Glad Tidings vol 16 is 2

Glad Tidings

Volume 1 6, Issue 2

May/June 2012

Glad Tidings March/April 2012

Glad Tidings

Something To Consider ...................... p. 3

by Vince Finnegan

is published six times per year by

Seek Yahweh: Christian Tradition ......... p. 4

Living Hope International Ministries

by John Cortright

458 Old Niskayuna Road,

Overcomers’ Reward ............................. p.6

Latham, New York 12110 USA

by Vince Finnegan

Office

518.785.8888

Rejecting The Kingdom:

Fax

518.785.1990

E-mail

info@LHIM.org

Three Reasons ......................................p.8

Website www.LHIM.org

by Sean Finnegan Raise Your Voice And Declare .............. p.10

by Mary Ann Yaconis

Glad Tidings is mailed free to anyone who requests it. Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise noted.

Family Camp July 1st - 7th Silver Bay

Mark these important dates on your calendar!!

Teen Camp July 29th - August 3rd Silver Bay Royal Family Reunion August 24th-26th Living Hope Community Church 2

SOMETHING TO CONSIDER

God bless you abundantly in the name of Jesus Christ. Summer is here again providing many opportunities for spiritual growth. Planning a summer school right in your own home could make this the best summer ever. We have many DVD and CD classes in our bookstore that you could view with your family or privately. This year, we released a study of Isaiah (part 1, chapters 1-39) and a new systematic Bible class called God’s Purpose of the Ages: A Love Story. Other classes to consider for study are Kingdom Covenants; Heart of Christian Living; The Spiritual Realm; Why I Believe; Back to the Basics (Study of the Book of James); Lord, Teach Us to Pray; and more. Visit our bookstore online at http://lhim.org/bookstore/ to see what is available.

Our summer events may also be of interest to you. June 2, the praise team from Living Faith Christian Church of Rhode Island will conduct a praise service at Living Hope Community Church. Family Camp will be July 1-7 with the theme of Delight Yourself in YHWH; Teen Camp from July 29 to August 3 will be held at Silver Bay again this year; and the Royal Family Reunion will be August 24-26 with our theme as Looking unto Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). Register online at http://lhim.org/register/. Everyone near and far, come visit us any Sunday at our 10:30 service.

Thom Riley, Dan Fitzsimmons, Luis and Ive Carlos, and I will all be visiting the three churches that are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo, July 26August 8. Please keep this in your prayers.

The missionary work in Africa is needful, but no more so than in our own country. The blatant disregard for God and moral godly living continues to expand and ill affects every aspect of our society. If you have not listened to the Biblical Education class entitled “The Final Words (Study of the Epistle of Revelation),” please consider doing so or see our website http://lhim.org/resources/classes. The class addresses many of the issues that beset our country (and the world) and offers practical suggestions on how to respond accordingly. The summer also provides fresh opportunities to reach out with the ministry of reconciliation.

People need to hear about our God and Lord and the coming Kingdom.

God bless you,

3

Seek Yahweh: Christian Tradition

By John Cortright

2P

eter 1:20-21 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Here in the second epistle of Peter, we are told that, first of all, we should understand that no Scripture is of one’s own interpretation and that the prophecy did not come from the act of human will. Rather, men, moved by the holy spirit, spoke from God. The Scriptures came from God. The standard from which we choose right practice should not come from man’s precepts, but rather it should come from Scripture. There are many traditions of men which have developed through the years. At times, these traditions do not impact right practice, and actually may enhance one’s relationship with God. At times, however, these traditions can put unnecessary bondage on a person of faith and in some instances actually contradict the commandment of God. Paul warned about deception from traditions of men in his letter to the Colossians.

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the

tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

Some traditions captivate people, put them in fear from doing certain things. There are many religious beliefs about improper activity that may not be commandments of God; rather, they fall into the category of traditions of men. The record in Colossians continues.

Colossians 2:20-22 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)−in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?

One tradition that has developed in Christianity is the use of the name of God, hwhy (YHWH). This name is not commonly used in Christian practice.

