The Daily Word of Righteousness

Israel—Spirit and Flesh, #9

Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. (Ezekiel 37:12)

And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. (Zechariah 14:5)

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)

The entering of the Lord into His Israel is the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles. The elect of God, whether Jewish or Gentile by physical birth, will be raised from the dead and brought into Jerusalem with Christ. From Jerusalem they will rule all the nations of saved peoples of the earth, for they constitute the governing priesthood.

Misconception: There Will Be a Gentile Church in Heaven and a Jewish Kingdom on the Earth

According to our understanding, this position has arisen from the attempt to make the doctrine of the pre-tribulation "rapture" appear to be consistent with the Scriptures. It is difficult to assess the extent of the confusion that has been brought about by such a belief. It has served to cut off the Gentile believers from the writings of the Prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Joel, are considered to be speaking to physical Israel and not to the members of the Body of Christ.

Meanwhile the destiny of the Gentile believers is understood to be in Heaven where they will live in mansions (a belief arising from an erroneous interpretation of John 14:2). Such a concept does away with the importance of the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.

According to the teaching of the Church-Kingdom division, the "Gentile Church" will be caught up to Heaven along with the Holy Spirit while the Jews, without the Holy Spirit, will be left to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom.

The anti-Semitism of the Church-Kingdom doctrine is obvious. God loves the Gentiles so much He will not allow them to suffer. But God does not mind how much the Jews suffer. Is this scriptural? Can you imagine the Jews attempting to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom in the face of Antichrist without the Holy Spirit?

There is, of course, only the one Kingdom of God, of Heaven. The one Kingdom of God will descend from Heaven along with the King, and then God's will shall be done in the earth. This is what the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, teach. What is being presented today has removed the concept of the Kingdom of God from the minds of the Christians. The original Gospel of the Kingdom of God has been changed into a flight to Heaven to escape Satan and his Antichrist.

It is not the forgiveness of the believers that represents a threat to Satan's rule over mankind. Rather, it is the Kingdom of God, the actual practice of God's will in the earth, that marks the end of Satan's reign.

To be continued.