern and Roman Catholic Churches, among the Anglicans (Church of England) and the diverse Protestant sects nothing essential changed.
The Way taught by Y'shua the Anointed was largely forgotten. The Pagan additions to Church dogma had become so entrenched by this point that the Reformers, who promised to restore the true faith, didn't know what Master Y'shua taught and their own assumptions limited them from finding out. How then could they restore the Way when they were unwilling to question their own Vatican-formed beliefs? Nicean Christians of this period were woefully ignorant of the Bible, in part because the Church had declared reading it illegal for so long, but now that they could read the Bible for themselves the Church was so doctrinally fragmented and divided by the chaos and infighting as to what it even said that the notion of Christian Unity was seldom even contemplated. The Bible became little more to these people than a book of myths and bedtime stories, a dust covered "coffee table volume" that demonstrated ones "faith" to ones friends and business associates. The word "Christian" came to mean that one was good person -- "My what a Christian thing to do" and "that's not very Christian now is it?" -- not that one is "Christ-like" or operating under God's anointing. This period of Church history is described by Apostle John here as being all but dead.
The main disagreements the Protestants cited with the Roman Church are contained in Martin Luther's Ninety Five Thesis of Reformation (Click Here and scroll down for this list). What is woefully absent from this list is the need to return to the Jewish roots of the Master's teachings. To embrace Shabbat (the biblical Sabbath), to correct certain erroneous dogmas concerning the very nature of the One God and so on. The main Nicolaitane heresies remained in place and were not even questioned by the Protestant Reformers.
Despite this, there were still innumerable sincere and devoted people within the Roman, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant Churches and for them and for future generations HaShem remained present within the Church working for the good of His people and the eventual establishment of His Kingdom.
Revelation 3:1 "And to the angel of the assembly [church] in Sardis write:"He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars says these things:
"I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 3:2 Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God.
3:3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If therefore you won't watch, I will come as a thief, and you won't know what hour I will come upon you.
3:4 Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 3:5 He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
3:6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.In these verses the Master directly tells us that much has now been lost but that some remains.
The Church of Philadelphia: The Church in Revival: The Great Awakening through World War One
1726 CE - 1914 CE: Then there occurred that exciting period of time known as the Great Awakening. Volumes could and have been written about this period but I will try and keep this brief. This spiritual awakening produced several ministers and ministries seeking to restore spirituality and life to the Nicean Christian faith. These people ministered in all segments of the Church. To be sure some were charlatans but many were men and women of profound spiritual awareness and faith.
Early on in this period, in fledgling America the First Great Awakening occurred. This Awakening began in the Dutch Reformed Churches of New Jersey circa 1726. It soon spread to the Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches. This spiritual Awakening finally reached its zenith in New England in the 1740's. It produced thinkers such as Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) -- inspired by people like John Locke (1632-1704) -- John Wesley (1703-1791) and George Whitfield (1714-1770), scholarly Christians who opposed the high level of emotionalism that was typical of the Enlightenment and who demanded a return to biblical religion and faith. Itinerant preachers such as the Reverends Gilbert Tennent, Samuel Davies, Eleazar Wheelock, Samuel Finley etc. traveled throughout the thirteen colonies expounding emotionally charged "American Protestantism," said to be a new breed of religion that was born of American experiences. The Awakening fires spread to Virginia and elsewhere in the 1750's, but soon ended under the onslaught of Humanist certainties and the growing embrace of Secular Science and Darwinism. The impact of this Awakening was essential for the colonies as it created a bond between them ("e pluribus unum") and established a sense of national identity and social destiny as a distinct people. Protestant Americans began to hail the United States as the "New Zion," a virtual Protestant Promised Land. Jonathan Edwards considered the Awakening to be a "surprising work of God" and boldly proclaimed that Jesus had "flung the door of mercy open so that all could enter"... a clear and at-the-time bold rejection of Calvinism!
During this period, the fatherhood aspect of the Nicene Christian Triune God was emphasized (during the Third Great Awakening it was the Son aspect that was stressed), and the Colonists regarded themselves as His special children with a Manifest Destiny to fulfill. This "Manifest Destiny" of course also had a dark side, especially for those who did not fit into it. For the Colonists and American Protestantism however, it appeared to be a divine empowerment! These American children of God fully expected their God to lead them as a nation and to punish them for any sins they allowed, even as He did the children of Israel. This was a strict and disciplined form of Christianity and was arguably just what the dead church period of Smyrna needed! As a result of these beliefs "submission of the stubborn human will" became an important concept and the religious life of the day and the fiery sermons of the evangelists reflected this. Holiness in all things came to typify this Puritan revival.
