Keys to Prophecy: God Works in History, Part II of III

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The example of the Assyrians

God’s very own people, the descendants of Abraham, had become very wicked in ancient times. They had themselves turned to the very sins of the Canaanites and the Amorites whom they had dispossessed some 800 or so years earlier. The pictures of the moral condition of both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah were indeed very dark. It included a great deal of lying, cheating, violence, fornication and adultery, worshipping false gods, and even human sacrifice. The capstone was that there was no inclination to repentance.

The Assyrians at that time were a prosperous people,

and at their height dominated much of what we now call the Middle East. Art and architecture were prospering under them, and they had some very good engineers among them. Also they were a very ruthless and bloodthirsty people, and were able to field some very capable armies, with the engineering skills to attack formidable fortified cities.

This is what Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, is thought to have looked like at its height.

So God raised up the Assyrians to bring judgement
on sinful nations, including Israel.

The Assyrians were very proud of their status as successful conquerers. They were on the top of the heap. They could do as they pleased with their conquests, and the people involved, and brutally suppressed any opposition. Part of their strategy in maintaining their conquests was simple to completely uproot captive peoples and move them en masse to far distant locations, thus removing any impulse to rebellion. They were fierce, successful and proud.

The Assyrians bragged about mutilating captives in their artwork. The above picture shows Assyrians soldiers skinning captives alive. From a bas-relief.

But God said the Assyrians should NOT
get carried away with themselves.

“5 Ho Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation! 6 I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7 However he doesn’t mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.”
Isa 10:5-7 WEB

Isaiah tells us that Assyria is merely
a tool that God is using.

“Shall the axe boast itself against him who hews therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? as if a rod should wield those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up him who is not wood.”
Isa 10:15 WEB

So what about also sinful Assyria?

Why should they get away with the things they are doing? God’s answer is that they won’t. When God is finished using Assyria, He will then bring judgment also on Assyria!

“Therefore it shall happen that, when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.”
Isa 10:12 WEB

By and large this is not speaking of the “miraculous,” but of an Almighty God working behind the scenes to both protect the righteous and punish the wicked.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: God Works in History, Part I of III

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There is a master plan.

One place that gives a summary in terms of objectives, is in Acts 17. How He acts is summed up in a single verse. Paul speaks of God making mankind and says,

“And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;”
Acts 17:26 KJV

Paul spoke to the philosophers in Athens and outlined God’s grrand plan for mananging this present world.

Among other things it says that there appointed times for men. Times for them to flourish, times for them to perhaps fail and waste away, or times perhaps for renewal. Time for Babylon to rise, and a time for her to fall. A time for the Medes and the Persians to rise, and a time for them to fall. A time for Greece to rise, and a time for Rome to rise. Or the United States of America, or Britain, or France or Russia, or whoever. Then Paul says something else: God appointed the bounds of their habitations. In other words, he says God determines where nations will live, and their boundaries!

These are very long range plans.

In the long ago, in the nineteenth century BC, God spoke to Abraham about a nation with whom He was not well pleased: the Canaanites. God had brought Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees to the land of Palestine. God said,

… “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”
Gen 15:7 WEB

So God is going to give the land of Palestine to Abraham, that is to his descendants, his “seed.” In the passage which follows Abraham enters into a covenant with God involving these promises. God assures Abraham that he will inherit these land after his descendants spend 400 year in another land as slaves. There are special reasons why it is to be 400 years. For one that 400 years is so that Abraham’s descendants will have time to grow into a nation themselves. There is something else, though. It is not yet time for Abraham’s descendants to take over this land, but,

“In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”
Gen 15:16 WEB

So we can see: God is very patient, and will put up with much bad conduct, at times even for centuries, but there is limit to what God will endure. When a peoples sins are “full,” sometimes he will do away with a people, and give that land to others. And God foresees, and prepares a people to replace the Amorites.

“He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding;”
Dan 2:21 WEB

What then is the purpose of these plans?

“that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.”
Acts 17:27 WEB

KJV is the King James Version of 1611

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Coronavirus and Scripture, Part III of III

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“Plague” is a very general word in the Bible sense

It is far wider than our modern sense of a wide spread disease, epidemic, or pandemic. The basic Greek word used in the New Testament is pl?g? and it means to hit something. It a word used to describe a literal beating, or the wounds that might result from such a beating. Thus it could include any serious blow to a man, or to a nation, or to the world.

