1 In the third month after the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
2 And when they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mount.
3 And Moses went up unto God, and Jehovah called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:
4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine:
6 and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Verse 4 really caught my attention as Jehovah bore the Israelites on eagles wings to deliver them from oppression of the Egyptians. This is a type of the deliverance for the 144,000 (symbolic number of all Jehovah's people who are sealed at the end) will be translated up to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air. There will be hard times in these last days, however there will be a divine intervention for the Christian Congregation (144,000) in the wilderness.
Jesus Christ true followers will be in the wilderness and not in the mainstream churches during the final hours of this system of things. Jehovah's remnant Christian Congregation will be in the wilderness as were the Israelites after the Exodus from Egypt. When all of Jehovah's people leave the churches of Babylon, they will have to endure hardship but only for a time, as our redemption will come at Jesus Christ second advent.
The remnant Christian Congregation will go from the wilderness to the Heavenly Canaan after our Saviour's return. We will dwell in a city not built with man's hand as our Lord Jesus has prepared a place for us.
1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV)
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Hebrews 11:8-16 (KJV)
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
The deliverance of the Saints!
Daniel 12:1 (KJV)
12 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Jesus Christ (Michael) will stand up for the children of Jehovah and redeem them from the earth.
Revelation 14:14-20K (KJV)
14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
A beautiful description above of Jehovah's people being redeemed from the earth by the Great Prince Michael aka Jesus Christ. Notice that this redemption of first those in the grave and then the 144,000 remnant takes place right before the final wrath of Jehovah is poured out on the earth and on the unbelieving disobedient.
The triumph of the 144,000
Revelation 14:1-5 (KJV)
14 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. 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.
5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
So we see that Jehovah's remnant Congregation (144,000) will be redeemed from the earth and be translated (borne up on eagles wings) to be with the Lord Jesus Christ forever. Although the remnant Christian Congregation of the last days will go through tribulation as never was seen before, they will be delivered miraculously by the hand of Lord God Almighty (Jehovah) through the appearing in the clouds of His Son Jesus Christ. Once the dead in Christ are taken up and then the 144,000, Jehovah's great winepress will be trodden on the earth.
Revelation 16:12-21 (KJV)
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
It appears that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ comes to redeem his people (the dead in Christ and the 144,000) after the sixth plague (verse 15) and before the seventh plague (Jehovah's final wrath). It appears that as the kings of the earth set out to destroy Jehovah's people in the battle of the great day (spiritual Armageddon), that the Messiah Jehoshua (Jesus) will come as a thief and call forth the dead in graves and then those who are alive in his name. After this the seventh angel pours out his vial which commences the final wrath of God Almighty Jehovah.
The below verses in Exodus 19 also caught my attention.
Exodus 19:5-6 (ASV)
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine:
6 and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Jehovah clearly says here that in order for the Israelites to be His that they need to obey His voice and keep His covenant. The Israelites in obeying Jehovah will be his possession set apart from all the other nations, tribes and tongues in the earth. In verse 6 an awesome promise to the Israelites in that they will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
So how does this apply to the Christian today?
Malachi 3:6 (ASV)
6 For I, Jehovah, change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
Jehovah our God doesn't change! If the promise was made to Israel, that if they kept the covenant and obeyed Him they would be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, then that promise is still available for the Israel of God which is the Christian Congregation. Let's look at scripture!
1 Peter 2:5-9 (KJV)
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
We as the Christian Congregation (Spiritual Israel) now are given the gift of being a royal preisthood and a holy nation. This helps prove that there is no separate dispensation between Israel of the flesh and the Christian Congregation. We as the Christian Congregation are described as a holy nation which was once for Israel of the flesh. This shows us that the Christian Congregation is Israel. See, the Christian Congregation didn't replace Israel (Jew's of the flesh) as some will accuse of us as being replacement theologians but rather Israel now opened up to include Gentiles and the requirement to be part of this now inclusive Spiritual Israel, is to accept Jehovah's Son Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour. Also l, we must keep the new covenant Jehovah gave us through His only-born Son Jesus. What is this new covenant?
Hebrews 8:10 (KJV)
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Hebrews 10:16-18 (KJV)
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
No more do we have an earthly ark with the testimony of the law inside of it, however now Jehovah in this new covenant is writing His eternal law in our minds and hearts. This doesn't do away with the law but rather makes them more personal to us. The moral law of the 10 Commandments is still every bit as active and lively as they were in the old covenant it's just that now they go from tablets of stone to the tablets of our heart and mind. Guess what? The Sabbath command is part of this law and is now to be in our heart and mind rather than a list of do's and don't's. If the Sabbath command is indeed in our heart, then we will keep it holy on the sanctified Seventh-day. I believe Jesus, when saying the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath was trying to bring sabbath keeping back to the Isaiah 58:13-14 principle.