In most modern English Bibles, these Hebrew letters, as written in the Old Testament, are translated as LORD (all caps) or in some usages as GOD (all caps). However, most scholars know full well that the correct translation should be YHWH (pronounced “Yahweh”).

When the King James Version was published in 1611, the translators, knowing the Hebrew Masoretic text was different 4

from the Greek, chose to distinguish the Hebrew word “YHWH” from other Hebrew words translated as “Lord” by rendering this word in all capital letters as “LORD” or “GOD” (when it is used in conjunction with another Hebrew word Adonay). For the most part, this is the same tradition that exists in the church today. However, there was a time when this tradition was challenged. When the American Standard Version was produced in 1901, the translators chose a different way to handle the name of God. Rather than using the English word “LORD,” the publishers instead chose to render this Hebrew word with the commonly accepted English name “Jehovah.”1 “The change first recommended in the Appendix - that which substitutes ‘Jehovah’ for ‘LORD’ and ‘GOD’ is one which will be unwelcome to many, because of the frequency and familiarity of the terms displaced.

But the American Revisers, after a careful consideration were brought to the unanimous conviction that a Jewish superstition, which regarded the Divine Name as too sacred to be uttered, ought no longer to dominate in the English or any other version of the Old Testament.”2 Although there was unanimous consent among translators of the (Continued on page 5)

(Continued from page 4)

American Standard Version in 1901, fifty years later when the Revised Standard Version was produced, English Scholars reverted back to the Jewish traditions. They followed the precedent of the Authorized King James Version and again rendered the name of God as “LORD” or “GOD,” rather than giving a proper English translation of the Hebrew letters hwhy (YHWH).

“A major departure from the practice of the American Standard Version is the rendering of the Divine Name, the ‘Tetragrammaton.’

The American Standard Version used the term ‘Jehovah’; the King James Version had employed this in four places, but everywhere else, except in three cases where it was employed as part of a proper name, used the English word “LORD” (or in certain cases “GOD”) printed in capitals. The present revision returns to the procedure of the King James Version….”3 This procedure of translating the Hebrew name of God, YHWH, as “LORD” or “GOD,” permeates both Jewish and Protestant tradition.

Also, the Roman Catholic Church, in recent years,

officially restricted the use of the name YHWH in church liturgical settings, songs, prayer, and translations. In 2008, the Bishop’s Conference issued the following directive, “By directive of the Holy Father, in accord with the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, this Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments deems it convenient to communicate to the Bishop’s Conferences the following as regards the translation and pronunciation, in a liturgical setting, of the Divine Name signified in the sacred Tetragrammaton…. In light of what has been expounded, the following directives are to be observed: In liturgical celebrations, in songs and prayers, the name of God, in the form of the Tetragrammaton YHWH, is neither to be used or pronounced. For the translation of the Biblical text in modern languages, destined for liturgical usage of the Church … the divine Tetragrammaton is to be rendered by the equivalent of Adonai/Kyrios, ‘Lord’….”4 At the time of the writings of the Apostle Paul, traditions of men were actively present in the early church. Today, man’s tradition continues to influence modern church doctrine.

When it comes to the name of God, YHWH, there are no verses of Scripture in the Old or New Testament which condemn or restrict writing or speaking God’s name. Yet today, most still do not know the name of 5

God. Had English translators and scholars chosen to render properly the Hebrew letters hwhy into the English equivalent of “YHWH,” perhaps the name of God would be known. Instead, we are left with traditions of men, an empty deception, where the name of God is hidden in common understanding. Rather than God’s name being praised from the rising of the sun to its setting (Psalms 113:3), the use of His name is restricted in the church. Also, rather than the name of YHWH being great among the nations (Malachi 1:11), it is, for the most part, unknown and replaced instead with an ambiguous title, “Lord.”

Is this tradition an act of the holy spirit upon men of God, or is this an act of human will? May the church rise up, seek YHWH our God, and strive to seek His approval in our faith and practice.