There is though another aspect of the wars and disease and desolations of our world which are such a huge influence in our sinful world. It is that,

These blows often serve as Trumpets of Warning

These blows are often not the end in themselves, but they serve as warnings. In Revelation chapter 8 things are going very wrong on the earth. The prayers of the saints are going up to God as incense in Rev 8:1-4. This results in a response, and seven angels are given seven trumpets to sound. Not the final punishments for the sins of men or nations, but loud warnings of judgement to come for our sins, Rev 8:6ff.

Similarly, also these age long disasters which fall on us as men are often meant to warn us, and to straighten us out.

The First purpose would be to wake us up

Chapter VI.” Trumpets of Warning” in “Revealing the Christian Age,” gives a more complete discussion the trumpets in Revelation chapters 8-11.

First to the fact that not everything is right in our world. That things are often not even right with ourselves. Often we know our sins, but do not deal with them. Let’s face it, as men we are frequently a very hard headed lot. What will get our attention? What will get us to turn and avoid final judgement for our sins.

“Tell them, As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die, …?”
Ezek 33:11 WEB

Often we are asleep to the dangers that come on us. First God will try gentle methods, and when these do not work, then more severe methods are often allowed.

“It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline?”
Heb 12:7 WEB

The Second purpose would be to get us to
no longer live for ourselves

Quite often in life we are all wrapped up in ourselves. However, it says of Jesus,

“… all things have been created through him, and for him.”
Col 1:16 WEB

We were made by Jesus, and for Jesus! What then should be our orientation for this temporary life we have now, in this temporary world?

We need to be aware that Jesus came to earth to die for your sins and mine, so that we will NOT have to die for our sins.

“He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again.”
2Cor 5:15 WEB

God wants us to realize how transient we are, how vulnerable we are, so that we will act with a mind of wisdom. The Coronavirus and Scripture.

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Coronavirus and Scripture, Part II of III

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When speaking of major powers at work in the Christian Age, the Bible uses more than one set of symbolism. One set is,

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
in Revelation chapter 6

I do not think Jesus is just speaking here of things at the very end of the age. I think rather He is speaking of powers that are at work all through the Christian Age. You might even say they are the everyday things of history. I am only going to discuss two of these horsemen in this post.

The first horseman is Jesus the Christ Himself

Revealing the Christian gives a more complete disucssion of the Four Horsemen who run through history. It is available through your bookseller.

Jesus is THE dominant power of our age!

“And behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came forth conquering, and to conquer.”
Rev 6:2 (Compare Rev 19:11-16)

ALL authority has been given to Jesus the Christ, both in heaven and on earth, Mtt 28:18. Jesus reaches out to men to try to get them to change before it is eternally too late. What is the method to this rule?

“26 He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.”
Acts 17:26-27

Jesus presently rules in the midst of His enemies, Psa 110:1-2. He rules over the kings of the earth NOW, Rev 1:5. These kings are warned,

“10 Now therefore be wise, you kings.
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve Yahweh with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
For his wrath will soon be kindled.
Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.”
Psa 2:10-12

Everyone will have to submit to Jesus the Christ, before this is over.

The fourth horseman is Death and Hades

“And behold, a pale horse, and he who sat on it, his name was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him.”
Rev 6:8

Now this is NOT talking about extraordinary times at the end of this age, but we could say normal times, in an abnormal, sinful world. This ‘horseman” has authority to let death rule over “one fourth of the earth” (Rev 6:8 above).

This “horseman” includes the wars of our world (“to kill with the sword”), the famines and desolations we see on TV, the murders, the inexplicable accidents. It includes the Spanish Flu of 1918, and the regular flu which kills about 60,000 each year in the United States. In truth the World is in “bondage to decay,” Rom 8:21, and it affects us all, everyday.

Sin and death go together. Things are not right in our universe, things are not right with us. Compare Psalm 94 in our previous post.

The only real escape is a permanent one

Giving our lives to Jesus Christ so we might be counted worthy of that new heavens and new earth where only righteousness dwells, 2Pe 3:10-13.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Coronavirus and Scripture, Part I of III

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I am afraid it is a fact of life that this world is under a curse.

It all began when our ancestors rejected the
Instructions of the Lord our God.