According to E.S. Gaustad:
"...the founding of the Separates and the Separate Baptists was the most conspicuous institutional effect of the [first] Great Awakening in New England." It was by no means the only one however. By 1755, there were over 125 Separate (or Strict Congregationalist) churches in New England. By 1776 over 70 Separate Baptist Churches existed. Later came the Universalists, the Unitarians, Free Will Baptists, Shakers and Quakers, the New Light Theologies (later organized as Edwardsianism, Hopkinsianism, and Consistent Calvinism), etc. The general-consensus of these movements was fundamentally Calvinistic, but this view was gradually changing.John Calvin was one of the primary 16th century Reformers and a gifted debater and theologian. His teachings had a profound influence on the Reformed Christian Movement. The distinctive teaching of Calvinism is the doctrine of predestination. This belief holds that before the foundations of the heavens were set in place, God had already chosen those people who would be saved. The teaching is not that God, in His foreknowledge knew which people would choose to accept Him, but rather that God chose who He would save. Those He did not choose are damned to suffer eternal torment in Hell no matter what they might do or desire to the contrary, even before entering their mother's womb! People have no choice in the matter of their salvation. This doctrine is not as popular as it once was, but many Christians still accept it as true. Most Christians do not really understand the Christian doctrine of predestination nor its dark implications.
The American-wrought emphasis on individuality
The First Great Awakening promoted the notion that God was willing to save anyone who truly repented and placed their faith in him. This was a harsh blow to then popular Calvinism! To do otherwise, it was argued, would be un-American because in America a person was only limited by his own choices! If an American wanted to be saved then he could get saved!
The ministers of the Awakening viewed America as God's tool for the establishment of "the millennial reign of Christ" and themselves as his veritable ministers to that end. American Christians were sending out missionaries to the ends of the earth promoting not only Nicean Christianity but Americanism as well! It was America's destiny to lead to world to Jesus!
And so despite the work of the Secular Humanists this period of Church and American history gradually flowered into the Second and Third Great Awakenings that abruptly ended with the onset of World War One in 1914 -- as Master Y'shua had foretold:
Matt 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren't troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.
24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places.
24:8 But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.The King James Version has verse 8 as "...All these are the beginning of sorrows" however "the beginning of birth pains" is more accurate and more telling. The word odin specifically means "birth pangs" rather than "sorrows."
The "Last Days" began either in 1948 (when Israel declared its independence) or 1967 (when the Jews retook Jerusalem) as the "Tree of Israel" began putting forth its leaves (Matt 24:32 etc). There is support for either date (I lean toward the former). The two world wars were literally the "birth pangs" of the Elite fascist empire known as the New World Order! The same people who orchestrated and financed the world wars are now hard at work financing and implementing the Global Union over which Rex Mundi will soon take control of the world as we will see as our study continues.
As the sixth church period was dawning Calvinism was waning fast and new religious forms and doctrines were being developed (or realized) by diverse Protestant and heterodox thinkers. Among the new Christian groups that arose during this shift away from Calvinism were the Missouri Synod, the Norwegian Evangelical Synod, the Church of the United Brethren, the Disciples of Christ, the diverse Millerite sects, and Mormonism (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). Also appearing was Swedenborgianism, Taylorism (or Beecherism), Mesmerism, Owenism, Fourierism, the Oneida Society, the Mennonites, the Moravians, the Seventh Day Baptists, the Six Principle Baptists and Dunker Baptists, the Free Will Baptists, the YMCA, etc. This enlivening Americana feeling of divinely inspired individual responsibility and worth began again among the New England Congregationalists. The renewed revival fires soon spread throughout the United States -- being found in all major denominations to some degree including among the Roman Catholics. By the mid 19th century however this movement likewise was absorbed into the greater religious structures and stagnation of traditional dogma and began to wane.
