King James Bible
King James Version (KJV)
Bible Questions & Discussion PAGE 80
Viewing page: 80 of 5703
< Previous Discussion Page Next Discussion Page >
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
Do you have a Bible comment or question?
Posting comments is currently unavailable due to high demand on the server.
Please check back in an hour or more. Thank you for your patience!
If I may interject and respond to your comments to GiGi.
All of this really comes down to "how are we to approach and interpret the Bible".
A key principle of Biblical interpretation is that we MUST UNDERSTAND the God Himself is the AUTHOR of the ENTIRE BIBLE. Every word, every phrase, every letter of every word, in the original languages is from the Mind and Mouth of God Himself. This means that God is the one that defines how is using the specific words and phrases He has chosen to present Truth.
In other words the Bible is its OWN INTERPRETER and its OWN DICTIONARY. We must not impose our own ideas as to how a particular passage, or even a word, is to be understood until we have harmonized our conclusion with anything and everything God declares about that conclusion throughout the ENTIRE BIBLE. This is not easy to do and takes study and patience in coming to Truth. And MOST IMPORTANTLY, it requires God Himself to open our Spiritual eyes and ears and to give us understanding.
The other principle which many fail to adopt is that Christ, God Himself, spoke in parables; and WITHOUT A PARABLE SPAKE HE NOT, throughout the ENTIRE BIBLE.
This does not mean we are to ignore the literal meaning of words and phrases. For example, every historical event recorded in the Bible occurred exactly as recorded in the literal sense. But in the specific words and phrases God chose to record that event, He is teaching us something about the Nature and Substance of His Judgment and Salvation program. This is the parable or spiritual nature of the way in which God wrote the Bible. And God COMMANDS us to approach the Bible in this way. (Read Mark 4).
So when God uses the term "Israel" or "Jerusalem" or "Lamb" or "water" or "land", or "church", etc., what is He teaching?
If we fail to do this, the Bible becomes fragmented and seemingly contradictory; which of course it is not.
It is consistent and absolutely true and trustworthy.
More perhaps later.
West Angeles Cogic Church Cathedral Los Angeles California
My COGIC WORSHIP: 1Corithians 15:3-4 KJV I Worship God that gives a standard to Justice- Morals, Socioeconomic. I Worship God that wants you to speak his word by faith, hearing, seeing, speaking, live. V15b Paragraph 3 My Interpetation: I Worship God that in control of mind, body, soul giving salvation and is intercession. II.v17-21 My Interpetation: I Worship God giving me armour of God Ephesians 6:10-18 to intervene on my behalf guarding myself. V17 Paragraph 1 My Interpetation: I Worship God showing me as his own always on time doing everything he says to be done of his word to me for my benefit. V19 My Interpetation: I Worship God that gives you a good reputation and character in the LORDS name. God my Father to reverence him to enjoy the benefits of personal relationship with him. V20 My Interpetation: I Worship the spirit of God which is obedeince and eternal life.
Paul was the vehicle by which that aspect was emphasized!
Thanks again for those scripture references!
God bless!
I agree and thanks for those scriptures and all that you do.
God bless!
God let the nation of Israel to choose their king only after this curse similar to what Moses administered in Deut.30.15-20
Here it is "protest solemnly unto them, and it is evident that Israel chose 'our king may judge us' and not God. In the Parable of the tares Israel is indicated as the tares that the enemy' Adversary slipped in. When Jesus was brought before Pilate we heard this nation or the 'Tares' shouting 'Away with him" They were vehement and nothing short of crucifixion would satisfy them, "Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar." Here we have the nub of God's warning. Now the text:
" And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day./ Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;/That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles."
Havig severed connections from God what the nation demanded was still holding true. They were sons of the devil as Jesus said in Jn.8.44. It was true at the time of Old Samuel and it was still the same under the pagan Rome. The field framed by the word of God beginning to sprout but the tares all stood up as one to affirm that in Satan they believed and it was implied 'no king but Caesar.'