When that happened God told our ancestors directly that,

“… cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.”
Gen 3:17

Not all of the environmental problems we have are because of trash or plastic bags or oil on the ground or in the water. Our sins bring a curse on both our work and on our environment.

Now God can either help us or oppose us,
and He often does.

The prophet Jeremiah spoke of how God often deals with nations.

“7 At what instant I shall speak concerning A nation, and concerning A kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it; 8 if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them. 9 At what instant I shall speak concerning A nation, and concerning A kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10 if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good, with which I said I would benefit them.”
Jer 18:7-10

God is the one who gives us prosperity or discipline. We may think our work gives us what is good, but God says,

“17 and lest you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth. 18 But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as at this day.”
Deut 8:17-18

He can send people to oppose us, or can give us peace with other men.

“When a man’s ways please Yahweh,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”
Prov 16:7

God Himself disciplines the nations

Sometimes we may think God doesn’t even know what we are doing, but the Bible says something different in Psalm 94.

“8 Consider, you senseless among the people;
You fools, when will you be wise?
9 He who implanted the ear, won’t he hear?
He who formed the eye, won’t he see?
10 He who disciplines the nations, won’t he punish?
He who teaches man knows.
11 Yahweh knows the thoughts of man,
That they are futile.
12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah,
And teach out of your law;
13 That you may give him rest from the days of adversity, Until the pit is dug for the wicked.”
Psa 94:8-13

We live in a world in which things have gone wrong,
WE have gone wrong.

So now things can go wrong against us! Including things like viruses.

“From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence,
Be Thy strong arm our ever sure defense;
Thy true religion in our hearts increase,
Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.

“Refresh Thy people on their toilsome way,
lead us from night, to never ending day;
Fill all our lives with love and grace divine,
And glory laud and praise be ever Thine.”

From our National Hymn, “God of Our Fathers.”

Romans 8 speaks of that principle of Physics
called “entropy,” or the Second Law
of Thermodynamics.

It calls it vanity, and our “bondage to decay,” and does say that one day,

“that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.”
Rom 8:21

It hasn’t happened yet, but it will ! Jesus offers it through His gospel. Despite Covid-19

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: There is more than one Jerusalem

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David did say,

“For David said, Yahweh, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people; and he dwells in Jerusalem forever:”
1Chron 23:25 WEB

“Forever,” David says. That is in line with the prophecy in 2Samuel 7 about that special son of David who would build the temple of the Lord. Solomon does tell us by inspiration that he was the fulfillment of this prophecy.

“Yahweh has established his word that he spoke; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ”
1Kgs 8:20 WEB

That indeed seems to fit 2Samuel 7, and there it is that it says,

“Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before you: your throne shall be established forever.”
2Sam 7:16 WEB

That would fit 1Chron 23:25 reviewed above. Still there are problems.

For Solomon’s throne only lasted until 586 BC.

For another 50 years few Jews lived in Jerusalem. Further, starting in the second century AD Jews were banned from living in Jerusalem for many centuries. None of which sounds like “forever”, and I am sure it caused many to wonder if these prophecies were false.

Nonetheless, are other factors at work here?

For starters, Heb 1:5 says that 2Samuel 7 refers to Jesus the Christ. That would have Solomon as a “type”/symbolic of Jesus. Of that fulfillment Isaiah seems to speak of a Mount Zion and Jerusalem beyond the moon and sun passing away!

“Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Yahweh of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem …”
Isa 24:23 WEB

Present Jerusalem, pictured above with the Mohammedan “Dome of the Rock” sitting where Solomon’s Temple used to sit, is symbolic of the New Jerusalem in the New Heaven and the New Earth.

Additionally Isaiah writes of a time of no more mourning or crying in Jerusalem. For instance,

“For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more; he will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry; when he shall hear, he will answer you.”
Isa 30:19 WEB

Further, Isaiah clearly speaks in more than one passage of this earth, and this universe being completely destroyed. For instance in Isaiah 13, and Isaiah 34. Isaiah writes well before the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. So what are the missing parts of the puzzle.

For Isaiah writes of a new
heavens and earth.

“17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 18 But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.”
Isa 65:17-18 WEB

And that is the context in the New Testament. When God makes everything new (Rev 21:5), He make a new Jerusalem.

“I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband.”
Rev 21:2 WEB

Some of those Old Testament passages are about the “new,” heavenly, Jerusalem. And that one, of that kingdom, indeed will be forever!