1

The name “Jehovah” is a rendering of the name “YHWH,” which English scholars used and was popular through the 20th century. (See Glad Tidings article “Is God’s Name Jehovah?” – July/August 2010, Vol 14, Is 4). Modern scholars agree the proper rendering is “Yahweh.”

2

The Holy Bible: 1901 American Standard Version, (Thomas Nelson and Sons, New York, NY), copyright 1929, Preface, pg iv.

3

The Revised Standard Version, (American Bible Society, New York, NY), New Testament, Copyright 1946; Old Testament, Copyright 1952, Preface pg V.

4

Francis Card. Arinze (Prefect), Letter to the Bishop’s Conference on “The Name of God”- (Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments), June 29, 2008.

Overcomers’ Reward

O

ur forefathers of faith endured many trials and tribulations without giving up on God. Believers like Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, and David were able to withstand evil in their day because they had a firm grasp on the hope. Their constant confession, according to Hebrews 11:13, was that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. They diligently maintained focus upon the coming Kingdom. They all died before receiving the promises but remained faithful until death and therefore will inherit the Kingdom when it comes.

Paul, another hero of the faith, tells us how we can avoid losing heart and can persevere.

the wickedness confronting the church and the Lord’s exhortation to resist it and to preserve holiness. To each of the seven Asian churches, Jesus encourages them with a bit of understanding about the rewards for those who overcome and stand strong.

To EPHESUS, Jesus says in Revelation 2:7 – “To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.” After their original sin, Adam and Eve were kept out of Paradise so that they could not eat from the tree of life. Because of the sacrificial work of Christ, the faithful ones will have access to the tree of life that will be in the new Paradise of God. In Revelation 22, this concept is completely developed.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

To SMYRNA in 2:11, Jesus states – “He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.” This promise was especially encouraging to the saints at Smyrna since some of them were soon to be martyred. When we consider deeply the destiny of the faithless, the lake of fire (according to Revelation 20:11-15), our desire to stand is greatly enhanced.

In our study of the book of Revelation, we have noted

To PERGAMUM in 2:17, he promises – “To him who overcomes, to him I will give some 6

By Vince Finnegan

of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.”

The environment in Pergamum was saturated with idolatry and immorality, as is ours today. Resisting these relentless temptations is arduous and often wearisome, but the reward far outweighs the task. Jesus spoke of the manna that came down from heaven in John 6, the bread of life, which is Jesus himself.

Because of him, we will have eternal life. A white stone given to a person at the close of a trial signified his being acquitted. Stones also served as admission tickets to public festivals and assemblies.

Metaphorically, the white stone for the faithful means we are justified and invited into the Kingdom. A new name to go with our new resurrected life will be ours.

To THYATIRA in 2:25-29, he says, “He who overcomes, and he who keeps my deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from my Father; and I will give him the morning star.”

(Continued on page 7)

(Continued from page 6)

Thyatira had in their church a woman leader who was advancing immorality and idolatry. In our day, many of the church clergy practice and promote immorality. Our government leaders, the president, vice president, secretary of education, secretary of state, and secretary of housing all boldly declared their support of sexual immorality. Nonetheless, the greatest promulgator of idolatry and immorality (both sexually and covetously) that plagues the church, country, and world sits at the center of almost every American home – the television.

If we respond to the exhortation Jesus gave to the believers in Thyatira, he promises us that we will rule with him as kings and priests in the glorious millennial Kingdom that is coming. Additionally, we will receive the morning star, meaning we will get him because he is the morning star according to Revelation 22:16 and 2 Peter 1:19.

To SARDIS, 3:5 and 6, is stated – “He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father and before His angels.” The church in

Sardis had become lackadaisical and sluggish regarding the things of God. They were so oblivious to their own reality that Jesus said to them –“You have a name that you are alive but you are dead!”

I could present a mountain of evidence to prove how far removed from God and the truth that the church and our country have become. I could also outline the devastating

confessed by our Lord before our God. To PHILADELPHIA 3:12 – “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my new name.”