On Oct. 5 2023, some sons of Belial as their forefathers had done to Elisha in the time of kings mocked att some Christian pilgrims unprovoked and brazen in their lawlessness,-and it has been going on unreported and the same spirit to show who their father is,. There is a parallel kingdoms cheek by jowl as it were. This implacable bloodletting the Jews have been perpetrating on poor Gazans show how far apart are these two kingdoms.
My focus will be on how one interpret the Millennium using old testament scriptures collaborated on into the New Testament.
The focus begins with is it taken Literally, figuratively or allegorical and most be shown definitively using scriptures.
I've seen individuals move the Millennium around to patch up their theology!
Blessings Brother, Enjoy your night.
If we go back to 1 Thess. 4 which many dispensationalists quote as proof of the rapture as being separate from the Lord's second coming I would like to direct you and others who believe this Scripture is not about the second coming of the Lord at the end of the age to what follows the passage in Ch. 4:13-18. Chapter 5 is still speaking of this gathering of the saints to the Lord. You can read in Ch. 5:2-3 call this coming as being "the day of the Lord" that comes as a thief in the night. This parallels what is said in
2 Peter 3:10.
I know you have quoted this chapter verse 9 as believers not being appointed to wrath, but obtain salvation. Since this verse is speaking of being saved from sin and its punishment by the cross, I do think that it is referring to our final judgement as being of the blessed as opposed to the unbelievers who will be thrown into the lake of fire.
This section in 1 Thess, 4 concerning the gathering of the saints to the Lord also parallels Matt. 24 where Jesus describes the events of the end of this age with His second coming, "the day of the Lord". After describing many events that will occur prior to His appearing in the clouds as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth unto the wets, so shall the coming of the son of Man be. Vs.27. Then in vs. 29-31 it says that immediately after the tribulation the Son of Man shall come with a great sound of a trumpet and great power and glory with His angel who will gather (rapture) all of the elect from one end of heaven to the other and from the four winds (earth). This also corresponds to 1 Cor. 15:52. This chapter in 1 Cor. speaks of the coming of Jesus after which comes the end. vs. 24. This also says in vs 23 that it is at the end that are the saints resurrected.
This chapter is also speaking of the Day of the Lord.
Jesus and Paul never mentions a coming of Jesus before this time, therefore I do not think we should add in a "secret rapture".
What is the Rapture? It is a doctrine that began in the 1800s and is widely accepted today. The belief in it is so strong that many see it as a promise, a guarantee, that the Church will be taken to heaven and escape the great tribulation, which is often confused with the wrath of God. But is it true or just a deception? Isn't the rapture a resurrection? We see there are only two resurrections, in Revelation 20:6 and Revelation 20:12-13, separated by a thousand years.
Nowhere is the Church shown in heaven; Revelation 19:7-9 is not about the Church. It describes the bride of Christ adorned with the righteousness of the saints. The marriage and the marriage supper will not occur until Revelation 21:1-2, which takes place after the new heaven and new earth. The angel shows John the bride, the Lamb's wife, who is not the Church, as stated in Revelation 21:9-11.
We must distinguish between the great tribulation and the wrath of God; they are not the same. Tribulation refers to the suffering and persecution faced by believers. We see in Revelation 12:12, Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, for the devil has come down to you, having great wrath. This is when he gives power to the beast, and the great tribulation begins. The short time Satan believed he had was 3.5 years, not seven. Revelation 13:5 mentions 42 months, which is 1260 days, or 3.5 years. The prophecy in Daniel 9 is all about the Messiah, Jesus, and the time Israel has.
We do not see the wrath of God and the Lamb until after the sixth seal, in Revelation 6:12-17. This is when Jesus returns to earth, the earth is round, and when Jesus returns, it will be as in Mathew 24:29-31. We will then meet Him in the air, and we all come down together.
