stranger
12th July 2005, 11:52 AM
Many of course see God anthropomorphically in the image of a man [usually with a white beard , not dissimilar from the way Moses is often prtrayed by men today] , it is hard not to smile or weep about such unscriptural images of God coming only from misguided men of this world , the very thing that God thought first to warn men not to do in His old covenant with Israel...
I indeed mean here however that the God of men is the same God of the Hebrews in the their 'Torah' [and so also the OT of the bible]
But it does indeed surprise some that some 'Jews' [descendants of the House of Judah , the southern kingdonm of Israel] do already accept Jesus as the Messiah of Israel ...
[and indeed of course for that matter all the earliest believers in Jesus as as a Jew of his being the Messiah of Israel [hence the Greek term 'christos' , 'Christ', they both just mean 'annointed'- i.e. to be king ... of Israel] were themselves Jews and thus also Hebrews...
But what almost all men fail to ascertain from scripture despite its being spoken of extensively in NT and OT is that Jesus was ONLY sent by God to the 'lost sheep' of the House of Israel [Matthew 15:24] , onw of the two Houses[Kingdoms] into which the nacient nATION of Israel was divided and to whom the new covenant by God is solely addressed , to TWO houses of the divided nation, not to some mythical 'spiritual Israel' different from the descendants of Jacob whom God renamed 'Israel' [Heb 8:6-13, Jer 31:31-34] ...
the House of Israel WAS a nation with its own KINGS [hence the term 'house'] ,but it DISAPPEARRED , the House of Israel became "not a people" ,no longer known as a nation , scattered amongst the pagan 'gentiles' of all nations because they already lost faith in God, worshipped other gods...
but although the bible describes this disappearance of THIS larger nation , larger kingdom of the nation of Israell ,than the Jews ever were [Jews = the House of Judah ,who remained a whole nation when they too were scattered by God , held together through traditions of 'Judaism' holding them as one nation, the only nation men see as israel today, but it was not so originally and it will not be so in the future according to God through His prophets ] -
...the scripture also states that the 'lost sheep' of the house of Israel will not be lost forever and indeed that God will not lose track of even one of them :-
Amos 9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like s corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
And so despite what modern christians have come to believe through non scriptural tales of men that have become traditions of religion, the scripture ACTUALLY states the role of Jesus ordered by God as being the king who eventually re-unites the two Houses of the anciently divided nation of Israel
... that is why he recruited largely Jews and sent them AMONGST the gentiles BUT to the paganised [thus gentile!] decendants of the house of Israel [as indeed did Paul] :-
Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matt 10:5 ¶ These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not
6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Acts 7:42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
It is truly breath-taking then that people who say they read and have read the scruipture do NOT understand that the House of Isreal NEVER were Jews, That Jesus was sent by God specifically ONLY to reach them with the good news [gospel!!] that He is the Messiah , king of Israel and that they have a NEW covenant with God which UNCONDITIONALLY MAKES them the people of God and Him their God [Heb 8:6-13] FORGIVING them EVERYTHING without conditions or repentance beforehand ...
Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
What an amazing witness of God that maybe two billion 'christians' who presume they believe on the scriptures do not even know about their own saviour , his task given by God , his gospel as written in scripture ... it is all written down yet God hides it from their eyes even in the very book they claim to believe and to have read ... awesome, even terrifying really... and He also explains why he is doing it... but very few can hear that either , even when it is put before them from scripture [as here]
So ,somewhat ironically perhaps, God's expressed plan is to concentrate mostly on bringing the lost sheep of the House of Israel to knowledge of their new king first , thus the message went out primarily directed amongst the gentiles [but to the House of israel , and only incidentally good news to the gentiles , because God only redeems israel FIRST so that they can THEN minister as priests inthe redemption of all nations Rev 7:9-10] ... the reason being that God wishes to show His power over man's will by redeeming a rebellious people by HIS will and His power to prophecy that this WILL be so ... thus we have the unfulfilled-as-yet prophecy that Israel will be ONE NATION of priests to God and we could thus understand why Jesus said he was only sent to the house of Israel:-
Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Now WHEN those God has chosen , from the beginning fore-ordained, of the House of Israel believe in and on Jesus through baptism of the holy spirit of God , that is the 'fullness of the gentiles' described by Paul... that is when the Jews en masse presumably become jealous that the 'gentiles' know more about the identity of THEIR messiah than they do :-
Deuteronomy 32:21 ...and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
Romans 10:19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
1 Peter 2:9 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.
The irony then is that those who believe last in Jesus , mostly Jews, will be the first redeemed to be servants of God , not because of there pompous assertions that Judaism is the 'religion' of God and that they are special to God, but simply because God has chosen to show both that they are WRONG and rebellious , but tAKE them nevertheless and MAKE them His priests by whom He will redeem all men... with Jesus as their high priest and king ...