To the holy ones in Philadelphia, Jesus said to remain faithful, and they will have direct access to Yahweh forever. Citizenship in the new Jerusalem is an enticing motivator.

consequences that our ungodliness has brought upon us such as the earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, fires.… The malignance has eaten away on every front − morals, health, environment, finances, education, marriage, family, and so on.

However, the acknowledgement of all these things combined truthfully would not make a dent in the lethargic, sinful mindset of the majority.

The only way to wake up is to turn to the Lord, and those who do will have their names written in the book of life and 7

To LAODICEA 3:21 – “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne.” The Laodiceans lost their zeal for God by becoming engrossed in the riches and pleasures of the world. A glorious privilege awaits those who repent and remain zealous.

Contemplation of these seven promises helps us to stay the course just like our forefathers.

Rejecting the Kingdom: Three Reasons

When Jesus returns, he will defeat evil and resurrect the people of God who are presently sleeping in their graves.

Thus the righteous will stand up once more and enjoy life on earth once

By Sean Finnegan again—this time in a resurrected body.

That is not to say they will be in a different body; it will rom a biblical perspective, be their body but with some signifithe notion that God will cant upgrades. Although Scripture one day establish His does not spell out the capabilities of Kingdom on earth is extremely wellthe resurrected body in detail, we do attested, enjoying support from both know it will neither break down nor Old and New Testaments, from both suffer death (two major problems in historical books and the prophets, our current experience). Resurrected from Paul’s epistles and the Gospels, people will be able to eat, recognize and especially from the Bible’s last one another, and enjoy the delights of book. God’s plan is to make everyearth as it was in the beginning. The thing wrong with the world right, to citizens of God’s Kingdom will live restore creation back to its original in harmony with one another and the Edenic glory, to defeat evil and death earth and participate in God’s grand once and for all, and to usher in an restoration project until everything is eternal age of peace and joy on earth. fit for God Himself to come down Rather than exploding, nuking, or and dwell here forever. dissolving the earth, God wants to fix it up—like an antique car—until it God’s dream for the future is not to shines with its original glory. hold disembodied souls in a tractor beam stare for all eternity or to be He intends to accomplish this task locked into a never ending song serthrough His agent, Jesus the King, vice. In contrast, the Kingdom of whom He will send to establish his God is much more “down to earth” reign on the last day. Jesus is than that. People will till the ground, uniquely qualified to administer the plant crops, and enjoy the harvest. world’s government because of his The prophets talk about how the earth proven character and track record, will produce bountifully and even the having always resisted temptation and deserts will become lush with sundry obeyed his Father. He is of royal plants and flowers. The world will blood, having descended from the still experience time, and people will great Kings of Judah and Israel like move through space using standard David and Hezekiah. Even so, God’s bipedal locomotion (i.e. walking, rungrand idea is not limited to reestabning, etc.). The goal is not to become lishing the Davidic dynasty in Israel; conglomerated and melted into one rather, Israel will become the chief of collective consciousness, nor does the nations and the center of a new global Bible ever mention teleportation or system. Jesus will sit upon the throne flying around. No, the Kingdom is of David in Jerusalem, but his reign simply the same as our present world will extend over all nations, tribes, minus all of the problems. God will peoples, and languages. fix war, disease, famine, death, earthquakes, oppression, domestic vio-

F

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lence, corrupt governments, and sin of all kinds.

Although this vision of the future is biblical, logical, and incredibly attractive, many ancient Christians did not like it. Sadly, the Kingdom of God was rejected by a small group of educated, affluent, and influential Christian thinkers. The first time the historical records provide us with a glimpse of non-kingdom believers is in the middle of the second century— more than a century after Christ— when the Christian Platonist philosopher Justin Martyr writes of some who do not believe God will restore Jerusalem to its former glory. He says such non-kingdom believers are not mainstream or orthodox but that they are still considered fellow Christians. From at least the second century up until at least the fifth century, Christians of both opinions lived side by side and occasionally engaged in dialogue over this important issue.

By analyzing the arguments of Christians who contest the Kingdom, I have identified their three primary reasons for rejecting an earthly hope: they thought it was too crude, too hedonistic, and too Jewish. These rationales are significant since they are largely to blame for Christianity going astray on this issue and embracing instead the heaven-at-death idea.