God bless,
RLW
I'm going to seek from others there theory of interpreting the Bible focusing on the Millennium.
There is three major viewpoints on the Millennium, as discussed in Christian eschatology,
Premillennialism,
Amillennialism, and
Postmillennialism.
These views differ primarily in their interpretation of the 1,000-year reign of Christ mentioned in Revelation 20.
This is to compare how these three groups interpret the Bible.
We all fall in one of these groups!
The heart of Gigi's questions is how do we interpret the bible
I don't recall anyone of us signing on as dispensationalists when this onslaught begin a while back.
It was Gigi who accurately attached the label dispensationalists on to us because of the way we handled scripture.
In fact she stated she doesn't like the way dispensationalists handle scripture especially eschatology.
So she has been presented these scriptures before, now it's just a matter on how she handles them!
That is what put us in one of these categories mentioned above.
Premillennialism:
This view posits that Christ will return to Earth before the LITERAL 1,000-year reign
Amillennialism:
Amillennialists believe the 1,000 years is symbolic, representing the entire period between Christ's first and second comings. They see Christ as currently reigning spiritually in heaven, and there is no literal earthly millennial kingdom.
Postmillennialism:
This view suggests that the Gospel will gradually spread throughout the world, resulting in a period of global peace and righteousness before Christ's second coming. The Millennium, in this view, is not a literal period but a symbol of the influence of the Gospel on the world.
Views vary within these groups.
Im asking Gigi how do one fit the Davidic covenant and Abraham covenant into the Millennium after I explain my view.
Blessings
Everything possible was done to Israel but they gone bad, so much so God categorically tells Moses," for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way."(Exod.33.3) God pardoned Moses "And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word."(Num.14.20). He was willing to be blotted out of the book bur it was not for him to even think of it. Who was Moses but as a stand-in for his Son who became poor in order to make us rich must similarly suffer loss. For this reason God did not allow Moses to enter the Promised land for his own failure for giving glory to God before the people, as well as on behalf of the people. So we need look at the promise of God, "And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest."( Exod. 33.14)
It was personal with regards to death to which we shall come by and by. We have an example for it. God chose Moses even before he was born and His grace was evident: the Holy Spirit presents Moses and Elias at the mount of transfiguration:(Mt.17.3) Moses was all along as a sanctified one,- among the 144,000 on mount Sion."These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.(Rev.14.1-4)
What is the world of the Spirit? It is called the Land of the living,"I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God otf Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."(Mt.22.32) Job's daughters though dead were present so in the latter half of Job God doubled whatever he suffered loss in the former, except in the case of daughters."(Job.42.12-15) Our understanding on death is coloured under law of sin and death but is not how the holy Spirit presents death. So Lazarus of Bethany though dead for four days already shall hear the call. While we study Israel under the kings we shall see it all the more clearly. In another post we shall examine them.
How can I not when 'thy law is within my heart' Yea, Bro. Spenser, Open your eyes,
Jesus was to be the Saviour of the whole mankind so he testified before both Judah Iscariot and the nation of Israel He was the Word become flesh and what is the Word, it is the 'thy word' and sanctify them with thy word.( Jn 17.17). When God tells Moses of the ten spies who brought the evil report He says, ' and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice' Here is another ten:" and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life'(Rev.2.10) Tribulation creates martyrs, from Abel onwards till the time God in his wrath judges the world. "All these things must be accounted for(Mt.23.35). Why God in his power and wisdom seen His fulness resting in his Son is avenged. "Before Abraham was I am." So Ten Commandments were given as a mark of condemnation. Again when David is presentedas a man after my own heart, it is given in multiples of Three to coincide with the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. "David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years./In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah." (2 Sam.5.4-5)Rev.7 relates to 144,000 who shall stand in place as martyrs as Seth did in order to replace Abel.