It should be remembered that these flowerings of intellectual and spiritual awakening did not and do not occur in a vacuum. Each appearance of spiritual renewal is directly tied to the experiences (for good or ill) of its predecessors. Such was again the case between the years 1875 and 1914 when the Third Great Awakening occurred.
Note that some authorities do not see a break between the Second and Third Awakening as I list them here. Its semantics really.
I discuss these awakenings and share a lot of information about the Third Great Awaking in particular Here. During this Awakening the modern religious landscape was established.
Revelation 3:7 "To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write:"He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says these things:
3:8 "I know your works (behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut), that you have a little power, and kept my word, and didn't deny my name.
3:9 Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
3:10 Because you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 3:11 I am coming quickly! Hold firmly that which you have, so that no one takes your crown.
3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.
3:13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.The Third Great Awakening
Powerful words indeed! During this period of Revival congregational elements within all branches of the Nicean Church were rising and reclaiming some of their spiritual potential. They were studying the Bible as never before and seeking Truth rather than Church tradition. The teachings of many of these new emerging assemblies as well as the reforms taking place in several of the more established church communities were asking tough questions and demanding answers!
As the Seventh Day Baptists had done previously, now more groups reclaimed the biblical Sabbath. Others began stressing the doctrine of the priesthood of all Believers and rejecting the hierarchical divides between the worshipers and God. Yet others were exploring the depths of what they called "the Baptism of fire," the "Latter Day Rains," or "Holy Spirit Baptism." Chief among this Pentecostal Revival was the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the little Azuza Street assembly.
Fundamental long established Nicean doctrines were now being challenged and in some cases even rejected for more biblical doctrine. For the first time since Constantine several of the Christian sects began using the name of God (Yahweh, Jehovah) rather than using the traditional "Lord God." Some also began using the onoma or name of Y'shua rather than the Roman Catholic pseudonym "Jesus."
As a result of this sincere questing for Truth a "door was opened" for these Christians (remember this door analogy as we look at the final church period next). The Believers were now given the opportunity to restore the Noahide Nazarene Way and reclaim the teachings of Y'shua the Anointed! They were still woefully divided but there was among many a sincere desire to restore Christian unity. These Believers were given "a little power" and with it they almost did a wondrous deed!
Almost.
But the Nicolaitanes were still in control of most of the structures of the Church and they resisted this move toward Revival. The integrity of the Bible and even the historicity of Y'shua was being called into question now and faith in God was quietly being discouraged unless it fell into the confines of established doctrine. "Beware the cults! A cry that would return with a vengeance in the 1960's and 70's. As we just read: "Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but lie...." These false Believers who claimed to follow the Way of the Master but did not were not to be ignored!
We know from earlier verses (2:9 for instance) that these Nicolaitane forces were always working within the Universal Church to dis-empower the Way Movement and promote the error of Balaam. Their purpose has never been the spreading of the Good News of Y'shua but the Bad News of "that woman Jezebel" (2:19)! She who will become the Mother of Harlots, Babylon the Great.
This budding renewal of Way Consciousness had to be stopped! For a while however even this element had to hold its peace before this Movement of Ruach ha Kodesh (The Spirit of God).
Master Y'shua acknowledged that even he didn't know when the Last Days would begin (Mark 13:32) but clearly the time was drawing closer. Yet due to the faithfulness of these Believers HaShem 'kept them from the hour of testing.'
And Lucifer was livid!
Unwilling to allow the restoration of the Way his Elite forces (the Bavarian Illuminati etc) took drastic measures!
They began World War One!
And, as our Master foretold:
Matt 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren't troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.
24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...As the period of the Great Awakenings was ending, the first major signs that the End of the Times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24) had arrived was clear to see for everyone who knew the prophecies!
The doctrinal debates were interesting but the Dawn of the Final Church Period was now at hand and both Heaven and Earth shuttered at the realization.
The First World War was the beginning of the birth pangs of the End of the Age.
The Church of the Laodiceans:
1914 CE - Present: Following the onset of World War One -- "The Great War to End All Wars" -- everything changed. Faith in God and observance of religious principles as matters of personal devotion and piety began to wane abruptly into the hedonism of 1920's. The 1923 Scopes "Money Trial" should have confirmed to everyone that the leadership of the United States had officially rejected the God of the Bible and yet Christendom slept on in growing apathy. That landmark case confirmed that the American people were no longer willing to hold their leaders accountable according to God's standards. In the years that followed the religious freedoms of the American people were steadily chipped away. Across the nation children of Christian parents were being indoctrinated in the new religion of Secular Humanism. Some parents were concerned and placed their kids in private Christian schools, but most didn't even notice. The Laodecian end of the Church Age had dawned.