If we can overcome these objections, we will be on solid ground to reclaim God’s original hope for the world and to help others see what happened.

Sometimes a biblical argument is not enough to convince someone. However, if we can tell the story of how the Church got off track on this issue as well, heaven-at-death believers may find themselves more persuaded to believe in the Kingdom.

The first of the three reasons why some Christians rejected the Kingdom of God was because they regarded it as crude, unsophisticated, and unworthy of God. From Origen of Alexandria to (Continued on page 9)

(Continued from page 8)

Augustine of Hippo, educated, elite Christian thinkers routinely derided an earthly hope as foolish. This was probably because ancient science, heavily influenced by Plato’s philosophy, thought of the world as an inferior copy of a higher eternal realm. According to them, change was one of the most significant problems with the world and human experience. Ancient thinkers had a strong bias against transience, preferring instead immutability. Based on Aristotle and Ptolemy’s astronomy, they thought of the universe as a series of concentric circles, the center of which was the earth. We occupy the lowest level of being where coarse and unrefined matter undergoes constant flux. From hourly temperature variation to daily day and night cycles to monthly seasonal changes, this lower realm is characterized by instability and unpredictability. However, as one looks up to the higher orbits of the moon and sun and beyond, he notices that the farther one moves away from the earth, the more stability objects appear to enjoy. The stars in particular were lauded for their fixed nature, never moving with respect to each other, but rotating as a whole in an utterly predictable manner.

They thought the stars were made of finer, thinner matter, which gave rise to their characteristic fixed nature. Beyond the stars exists the realm of God and the forms, the blueprint for every type of object on earth. Since education in the Greco-Roman world was essentially the same as studying the works of Greek philosophers along with the myths of old, wealthy Christians—who could afford such training—were predisposed to reject an earthly hope. The idea seemed crass—as if God would imprison His people in the lowest level of existence, composed of the thickest matter and subject to constant flux forever. Because this seemed incoherent, they developed a variety of interpretational strategies to deal with the passages that seemed to identify earth as the site of ultimate redemption.

As with the science of the universe so with the science of the body, privileged Christians of antiquity generally disparaged the human body and regarded pleasure as inherently suspect. Christians from Gaius of Rome to Jerome of Bethlehem indicted Kingdom believers on the charge of hedonism (i.e. believing pleasure is the primary aim). Heaven defenders appealed to the hope of eating rich foods and drinking aged wine at the banquet feast as evidence that fleshly appetites rather than spiritual aspirations motivated Kingdom believers. Such rhetoric found traction in the culture of the time, at least among educated people, because everyone just “knew” that seeking

“The prophets talk about how the earth will produce bountifully and even the deserts will become lush with sundry plants and flowers.” pleasure was problematic whereas denying one’s carnal impulses was virtuous. Furthermore, they regarded the body itself as the prime culprit since it was from the body, not the mind, that desires welled up and temptations sprang forth. At least since the time when Plato wrote about Socrates’ death, philosophers have regarded the body as a prison for the soul, a constant source of interruption, and the prime problem in this life. The goal is to escape the body with all of its attendant vices and flit off to the realm of pure knowledge to contemplate God and matters of importance without interruption forever. This is not to say that everyone in the Roman Empire routinely denied themselves pleasure, but an incredibly wide swath of educated thinkers believed indulging in pleasure was not ideal, and they 9

admired those few ascetics who led consecrated lives devoid of all gratification. Philosophers like Plotinus and his disciple Porphyry repeatedly derided the body as the source of carnal desires. Furthermore, the Stoics, the most influential of the philosophical schools of antiquity, based their whole approach to life on denying and detaching themselves from personal desire of all kinds. Christianity from the second century onward imbibed this tonic of austerity and set about outdoing the pagans in strict discipline and asceticism. As a result, many elite Christians found the idea of living in physical bodies forever, eating quality meat, and enjoying the fruit of the vine, singularly unpalatable. Those who believed in the Kingdom were labeled pleasure seekers (hedonists) and summarily dismissed as immature carnal Christians who had not yet ascended beyond the lusts of the flesh to the higher plane of spiritual satisfaction.