Finally these heretics who conveniently avoid the text in order to make Israel as blessed from Abraham forget the text:"These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,"(Gen.2.4) 'In the beginning' refers to the day God decreed for his Son.(Ps.2.) The generation mentioned here refers to Jesus Christ who is before all things and by him consist.(Col.1.17-19) When Jesus says," Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation," he is referring to his Alpha Omega aspect.
Are the 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel? Of course not.
God knew the betrayal of Judah as well as the nation of Israel Jesus was forewarned so he tells his disciples, " Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?/He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve."(Jn.6.70-71) He was the Son of man as well as the Word become flesh. For this reason when he healed the leper he told him to follow the Law of Moses for a testimony unto the Jews. He was among them but not one of the, Two occasions he multiplied loaves and fishes where he collected 12 baskets of broken bits as the Son of man; and Seven baskets as the Word become flesh.Jesus Christ in his humanity cannot ignore what a believer is enjoined to do. Neither can he offend the Word that was with God. Seven as a whole number where it is the generation of Jesus Christ and it is what the decree establishes. He is the only begotten Son and the heir of all things. Ask of me' so begins Ps.2.8 and Jesus annotates it by asking, "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?" (Lk.11.11;Mt.7.9-11) and Israel rejected him because their father was none other than devil.(Jn.8.44)
It is the Law of the Spirit who set the everlasting Covenant of seven days. As God tells Elijah of 7000 who have not bowed there knees before Baal,- as with 7x1000 is not actual head count but the Word which was with God.He presided over the the Covenant of seven days. These two millennia the first two chapters of the book of Genesis have been ignored or perverted to mean a week so heretics could foist Sabbath through back door over the unsuspecting believer. So we have CUFI and many other obnoxious practises.
(3 to follow)
In St Paul's time there we were false brethren who sowed tares among the good seed sown in the field of God. They are t it even in our midst.
I can bet that you shall not get it from these folks who takes literal passages but conveniently do not use them where it would have helped the text in question as the Pharisees tried to entangle Jesus in by his own words
Let me give three examples.Jesus forbade his disciples from putting the date or on his omnipotence. "And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power."( Acts 1.7) How come these heretical sects give what God has set apart in his own power. Two sets of 144,000 which is a tag, and refersr Holiness. In the vision of Ezekiel the group of seven put the mark on all those who were disgusted with ungodliness. They were to be spared in the day of slaughter. the number seven tells that the whole numbers of the Jews who shall be included in this number.""Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:/6Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house."(Ezek.9.5-6) It is the whole count, of the whole house of Israel."
Ps.2.7-8. "Thou art my Son.' When the day was decreed for his Son the number to indicate the gospel and doctrine of Christ pendent on His holiness has been fied, . "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance." Disbelieving or not Jews who found salvation owe to the holiness of God."For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."(Rom.9. 15)The slain Lamb emblem allows the book of Lamb to settle these few elect. Many are called but the book of the Lamb determines the final count.
f) Revelation 1:4 to 3:22 is devoted to the Church(es) while on Earth. From chapter 4 onwards, the Church is not seen or mentioned, except for Revelation 14:12,13 and Revelation 15:2-4, where the mention of believers who have come to faith in the Great Tribulation, who from that time on (under the anti-Christ) taste death under his hand (probably as martyrs).
There are other references that help us to know the state of the Church on Earth & the unsaved, under direction of God. But the above are a few portions that helped me to understand that the Great Tribulation which is God's Wrath on display & the start of the closing of this age, is certainly not for true believers, His children. For His Wrath is against sinners who have rejected Him, His Son, who prefer to wallow in their sin. It cannot include His Church who have already been judged, forgiven & received into His family, or else we have a case of double jeopardy for the believer.