The Book of Job records the ongoing struggle that forms the heart of human existence: Would the world choose or reject God given the choice.
Historically most people in the world accepted God's existence and sovereignty according to the Light they had been granted. Perhaps they prayed to the God of Israel, to Jesus, to Allah, to Visnu, to Siva, to Ahura Mazda, to Sat Nam or according to some other name, but the vast majority of humans believed in God. Again, according to the Light they had received. With the advent of the Twentieth Century however that was changing. And deliberately so!
As Nebraska State Senator Peter Hoagland said in 1983.
"Fundamental Bible-believing people do not have the right to indoctrinate their children in their religious beliefs because we, the state, are preparing them for the year 2000, when America will be part of a one-world global society and their children will not fit in."Secular Humanist Globalists like the late Walter Cronkite (who boasts in the video below that he was "proud to sit at Lucifer's right hand") were deliberately brainwashing the world into Secular Humanism and Globalism:
Walter Cronkite (and Hillary Clinton) at the World Federalist Association: Y'shua the Anointed told us that the One God has many sheep in various folds (John 10:16), but now that is changing. Secular Humanism is (along with Islam) becoming the world's most widely practiced religion and Nicean Christianity is crumbling into irrelevance as Christians embrace Darwinism and Humanism. Even in India, the most religious country on Earth, Atheism is dangerously on the rise and threatening to destroy Bharata Varsa. Today most Jews say they are not convinced that HaShem even exists and in countless Nicean Christian Churches we hear similar doubts, even from the pulpit in many cases!
Matthew 24:10 Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another.
24:11 Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray.
24:12 Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.In the aftermath of the World Wars it is clear that the world has made its decision. The people of Earth have embraced Secular Humanism and abandoned any meaningful relationship with God. Throughout the western world and beyond real faith in God is now regarded as a mindless superstition or even as a mental illness requiring extensive therapy!
Yet we humans have a psychological need to believe in something beyond ourselves! To have faith in something larger! But the Nicolaitane doctrines of the Church no longer satisfy the Humanist corrupted intellects of the masses. As orphaned lambs most now suckle at the teet of a she wolf while pleading fidelity to a Mother Church that can no longer nourish them! Little do they realize that once they are fattened up that demonic she-wolf will devour them body and soul! The vast majority of Nicean Christians today "claim to be Jews -- or Christians -- but they are not" (compare Rev. 2:9 and 3:9)! Most have become true Laodecians.
And woe is upon them because:
God is dead.
God remains dead.
And we have killed him.
How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
After years of Secular Humanist brainwashing in the public schools and media the majority no longer have faith in the Bible nor in the God it proclaims. And so today as we rush to our mutual destruction like moths to the Globalist flame the fastest growing religion on earth is the one that holds, as a fundamental dogma, the duty to genocide God's people Israel! Islam is now the world's largest single religion (when Catholicism and Protestantism are considered separately) and is by far the fastest growing. The world has become suicidal!
As we move ever closer to the end of the Age Y'shua the Anointed's warning to the Laodecian Church becomes both more relevant and more ignored.
Revelation 3:14 "To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write:"The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Head of God's creation, says these things:
3:15 "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.
3:17 Because you say, 'I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;' and yet don't realize that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked;
3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.
3:19 As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.
3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me. 3:21 He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne.
3:22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies."While discussing the Church of Philadelphia we read: "... I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut..."
That door will soon be shut! God has declared everyone unworthy!
The Nicolaitane Heresies have all but destroyed the Way Movement and that door to divine communion will soon be closed!
From this point on communion with HaShem is still possible however one must specifically "knock on the closed door" and request admittance as in days prior to the coming of Master Y'shua. Soon Gentiles will only be able to approach HaShem as a Noahide, a child of Noah, not a member of "the Church."
Don't misunderstand me here, at this present moment in history (September, 2009) God has not yet finished "vomiting out" the Church, but that day is drawing near. People should be very selective the churches they attend, if they attend any at all. Much evil is being wrought today "in Jesus' name!"