Matthew 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
I indeed mean here however that the God of men is the same God of the Hebrews in the their 'Torah' [and so also the OT of the bible]
But it does indeed surprise some that some 'Jews' [descendants of the House of Judah , the southern kingdonm of Israel] do already accept Jesus as the Messiah of Israel ...
[and indeed of course for that matter all the earliest believers in Jesus as as a Jew of his being the Messiah of Israel [hence the Greek term 'christos' , 'Christ', they both just mean 'annointed'- i.e. to be king ... of Israel] were themselves Jews and thus also Hebrews...
But what almost all men fail to ascertain from scripture despite its being spoken of extensively in NT and OT is that Jesus was ONLY sent by God to the 'lost sheep' of the House of Israel [Matthew 15:24] , onw of the two Houses[Kingdoms] into which the nacient nATION of Israel was divided and to whom the new covenant by God is solely addressed , to TWO houses of the divided nation, not to some mythical 'spiritual Israel' different from the descendants of Jacob whom God renamed 'Israel' [Heb 8:6-13, Jer 31:31-34] ...
the House of Israel WAS a nation with its own KINGS [hence the term 'house'] ,but it DISAPPEARRED , the House of Israel became "not a people" ,no longer known as a nation , scattered amongst the pagan 'gentiles' of all nations because they already lost faith in God, worshipped other gods...
but although the bible describes this disappearance of THIS larger nation , larger kingdom of the nation of Israell ,than the Jews ever were [Jews = the House of Judah ,who remained a whole nation when they too were scattered by God , held together through traditions of 'Judaism' holding them as one nation, the only nation men see as israel today, but it was not so originally and it will not be so in the future according to God through His prophets ] -
...the scripture also states that the 'lost sheep' of the house of Israel will not be lost forever and indeed that God will not lose track of even one of them :-
Amos 9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like s corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
And so despite what modern christians have come to believe through non scriptural tales of men that have become traditions of religion, the scripture ACTUALLY states the role of Jesus ordered by God as being the king who eventually re-unites the two Houses of the anciently divided nation of Israel
... that is why he recruited largely Jews and sent them AMONGST the gentiles BUT to the paganised [thus gentile!] decendants of the house of Israel [as indeed did Paul] :-
Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matt 10:5 ¶ These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not
6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Acts 7:42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
It is truly breath-taking then that people who say they read and have read the scruipture do NOT understand that the House of Isreal NEVER were Jews, That Jesus was sent by God specifically ONLY to reach them with the good news [gospel!!] that He is the Messiah , king of Israel and that they have a NEW covenant with God which UNCONDITIONALLY MAKES them the people of God and Him their God [Heb 8:6-13] FORGIVING them EVERYTHING without conditions or repentance beforehand ...
Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
What an amazing witness of God that maybe two billion 'christians' who presume they believe on the scriptures do not even know about their own saviour , his task given by God , his gospel as written in scripture ... it is all written down yet God hides it from their eyes even in the very book they claim to believe and to have read ... awesome, even terrifying really... and He also explains why he is doing it... but very few can hear that either , even when it is put before them from scripture [as here]
So ,somewhat ironically perhaps, God's expressed plan is to concentrate mostly on bringing the lost sheep of the House of Israel to knowledge of their new king first , thus the message went out primarily directed amongst the gentiles [but to the House of israel , and only incidentally good news to the gentiles , because God only redeems israel FIRST so that they can THEN minister as priests inthe redemption of all nations Rev 7:9-10] ... the reason being that God wishes to show His power over man's will by redeeming a rebellious people by HIS will and His power to prophecy that this WILL be so ... thus we have the unfulfilled-as-yet prophecy that Israel will be ONE NATION of priests to God and we could thus understand why Jesus said he was only sent to the house of Israel:-
Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Now WHEN those God has chosen , from the beginning fore-ordained, of the House of Israel believe in and on Jesus through baptism of the holy spirit of God , that is the 'fullness of the gentiles' described by Paul... that is when the Jews en masse presumably become jealous that the 'gentiles' know more about the identity of THEIR messiah than they do :-
Deuteronomy 32:21 ...and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
Romans 10:19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
1 Peter 2:9 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.
The irony then is that those who believe last in Jesus , mostly Jews, will be the first redeemed to be servants of God , not because of there pompous assertions that Judaism is the 'religion' of God and that they are special to God, but simply because God has chosen to show both that they are WRONG and rebellious , but tAKE them nevertheless and MAKE them His priests by whom He will redeem all men... with Jesus as their high priest and king ...
Matthew 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.