I realize that you have asked for a specific verse(s) that show two returns of Christ. We simply cannot, even with the example of the Trinity we can only learn of His Coming by what we glean throughout the Word. In any case, I don't believe holding to an variant opinion on this affects salvation in any way, but by discussing it we can learn about how and where others derive their understanding from. If diehards were to take the matter further, they would then need to analyse each other's scriptural support to see whether they do have merit in their arguments for or against. Will leave this with you, with blessings.
d) Luke 17:26-30. This passage is a clear warning to unbelievers not to be like those in Noah's day or those of Sodom and Gomorrah before it was destroyed. It also tells us that the righteous (Noah & Lot & those with them) were spared the wrathful judgments of God by being removed from location. In like manner, believers will also be kept from the Wrath of God during the tribulation, being taken away (removed from the place of God's destruction). If this wasn't God's Wrath on display, I could well believe that we too must brace ourselves for its coming.
Just a note on God's Wrath: as I understand it, His Wrath was justifiably to be poured out upon all sinners, but His Love constrained Him by providing His Son to bear our sin & His Father's Wrath on our behalf ( Romans 5:5-9). Those who have received it and born again of His Spirit no longer have to see that side of God. So when God pours out His Wrath again, it will be without constraint, for His Love shown in His Son has been spurned by all, but His Own must be removed from that outpouring, or else what sense does it make for believers to bear His Wrath when the Sacrifice was paid for them and they have been received as sons? Would God discipline His children for being unsaved sinners fit for destruction? These questions I ask myself. And as the Scripture says, "being now justified by his blood, we SHALL BE SAVED FROM WRATH through him".
e) Revelation 11:1-7. The Church, which should have been very prominent along with these two heavenly witnesses on the Earth during the Great Tribulation, is absent. Even an angel preaching from skies is sent ( Revelation 14:6,7). Once this period starts, the Church's commission to preach the Gospel ceases, for the simple reason: there is no Church on Earth. True, there will still be Church buildings on Earth & gatherings within their walls, but those who have been redeemed by Christ's Blood will be absent. To Page 4.
So to some pertinent portions from the Word:
a) Revelation 3:10 (to the Philadelphian Church). This refers to the final seven year tribulation period in which the antichrist will be allowed to deceive the world ( 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12). Believers can have hope that should this final period come to pass in their lifetimes, they will be kept from having to face God's wrath during the tribulation period; and this Great Tribulation as Jesus spoke about (in Matthew 24:21-31) is the Day of God's Wrath, from which the Church is to be kept from. Even in Zephaniah 2:3, a little glimpse is given of those who will be "hid in the day of the LORD's ANGER".
b) 1 Thessalonians 5:9 and 1 Thessalonians 1:10: believers are not appointed to bear God's Wrath but to receive His salvation from it. While it is true that God's wrath is most fully poured out in the sentencing of unbelievers to hell, Revelation 6:15-17 makes it clear that God's wrath is also being poured out upon the earth during the tribulation period (for that is what it means) and believers will not be a part of that. However, those who come to faith during the tribulation will have to suffer the effects of God's wrath, not having received the promise of being kept from the hour of trial. But those days will be cut short for His Elect's sake ( Matthew 24:22).
c) Revelation 19:7-9. The Church is already in Heaven with the Lord, clothed & prepared for the marriage of the Lamb. It is following this that Jesus is seen with the armies of heaven coming to earth to lie waste the armies of the earth and to cast the beast and false prophet into the Lake of Fire ( Revelation 19:11-21). Thus, the church must have already been raptured and taken to heaven before Jesus comes the second time. To Page 3.
I'd like to share with you some Scriptures that show to me that the Rapture of the Church is something distinct from Jesus' second Coming and it is the next thing to occur for Christ's Church. However, you asked for verses that explicitly communicate this, but as you have also found, there is no verse(s) that we know of that says something like, 'the following information is given to you in clear chronological order depicting the imminent return of Jesus Christ for His Church and then His coming again in judgement'. Not dissimilar to the old Trinity debate, where one asks to be convinced by showing him a verse where the Trinity is mentioned in the Bible. As we learn of the Triune God from many Scriptures that show His full revealed Nature without the word Trinity mentioned, so too we must bring in all the references that lead us to the belief of Christ's next appearance to the world.