Y'shua the Anointed, who is revealing these things through his disciple John, says that due to the rampant lack of faith and hypocrisy within this final church period God will soon "vomit" these Nicean Christians and their hierarchical structures from His mouth! What a powerful, all-consuming condemnation this is!
While at this point (September, 2009) there remains within the Laodicean Church counless sincere Believers, the Church itself is even now being rejected by God and Master Y'shua! Soon the call will echo forth:
Revelation 18:4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, that you have no participation in her sins, and that you don't receive of her plagues, 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.That time is not yet.
But soon.
The Apostle and Prophet Paul shares this same dire warning this way. It is worth taking a few moments to understand this important message!
Romans 11:1 I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
11:2 God didn't reject his people, which he foreknew....First understand that the Jews remain, as they have been since the days of Abraham, the Chosen People of HaShem. Were this not so, Paul argues, then our reliance on the Jewish Master Y'shua the Anointed would have no basis!
11:16 If the first fruit is holy, so is the lump. If the root is holy, so are the branches.Had HaShem rejected the "root of the Tree" then we "branches" would have no standing with God! Nicean Christians betray Israel at their peril!
In the following important section Paul will be referencing the coming Kingdom of HaShem using the analogy of Israel as the Tree of God (referencing Daniel 4:14). This analogy has a long and honored biblical basis. We can not understand the role of the Way (or the Church) without understanding this information. So, take a break if you need to, grab something to drink, then come back and read this carefully. This is absolutely essential:
11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree; 11:18 don't boast over the branches. But if you boast, it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you.
11:19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in."
11:20 True; by their unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by your faith. Don't be conceited, but fear; 11:21 for if God didn't spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
11:22 See then the goodness and severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
11:23 They also, if they don't continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
11:24 For if you were cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more will these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
11:25 For I don't desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won't be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in..."...until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in."
We'll look into this in more detail below, but first let's finish reading this section.
11:26 ... and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written,"There will come out of Zion the Deliverer,
and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.11:27 This is my covenant to them,
when I will take away their sins."11:28 Concerning the Good News [Gospel], they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sake. 11:29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
11:30 For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, 11:31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy. 11:32 For God has shut up all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all.11:33 Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
11:34 "For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
11:35 "Or who has first given to him,
and it will be repaid to him again?"11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.
There is so very much important information here!
First, "For God has shut up all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all."
This is what we saw in our text (3:8 and 3:20). With this final church age God has "closed the door!" God has judged everyone unworthy of His blessings! Now, as the Laodecian Church is "vomited out" everyone who comes to the door and knocks in sincerity will be allowed to "dine with God" which is to say, to be nourished by Him.
And again, "...until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in..."
This "fullness of the Gentiles" is that period of time referenced by Master Y'shua this way:
Luke 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations [i.e. the Diaspora]. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."The Times of the Gentiles" will end after the Laodicean Church is vomited out of God's mouth and when the Jews embrace their destiny as a nation of kings and priests (i.e. just shy of three and a half years after the Abomination of Desolation occurs -- much more on this later in the study). When they do, Moshiach (Messiah) will come and establish the Kingdom of HaShem as promised. Then, His Will "will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
As the Laodecian Church is "vomited out" or as these Nicean Christian branches are severed from the Tree of Israel and cast into the fire, the Vatican and her denominational daughters will become the core of Babylon the Great, the Globalist Whore referenced as Jezebel above (2:19). We will discuss this later as we come to that part of the Revelation, God permitting.
There is a key understanding here that we don't to want to miss:
Since its inception the Roman Papacy and most subsequent Christian denominations have pointed to Israel's short comings, citing these as the reason God turned to the Gentiles. However throughout its history, as John reminds us in his presentation of the seven church periods, we see the absolute hypocrisy and fallacy in this finger pointing!
Yes it is true, as a people the Jews allowed the Oral Torah to move them towards legalism and away from reliance on the living God (as Master Y'shua laments in the Gospels). And yes, at times they were led astray by the worship of other gods as candidly recorded in the Torah and Tanack, but note that they always returned to HaShem.