Beyond cosmology and hedonism, the Kingdom was also rejected on the grounds that it was too Jewish.

Although the situation is much different today, in the first few centuries after Christ, Jews greatly outnumbered Christians and generally enjoyed more social acceptance in society. By the third century, the unhappy memories of the failed Jewish revolts had given way to economic growth and optimism. However, for Christians, the Jews’ very existence confronted them with two major questions. If Jesus really was the prophesied Jewish Messiah, then why did his own people still reject him? If Jesus was the king then why did he not establish the messianic Kingdom and rescue the Jews from their oppressors?

The standard Christian strategy—at least from the third century onwards— was to accuse the Jews of hardheartedness and allege that they read Scripture according to the letter rather than the spirit.

Origen, who heavily endorsed this stereotype, claimed that (Continued on page 11)

Raise Your Voice and Declare

By Mary Ann Yaconis

R

ecently, during a chance encounter with a very interesting veteran of World War II, I was reminded of the value of commitment and courage. I thought about a famous article written by a photojournalist during the Battle of the Bulge. The story told of an incident when the Nazi SS troops crashed through the American lines.

The demoralized American soldiers began a disorganized retreat through a thick forest. A paratrooper unit was sent in to restore order and draw a line of resistance.

The photograph accompanying the article shows a bedraggled paratrooper carrying a large gun and equally big gun slung across his back. Most poignantly, he is standing in the middle of a road, alone, and has his hand raised to stop a 30 ton American tank grinding along in retreat. “After it had ground to a halt, the weary paratrooper looked up at the tank commander and asked, ‘Buddy, are you looking for a safe place?’ ‘Yeah,’ the tank commander replied. ‘Then park your tank behind me, because I’m the 82nd Airborne, and this is as far as the [enemy] is going.’”1 After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, when Pentecost came, Peter was also such a man.

Pentecost (the record is in Acts 2 concerning the receiving of holy spirit by the church) was a turning point for victory from death to life.

Peter took an incredible stand after having spent days hiding for fear of the Jews.

Acts 2:14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his

voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.

At this time, thousands of Jews were milling about (including the Pharisees and other leaders who were instrumental in having Jesus the Messiah crucified). Yet, Peter stood up and said definitively −

here it is, here is the truth and all of you need to listen to it. Many repented that day. This began the surge of a new way of living for all mankind − freedom. Freedom from the law, freedom to live by the holy spirit, and freedom to love as Jesus loved were all included.

Acts 5:20 “Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life.”

Years later, Saul was on a journey to Damascus with authority from the chief priests to apprehend Christians and take them away.

Paul recounts in the following.

Acts 26:13-18 At midday, O King [Agrippa], I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.

“And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the 10

goads.’

“And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’

And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. `But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; \ rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’ The risen Christ told Saul to STAND up on his feet and minister to the Jews and later to the Gentiles. Christ commissioned him to speak words that affect each and everyone’s life now and for all eternity. Saul became Paul. A transformation took place, and he lived his life, not in luxury, but in many pains, trials, and tribulations, in order to have the joy unspeakable of spreading the gospel to all who had ears to hear. His joy was in service to Yahweh and Jesus Christ. The following is what Paul told King Agrippa that he had accomplished so far: Acts 26:19-23 “So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.

(Continued on page 11)

(Continued from page 10)

“For this reason some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to put me to death.

“So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

Jesus, with his power as the resurrected Messiah, took a stand on the road to Damascus. The Messiah told Saul that he was to stop doing what he was doing and get busy by getting behind the Messiah and put his energy into preaching about Christ and the Kingdom of God. Paul, modeling Christ, stood for all of (Continued from page 9)

Rejecting the Kingdom: Three Reasons Continued...