For me, understanding this teaching must come, not from Darby or anyone else, but from the Word itself, from verses which I believe give support to those familiar passages found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 (presenting a separate appearing of Christ for the Church as opposed to His second Coming to battle & then reign), and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (the mystery of the dead & living saints raised to an incorruptible state and very unlike Christ's second Coming to war and to reign, where this does not occur). Onto Page 2.
I have brotherly affection for Br.Jese and also Bro.Spencer. If I cannot call a spade by name what are we here for. They are sowing evil doctrine in this forum defending Israel. God by a decree established Order of Melchizedek.(Ps.110.5) We are to be priests and kings.(Rev.1.6) When the nation of Israel asked Old Samuel for a king what did God tell them?
" And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.
9 Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them."(1 Sam.8.7-9)
Even unto this day tells they are occupying a parallel world while those who have covenanted with Christ as a living sacrifice are part of the world framed by the word of God. Faith in my DNA so I use the word heretic to term the concision they spread about in this forum. Thank you,
"For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?" Dispensationalists make this as the nail to hang all their shabby goods that pass for their doctrine. First we shall look at the analogy St Paul has unhappily chosen but we can see what he is aiming at. He was unashamedly a Jew as having cut his teeth on Gamaliel's scholarly turn of mind but it was grace that shaped him as an apostle. What does he call the tree: a good olive tree which is another metaphor than true Vine,, meaning Jesus Christ. What is a natural man but flesh and blood. A natural man cannot receive wisdom from heaven since it is foolishness to him. He may be a good man as Socrates as but a pagan. So natural branch of a tree wild in nature. How did the vineyard of my beloved fare?
"What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?"(Isa.5.4) Everything possible was done to Israel but they gone bad, so much so God categorically tells Moses," for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way."(Exod.33.3) God pardoned Moses "And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word."(Num.14.20) For this reason God did not allow Moses to enter the Promised land for his own failure as well as on behalf of the people. God chose Moses even before he was born and His grace was evident and the Holy Spirit presents Moses and Elias at the mount of transfiguration:(Mt.17.3) Moses was all along as a sanctified one,- among the 144,000 on mount Sion."These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
"(Rev.14.1-4)
The prophecies, for even the LORD God Himself has declared that Israel will continue forever ( Genesis 12:1-7; Genesis 13:14-17), show that there must be not only a continuation of Israel in their God-appointed land, but that in those days when Christ comes to war against His enemies and reign in Jerusalem, the remnants of Israel will believe and share in His Kingdom.
So bearing in mind what you have written about the true elect of God residing in a Heavenly Kingdom, what do you do with those Scriptures (and many more) that I've cited to show at least an earthly reign by Jesus for a limited time? And those are prophetical utterances and not parabolic in nature which must be taken & believed as given. And remember Jeremiah 31:31-36 is very telling about Israel's continuance.
Hi Bible Alone and thanks for your input. You have shared from Hebrews 11:13-16 as those 'faith heroes' who had their hope to be delivered from the limitations of this Earth, even of life itself, and to look forward to that heavenly city, that city "which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God". That is so true and should be for all who name the Name of Christ, where we should long to be free from sin's effects on us & the evil in the world around us, and be "with Christ which is far better".
And to refer to Matthew 13:34, Jesus indeed spoke to the people in parables, but where He gave them these earthly stories, they came with a heavenly/spiritual meaning & application. We cannot then use that verse to interpret everything seen in the Bible as a parable & thus give our own interpretation to them. It just generates confusion. So yes, there is the "true Israel of God", but we also have to note where national Israel is referred to and why there is a demarcation between the two.