Now consider this: in a mere 300 years the Way allowed itself to be completely co-opted by a globalist Pagan religious system. It allowed many of its most cherished doctrines and beliefs to be compromised. It adopted every one of its holidays without exception from Pagan religions. It radically redefined the nature of the biblical God as it formally embraced the redesigned Roman Sun god Sol Invictus, even adopting his day of worship, Sun Day and abandoned the biblical Sabbath. And after nearly 2000 years that doctrinal system still holds authority over their Movement. And consider that according to the prophets, this Nicolaitane cabal is going to finally realize its dream of a global religious structure: Babylon the Great.
Please don't misunderstand my point here. God looks at the heart and accepts all who sincerely worship Him according the Light they possess. God has not (yet) abandoned the Church and when sincere Christians pray He accepts their prayers.
However it is also vital to understand that unlike the Jews, who were never abandoned by God, the Church is even now being 'vomited out of His Mouth' in part because of its Nicolaitane doctrines, its hypocrisy and its apathy!
Where then is the justification for finger pointing? Are we supposed to believe the Church has been anymore obedient to HaShem than the Jews? No way!
The Master addressed this when dealing with the woman caught in the act of adultery.
John 7:53 Everyone went to his own house, 8:1 but Y'shua went to the Mount of Olives.
8:2 Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down, and taught them.
8:3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the midst, 8:4 they told him, "Rabbi, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. 8:5 Now in our Torah, Moses commanded us to stone such. What then do you say about her?" 8:6 They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of.But Y'shua stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger.
8:7 But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her."
8:8 Again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground.8:9 They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last.
Y'shua was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle. 8:10 Y'shua, standing up, saw her and said, "Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?"8:11 She said, "No one, Lord."
Y'shua said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more."
Like this woman (Mary Magdalene according to some traditions) the Wife of HaShem has sinned and much of the Nicean Church (the at-least equally adulterous Bride of Y'shua) is standing around ready to stone her! But what does the Master say: Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
We know from both Scripture and personal experience that "all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Like this woman we ALL deserve to be stoned according to the righteousness required under the Torah. However Paul adds this:
Ephesians2:8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 2:9 not of works, that no one would boast"...not of works, that no one would boast."
So then... why do so many boast and condemn the Jews?
GOD alone is worthy and throughout history He has proven conclusively that neither the Jews, nor the Noahides, nor the Gentiles at large deserve His Grace!
But He bestows it anyway!
Out of LOVE.
According to Master Y'shua and his disciples it is true that the Jewish people wavered in their service to HaShem. Yes. This is part of what Romans 11 is discussing above. However Paul also clearly explains that this failure was foreknown by God and was used by HaShem to bestow His mercy on all people!
The Seven Periods of the Christian Church have absolutely confirmed the words of Paul:
Romans 3:9 ...What then? Are we [Jews] better than they [Gentiles]? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin. 3:10 As it is written,"There is no one righteous;
no, not one.
3:11 There is no one who understands.
There is no one who seeks after God.
3:12 They have all turned aside.
They have together become unprofitable.
There is no one who does good,
no, not, so much as one...."3:27 Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 3:28 We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 3:29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn't he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 3:30 since indeed there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith. 3:31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law.
Through the entire span of prophecy we return where we began: With God's relationship with His Chosen People and His intention to use them to establish His Kingdom on Earth.
How He will do this is the subject of the remainder of this glorious prophecy.
Genesis 12:1 Now Yahweh said to Abram, "Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you [Eretz Israel]. 12:2 I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.
12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you."Remember what Y'shua the Anointed says to us all!
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock:
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in and we will have fellowship"This study of the seven periods of the Christian churches is the introduction to everything that comes next.
I realize it will be difficult for many to accept what has thus far been stated about the Church. No offense has been intended and I hope none has been taken. From this point on everything is yet to come!
The Apostle John wrote this Revelation of Y'shua the Anointed somewhere around 95 CE. At the time he was a very old man who had witnessed a great many things. As we conclude chapter three, his prophecy is only beginning. I hope you will continue reading and sharing your thoughts!
Maranatha!
Having Done All You Can To Stand
STAND Here ends chapter three.
Next
For more information on this topic visit:
Thus Say The Prophets
And
Children
Of NoahThe Noahide Nazarene Way My Multiply Blog Thus Say the Prophets AllFaith.com
Thus Says
The ProphetsThus Say the Prophets The Noahide Nazarene Way The AllFaith Group Religious Studies My Multiply Blog AllFaith.com