BOOK: EXCERPT: The Rapture will be canceled – Chapter Fifteen
By Niklas Arthur © 2014
God’s Chosen People
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him [that was born] after the Spirit, even so [it is] now. Gal 4:28-29
Sixty-nine weeks had past from the seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel.
John the Baptist was baptizing in the River Jordan.
Another prophet had arrived on the scene, one Yahushua, Jesus of Nazareth, who many came to believe is The Messiah.
Not because he fulfilled the popular prophecy of a Messiah that would conquer Israels enemies propelling Israel to its rightful status of world dominion, but because the miracles and signs caused the faithful to re-examine the popular eschatology and see the truth of Israel’s coming demise.
He came to save them from their sins and foretold the desolation of the Temple, the City and the Nation.
Jeremiah was thrown into prison because his prophecies did not line up with popular eschatology, but he and few others told the truth.
The Popular Prophecy Teachers of Jesus day could show you a hundred scriptures to support their fallacy,
‘‘the ruling and reigning messiah conquering the entire earth”
but that did not negate the fact that they held to a false pre-supposition.
So, it was in Jeremiah’s time as in Jesus – so it is today.
If it is popular, it is probably wrong.
What first century Israelite wanted to hear that the seventy weeks determined for Israel as a special set apart nation to God was nearing its end, with certain desolation of the Temple, City, and Nation to follow?
This Prophet told them that He would be delivered up and killed, that not one stone of the Temple would be left upon another, that they would be persecuted and have to flee the land or get swallowed up by the flood to come.
Even His own disciples could not shake the prophetic delusion, bewildered at his death, only understanding and accepting the truth with His resurrection having their eyes opened by His Holy Spirit.
RELIGION: HOLY GHOST vs. Holy Spirit – Library of Rickandria
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Luke 21:20-22
For those in Israel Seventy Weeks of Years had passed, Jesus was risen from the dead and then ascended to sit at the right hand of The Father.
The disciples where witnessing in Israel and the Gospel was now going to the Nations via Paul and those who followed.
The New Testament was being written and distributed one letter at a time.
In Judea the followers of Yahushua the Messiah were preparing to flee as they had been warned by Him of the …wrath upon this people.
- Restored Name KJV
- Proving The ‘Shua’ In ‘Yahushua’
- Yahusha – The Messiah’s Real Name and What It Means
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations:
and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Luke 21:24
This was the unpopular prophecy which only the faithful remnant would accept, and some only with much convincing by the Word and their present reality.
How merciful our God was to continue work in Israel forty years to allow as many to escape the wrath to come.
Now there were two camps in Israel, The Obedient who would heed the words of the Messiah and sell their lands and make preparations to flee and take as many with them as would be saved, and they would take the Gospel to the world. …all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods…
And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Act 2:44-47)
If, by the word of the Messiah, they did not flee, there were only two alternatives for those that stayed behind, they would …fall by the edge of the sword… or …be led away captive into all nations…
This was the fate of The Disobedient.
One camp followed the Messiah; one camp rejected Him.
Which camp were God’s Chosen People?
Ruth (/ruːθ/; Hebrew: רוּת, Modern: Rūt, Tiberian: Rūṯ) is the person after whom the Book of Ruth is named. She was a Moabite woman who married an Israelite, Mahlon. After the death of all the male members of her family (her husband, her father-in-law, and her brother-in-law), she stayed with her mother-in-law, Naomi, and moved to Judah with her, where Ruth won the love and protection of a wealthy relative, Boaz, through her kindness. She is the great-grandmother of David.
As Ruth was grafted into Israel, and Rahab even making it into the linage of the Messiah, so our God has always made provision for those of other nations to be grafted into His Holy Nation.
Rahab (/ˈreɪhæb/; Biblical Hebrew: רָחָב, romanized: Rāḥāḇ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible in Joshua 2:1-24, a Canaanite who resided within Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites by hiding two men who had been sent to scout the city before their attack.