Jews interpreted prophecies according to the surface meaning, whereas Christians penetrated deeper to gain spiritual insight. Allegory, the way of reading sacred texts where everything represents something else, had been pioneered centuries earlier as a way to read Homer’s epic works: The Iliad and The Odyssey. By the time Christianity was in a dead-lock with Judaism, allegory had become a standard strategy the educated employed to smooth out otherwise embarrassing texts. However, those Christians— and there were many—who believed in the coming Kingdom of God were a major roadblock to this approach since they read the biblical prophecies literally. One pastor in Lower Egypt even wrote a book called Against the Allegorists wherein he demonstrated the superiority of reading the Bible literally and defended the Kingdom.

However, to the allegorists the notion that a Jewish king would rule in Jeru-

Asia Minor by putting his hand out to stop Satan and have those who believed to stand in behind him.

Paul’s commitment not to give quarter to wrong doctrine or sin patterns in people’s lives and personal persecutions even unto death is well known and respected. Paul exhorts us to: Acts 5:20 “Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life.”

Saul had a choice on the road to Damascus. He had free will to say “no” to the vision. Saul was committed to the Jews, and that way of life had been well drilled into him because he says of himself that he was blameless in the law. Are we much different than Saul with our past and sin patterns well drilled into us?

Who now is the one (or ones) to stop salem over a restored Israel appeared too Jewish since it played right into the objection that Jesus could not have been the Christ because he did not bring a physical, political Kingdom.

Eventually, Christians who believed in biblical hope were labeled Judaizers.

(In the Bible, Judaizers were those who strove to make Gentile converts keep the Law of Moses.) By the late fourth century, anyone who believed in an earthly Kingdom was lambasted and libeled for Judaizing, even though there is no evidence that Kingdom believers advocated Torah observance.

What I find so fascinating, living more than a millennium later, is that although these three reasons are completely obsolete, Christianity still retains the heaven-at-death doctrine instead of believing in the coming Kingdom on earth. We no longer have a bias against change—as if transience is inherently flawed; we no longer assume all pleasure is inherently tainted—as if having a glass of wine would be a sin; we no longer repudiate an idea for being too Jewish—as if to read Scripture according to its surface 11

the 30 ton tank on the road and say to the Christians today, get in behind

me because this is as far as Satan goes? We are to take a stand and reclaim and claim God’s purposes here, right now, to speak the Word to all who will hear the whole message of this age so that others will have entrance into the Kingdom. As that weary paratrooper was able, after days of combat and little food or rest, to plant his feet on the road, put up his hand, and stop the immense tank in order to regroup the troops, we also can learn from these examples and choose to do the same.

Come, be obedient to the heavenly vision, and take a stand. Be bold and

strong in the Lord.

1

Grossman, D., Christensen, L. (2008). On Combat: The Psychological and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and Peace, Third ed., United States: Warrior Science Publications. p. 368

meaning was inferior to making up our own “deeper” private interpretations.

These objections to the Kingdom are now hopelessly outdated. If anything, culture has so shifted that the opposite of each of them is favored today. So if the Bible supports the Kingdom, at least when we assume it means what it says, and no one any longer takes the reasons for rejecting it seriously, then why does mainstream Christianity hold to an anti-change, anti-pleasure, antiJewish understanding of the hope?

Why not return to the ancient conception so well expressed by the prophets of old like Isaiah and Daniel—a dream of the future where the wolf dwells with the lamb, where the Son of Man is King of over all nations, where the people of God enjoy quality food and wine on His sacred mountain, where the saints are empowered to reign with the Son of Man forever. Why not dream along with the seers, allow ourselves to be wooed by God’s grand vision, and return to the original plan of global restoration and redemption?

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Check out our bookstore online! http://lhim.org/bookstore/ We have many DVD and CD classes in our bookstore that you could view with your family or privately.

This year, we released a study of Isaiah (part 1, chapters 1-39) and a new systematic Bible class called God’s Purpose of the Ages: A Love Story.

Other classes to consider for study are: ♦ Kingdom Covenants ♦ Heart of Christian Living ♦ The Spiritual Realm ♦ Why I Believe ♦ Back to the Basics (Study of the Book of James) ♦ Lord, Teach Us to Pray ♦ and much more