So, if we are to believe that there can be no coming reign of Jesus in Jerusalem, simply because of the verses showing that we ought to be looking for that heavenly city, then we have a major problem with many Scriptures, viz. various Psalms (2, 22, 47,67, 89, 110, 132), Isaiah 9:6,7; Jeremiah 3:17; Micah 1:4-7; Zechariah 14:1-5, & from other prophets, and Revelation chaps 19 & 20). What do you suggest we do with these? Discard them or maybe, reinterpret them? All prophecies coming from a God-appointed prophet will come to pass verbatim, and if not, then both the prophet & prophecy are false. Onto Page 2.
The mystery includes several related truths revealed to Paul:
The Gospel of Grace-salvation is by grace through faith alone, apart from works or the Law ( Eph. 2:8-9).
The Body of Christ-a new creation, neither Jew nor Gentile, but "one new man" in Christ ( Eph. 2:15; 1 Cor. 12:13).
Christ in you-the indwelling Christ as the hope of glory ( Col. 1:27).
The Rapture-a previously unrevealed event where the Church will be caught up to meet the Lord before God's wrath is poured out ( 1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).
This was distinct from the kingdom promises made to Israel, which the prophets foretold. Paul emphasizes that it was given uniquely to him "to fulfill the word of God" ( Col. 1:25) and that his gospel was received "by the revelation of Jesus Christ" ( Gal. 1:11-12). The mystery explains God's present program-grace to all nations-until Israel's future restoration.
n the Old Testament, the earthly kingdom promised to Israel is a central theme of prophecy-rooted in God's covenants with Abraham, David, and reiterated by the prophets. These passages consistently describe a literal kingdom on earth, centered in Jerusalem, where Messiah reigns over Israel and the nations.
Here are some key OT scriptures:
1. Promise to Abraham - A literal land & nation
Genesis 13:14-15 - God promises Abraham and his seed the land forever.
Genesis 17:8 - "I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land for an everlasting possession."
2. Davidic Covenant - Messiah ruling from Jerusalem
2 Samuel 7:12-16 - God promises David a seed (Messiah) whose throne and kingdom will be established forever.
Psalm 89:3-4, 34-37 - David's throne and kingdom will endure like the sun and moon.
3. Prophecies of the earthly kingdom
Isaiah 2:2-4 - In the last days, the mountain of the LORD's house will be established in Jerusalem; nations will come to learn God's ways; peace will cover the earth.
Isaiah 9:6-7 - Messiah will sit upon the throne of David and rule with justice forever.
Isaiah 11:1-10 - Messiah reigns in righteousness; the wolf dwells with the lamb; the earth is full of the knowledge of the LORD.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 - The "Branch" of David will reign as King, executing justice in the land.
Ezekiel 37:21-28 - Israel regathered in their land; David (Messiah) will be king over them; God's sanctuary in their midst forever.
Daniel 2:44 - In the days of earthly kings, God will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13-14, 27 - The Son of Man receives an everlasting dominion, and the kingdom is given to the saints.
Zechariah 14:9, 16-17 - The LORD will be King over all the earth; nations will come to Jerusalem to worship.
The Old Testament consistently foretold a literal, earthly kingdom promised to Israel, rooted in God's covenants with Abraham and David. These prophecies described Messiah coming to reign from Jerusalem over all nations, bringing peace, justice, and restoration. Key passages ( Gen. 13:14-15; 2 Sam. 7:12-16; Isa. 2:2-4; Jer. 23:5-6; Dan. 2:44; Zech. 14:9) spoke of Messiah's rule on earth-not a spiritual or heavenly kingdom.
In the OT, there was no teaching about a second coming or a rapture. The Jewish expectation was that when Messiah appeared, He would immediately establish this promised kingdom. They looked for deliverance from Gentile rule, the regathering of Israel, the throne of David restored, and the world blessed through Israel, all in a single advent of the King.
n the Old Testament, the earthly kingdom promised to Israel is a central theme of prophecy-rooted in God's covenants with Abraham, David, and reiterated by the prophets. These passages consistently describe a literal kingdom on earth, centered in Jerusalem, where Messiah reigns over Israel and the nations.