Isaiah 58:13-14 (ASV)
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, and the holy of Jehovah honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah; and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth; and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.
If a Christian has the law in his heart, then he will keep Jehovah's seventh day Sabbath holy according to Isaiah 58:13-14. If a Christian keeps the Sabbath as a bunch of rules and regulations he will see it as a burden.
So the new covenant doesn't do away with the law but rather establishes it more fully.
Romans 3:31 (KJV)
31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Paul makes himself very clear here that faith doesn't make void the law. Look at the words Paul uses in order to make sure no one would accuse him of advocating that the law (10 Commandments) be done away with.
The word establish in the greek is "histemi" which means to stand, abide, appoint, bring, continue, establish, hold up, lay, present, set up, stanch, stand (by, forth, still, up).
We see here that rather than teaching that the law is done away with Paul says the exact opposite in that he holds up (histemi) the law. Why is that many Christians ignore the last sentence of Paul in Romans 3:31? Some I believe are sincere and have been ingrained by dangerous theology that teaches the breaking of Jehovah's law. Others I believe are willfully disobedient, because they are drawn by their own selfish desires for sin, which the bible says is the transgression of the law.
Acts 5:32 (KJV)
32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Contrary to what many Churches in Babylon teach, obedience is important. In fact, we are told in Acts 5:32 above that the Holy Spirit is given by Jehovah to those that obey him. Those that think they can walk in sin and disobedience to Jehovah and still be filled with the Holy Spirit decieve themselves. The churches of Babylon have to explain this scripture away with philosophy. Remember Jehovah changes not and if he required obedience of the physical house of Israel in the old covenant, He also requires it of Spiritual Israel in the new covenant.
Jeremiah 31:33 (ASV)
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
Jeremiah prophesied about the new covenant. Notice that the law will be put in the inward parts of the house of Israel in the days of the new covenant. Obviously Jehovah is making reference to the Christian Congregation which is now the house of Israel. This putting of the law in the inward parts of his people actually magnifies the law not does away with it.
In order to be part of the Israel of God one has to keep Jehovah's new covenant. The great blessing is that when we breach the covenant by our sin, we have a high preist who in all points was tempted like us and his name is Jehoshua which means "the salvation of Jehovah". In the old covenant physical Israel had to make offerings to the Levtical Preists for their sins. These offerings were the meat, drink and burnt offerings mentioned in Colossians and this sacrificial system was nailed at the stake. In the new covenant, we have a mediator who is the Son of God Jesus Christ and He is just and willing to plead our case with the Father Jehovah, so that our iniquities and sins will be remembered no more.
Hebrews 10:1-18 (KJV)
10 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
It was Jesus death at the stake that was the once and for all sacrifice for sins. By this offering of His body, our Saviour perfects us "the sanctified" forever. There is a sanctification process for the true believer. The blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ, removes sin which the animal sacrifices couldn't do. In the believers sanctification process, we walk in obedience to Jehovah's law and when we find ourselves in breach of the law via sin, we go to our High Priest Jesus Christ and ask for forgiveness. Since Christ already offered up his body as the last sacrifice, we have no need to bring physical offerings to a human preist.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 (KJV)
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Only Jesus can mediate for us to God. This eliminates any need for a human preisthood to accept offerings for forgiveness of sins or even to forgive the sins of men.
Old Covenant= Obedience to the law (Decalogue) on tablets of stone required.
When the law is broken, meat, drink and burnt offerings brought before levitical preisthood for forgiveness of sins. The Levitical preist mediated for them to Jehovah.
New Covenant= Obedience to the law (Decalogue) written on our mind and hearts.
When the law is broken, Jesus already offered up his body as the last sacrifice needed forever and all we have to do is go to him as our High Priest for forgiveness of sins. Jesus mediates for us to His Father Jehovah.
As Spiritual Israel, in order for us to be Jehovah's possession we need to obey the new covenant so that we can be a royal preisthood and a holy nation as was promised to physical Israel. Jehovah changes not and his promise still applies to Israel which is the Christian Congregation made up of Jews and Gentiles. The responsibility to obey Him also applies to the Israel of today. If we want the promises of physical Israel being that we are Spiritual Israel, which is the only Israel of God, then we also must accept the responsibility to obey and keep Jehovah's new covenant as physical Israel was required to keep the old covenant.
Those who walk in obedience to Jehovah's new covenant in these very last day, will be beared up on eagles wings and translated into immortality to be with Jesus Christ forever. These are the 144,000 who keep the commandments of Jehovah and the faith of Jesus and have his testimony which is the spirit of prophecy. This 144,000 remnant will not defile themselves with women (false Babylonian churches and her wine-false doctrines). No sunday observance, no trinity, no spiritualism.
Revelation 14:1-5 (KJV)
14 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. 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.
5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
Reigning in the millennium in heaven with Christ as preists!
Revelation 20:6 (KJV)
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
No comments:
Post a Comment