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: There is more than one Mount Zion

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Both Mount Zion and Jerusalem are symbolic
of heavenly entities.

Also both the earthly Zion is spoken of in Scripture, and also the heavenly Zion. For instance you can see this in Psalm 11. In Psalm 11 David is being told that he had better run for his life, because the wicked are getting ready to shoot him in the dark, Psa 11:1-2. David then asks very mournfully, if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do, Psa 11:3? Indeed, David has already said that Yahweh lives on Mount Zion.

“Sing praises to Yahweh, who dwells in Zion,
And declare among the people what he has done.”
Psa 9:11 WEB

But there is more to the story.

Despite this, David by inspiration also says in Psa 11:4, “Yahweh is in his holy temple.” There is more to point out even here. In English, and in many languages, there is a word for a temple, and word for a palace, and these are different concepts. In Hebrew however the word hekal does double duty as the word for both a king’s palace and a religious temple. In this sense then, the temple of God is really God’s palace to the Hebrew mind. The other term used in Hebrew is to call it “the house of God,” which is the ordinary term for in Hebrew for a “house,” byet, which even further enforces the idea that God lives there, and David did say Yahweh lives/dwells in Zion, Psa 9:11 above.

Solomon of course denies the literalness of God
living on earthly Mount Zion,

“But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built!”
1Kgs 8:27 WEB

But David says more that once more.

“Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth. ”
Psa 50:2 WEB

Or again, and of course Jerusalem is Jeru-salem, David speaks of the original tent of meeting.

“His tent is also in Salem;
His dwelling place in Zion.”
Psa 76:2 WEB

And God’s rule goes forth out of Zion (a double meaning do you think?)

“Yahweh will send forth the rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies.”
Psa 11:2 WEB

Or another time, but perhaps more mysteriously

“Yahweh is great in Zion.
He is high above all the peoples.”
Psa 99:2 WEB

All the same, David gives details in Psalm 11.

Yes, Yahweh is in His holy temple, Psa 11:4a, and then he tells us,

“Yahweh is on his throne in heaven,” Psa 11:4b

The palace of God, the real palace, is in heaven.

God’s rule is not threatened by the rule or
opposition of someone on earth.

The old earthly temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem is only symbolic (a type) of the heavenly temple on the heavenly Mount Zion (the fulfillment).

“5 Yahweh examines the righteous,
But the wicked and him who loves violence his soul hates. Psa. 11:6 On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; Fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. ”
Psa 11:5-6 WEB

Earthly Zion is only symbolic, a type, of the true palace of God and His throne.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: The Kingdom will come!

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Even now the kingdom exists and Jesus has ALL authority, Mtt 28:18. Even now He rules over all of the kings of the earth, Rev 1:5, and if they do not serve His purposes, He may shatter them, Psa 2:9; or He may destroy in their way, Psa 2:12.

Just the same, there are future aspects to the
kingdom which are yet unseen.

Mankind has yet to see the kingdom in its fulness. So near the end of his life, Paul says,

“And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me for his heavenly kingdom; to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
2Tim 4:18 WEB

There is a future sense to this kingdom which is yet unseen, and Paul expects to be there. These things are to happen when Jesus comes again.

“20 and that he may send Christ Jesus, who was ordained for you before, 21 whom heaven must receive UNTIL the times of restoration of all things, which God spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets.”
Acts 3:20-21 WEB

So there are times of restoration which are yet to come. It is also called “times of refreshing.

“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,”
Acts 3:19 WEB

When does this restoration, this renewal happen. At the Second Coming of Christ, as seen above in Acts 3:21.

Then this present universe will pass away.

“… ”the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
2Pe 3:10 WEB

Then a new universe will come, a new universe where sin and death and entropy (things run down!) are no longer operating principles. So Peter notes,

This universe will pass away, and a new universe not subject to death and decay will be created.

“But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which dwells righteousness.”
2Pe 3:13 WEB

So also it says in Revelation that the apostle John says,

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.”
Rev 21:1 WEB

“He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.””
Rev 21:5 WEB

It is called “heaven,” or a new heavens and a new earth. It is called the heavenly kingdom. It will be an everlasting rule.

“Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end …”
Isa 9:7 WEB

At that time, Jesus will say to
one Christian,

““‘Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’”
Lk 19:17 WEB

And to another, “‘And you are to be over five cities.’” Lk 19:15. There will be cities there. This will be a real place. These things have not happened yet, but they will.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: The Kingdom is Growing Even Now

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The kingdom has been established, that is not a this-earth kingdom, Jn 18:36, and as discussed in the previous post.

Jesus has all the attributes of a king.

He has sat down on His Father’s throne in heaven.

“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.”
Rev 3:21 WEB

The “sat down with my Father” is a Greek aorist-active-infinitive, and is correctly translated as “sat down,” a past event.

Besides having a throne over Israel, and indeed over the entire earth, Jesus has all of the authority He needs.

“… “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.””
Mtt 28:18 WEB

This power is verified in more than one place. The Father has given Jesus authority over ALL flesh, Jn 17:2. Further, “The Father loves the Son, and has given ALL things into his hand,” Jn 3:35 He can do anything He wants with anyone or anything.

He rules NOW until …

“24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”
1Cor 15:24-26

The phrase “must reign” is a Greek present-active-infinitive, indication actions going on continuously in the present, until all of His enemies have been put down.

And Jesus making men citizens of His
kingdom NOW.

We Gentiles were at one time alienated from this kingdom.

“that you WERE at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, …”
Eph 2:12

The word translated as “ commonwealth” in many translations, is the word politeia, which is talking about citizenship, being part of a certain political unit. We gentiles (the nations) are now a part of the political unit, this kingdom of which Christ is the King, this commwealth if you will.

“13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, 15 having abolished in the flesh the hostility, the law of commandments …”
Eph 2:13-15 WEB

Jews and Gentiles in Christ are now citizens
of the same political unit.

“19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, 20 being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone;”
Eph 2:19-20 WEB

Jesus is leading all of his sheep to be part of one flock, Jn 10:16.

You “are” “Fellow citizens” sum-polites a word that is a combination of sum with, and the word for citizen polites.

The kingdom is NOW!

Men are getting in on the ground floor of the only eternal kingdom. The kingdom which will rule over ALL of the New Heavens and New Earth, Isa 65:17, Rev 21:1-2, 2Pe 3:13.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: The Kingdom is NOT of this World

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Jesus avoided a kingdom in this world,
even at the “right” time!

Jesus was performing some very powerful actions in John chapter 6, and He fed a crowd of thousands with one little boy’s lunch. Then it says,

“When therefore the people saw the sign which Jesus did, they said, “This is truly the prophet who comes into the world.””
Jn 6:14 WEB

So people were believing in Him. However, was this to be about a kingdom in this world?

“Jesus therefore, perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”
Jn 6:15 WEB

Jesus did NOT want a kingdom in this world. He could have had it in the first century, during His first coming. But that was not the plan. And what was planned was accomplished!

He announced it was not a “this earth” kingdom.

Really, this is reflected in His parables about “the kingdom of heaven.” Some would say that is about the heaven ruling over this earth, but heaven, and God on His throne, has always ruled over this earth (cf. Dan 4:17, and many other passages).

Then Jesus got very specific when being questioned by Pilate during that farce of His trial. Pilate asked Him directly during His trial. “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jn 18:33. Jesus then asked Pilate if he were asking this on his own or did someone else say that about Jesus. Pilate then responded, “I am not a Jew am I? … What have you done?” Jn 18:34.

Jesus then gave a succinct answer.

“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.”
Jn 18:36 WEB

Not of this earth, not a this creation, but part of a new glorious creation when God makes all things new, Rev 21:1.

Pilate realized Jesus was NOT a contender for
an earthly kingdom.

So then he said to the Jews and the mob, “I find no basis for a charge against him.” Jn 18:38 WEB

“I find no basis for a charge against him.” Jn 18:38 WEB

This world is in the process of passing away.

“… For the form of this world is passing away.”
1Cor 7:31 nf

Some want a worldly kingdom HERE, with their own
messiah ruling over all.

But that was NOT what was promised. Rather God said.

“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”
Isa 65:17 WEB

That is to say, a new universe where righteousness dwells, and of which sin and decay and entropy have no part. Jesus will not come to rule at some special time on earth. Rather He rules heaven and earth NOW, and will continue until all of His enemies are put down, 1Cor 15:24-26!

The premillennialist are confusing prophecies of heaven with prophecies of this present world.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

nf is my own translation based on the WEB.