A Study of the Amalekites, by a Scholar of the Amalekites – Library of Rickandria
When I say His Holy Nation, I am not talking about a Nation of flesh and blood, for it is written, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
But this was something new, this faithful remnant was being dispersed into all nations taking the gospel with them to call upon as many as would be saved.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. Gal 3:16
Has God forgotten who are His people?
Is the seed of Abraham by faith any less Yahudi (the people of God) than those who may or may not be the actual descendants of Israel simply because they are called Jews?
If today the posterity of the disobedient and other proselytes who practice the religion of Judaism and accept not the Messiah are called His Chosen People, how much more those who practice the Faith of the Great Patriarchs having been washed and purchased by the blood of the Lamb of God, Yahushua Jesus the Messiah?
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:
and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Gen 12:3
If God Himself spoke this to Abraham before there was even an Israel or a “Jew”, how is this less applicable to me than one who rejects His Messiah but labels himself a Jew?
For he is not a Jew (Yahudi – the people of God), which is one outwardly; neither [is that] circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
But he [is] a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the spirit, [and] not in the letter; whose praise [is] not of men, but of God. Rom 2:28-29
This not only applies to those who merely call themselves Jews, it applies as well to those who are only Christians outwardly and have not the circumcision that is of the heart, in the spirit.
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Matthew 21:43
The Grace of God:
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isa 1:18
Grace is not you changing for God, but it is the power of God changing you.
But what does it take to receive this life changing grace?
God does call us to change only one thing, and that one thing is our mind.
To “change your mind” is the very meaning of the word “repent.”
Repent is not a bad word, unless of course you don’t want to change your mind.
Now every sane person wants to live forever, everybody wants to go to heaven when they die, and everybody wants God’s favor in time of calamity, grief or suffering.
About these no one needs to change their mind, but exactly what does God require that we change our mind about?
The demons acknowledge Him,
“I know thou art the Son of God…”
They believe and tremble!
So that can’t be it either.
In the world ‘repent’ is a bad word.
Simply because there are people who want to continue in their sin, and they refuse to change their minds about it.
Most people do not like wars, natural disasters, or suffering, but these are the judgments or results for the acts that those same people refuse to change their minds about!
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. John 1:17
The Grace that came by our Messiah, not only was it proactive, but it was retroactive.
After all He is called:
“the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
Yes this “grace and truth” has always been available to man.
Adam and Eve received the death sentence,
“you shall surely die”
and they received grace, an opportunity to repent and accept the redemption that would be purchased by the blood of the coming redeemer.
They looked forward, we look back, but the same God and Father with His Holy Spirit is always present.
Do we then make void the law through faith?
God forbid:
yea, we establish the law. Romans 3:31
It is very popular today to teach that this grace which only comes by faith did away with the Law of God.
As if Grace and the Law were opposites like dark and light or yin and yang, however this false dichotomy only works to change our liberty into licentiousness.
So, exactly how does Grace by Faith establish the Law?
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 8:10
No longer is His Law relegated to cold stone tablets or dead letters on deteriorating parchment, but it is now living in us, inscribed upon the tablet of our heart.
Jesus said,
“I did not come to do away with the law…”
He actually raised the standard:
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28
He said a similar thing about hatred and murder.
It is not enough to simply refrain from the act rather it is expedient to change your mind about any desire which is not pleasing to our Heavenly Father.
He is the God who has always judged the thoughts and intents of the heart.
When we repent, that is, change our mind about His Law and come into agreement with His Holy Spirit that His Law is holy and just and for our own good, we desire to learn obedience because it is inscribed in the new creation that we are.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Eph 2.10
You must be born again to enter the kingdom…
Repent for the kingdom is at hand…
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Rom 12.2
When His Holy Spirit convicts and we truly change our mind then He will change our life by teaching us obedience.
When we recognize that desire in ourselves to live our lives in a way that is always pleasing to our Heavenly Father, we hold the assurance that we have crossed the border into His Kingdom and are seated in heavenly places in Messiah Jesus.
May the grace of God be with us all.
BOOK: The Rapture will be canceled – Library of Rickandria
BOOK: EXCERPT: The Rapture will be canceled – Chapter Fifteen