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The following Scripture passages are offered to aid beginning fellowships. The readings and commentary for this week are more in line with what has become usual; for the following will most likely be familiar observations. The concept behind this Sabbath’s selection is faith. Clickable hymns on this page require RealPlayer to be installed on your computer. The download is free. Possible songs include the following hymns: Weekly
For the Sabbath of May 31, 2008
The person conducting the Sabbath service should
open services with two or three hymns, or psalms, followed by an opening prayer
acknowledging that two or three (or more) are gathered together in Christ
Jesus’ name, and inviting the Lord to be with them. The person conducting the services
should read or assign to be read Romans chapter 11, verses 1 through 10. Commentary: Paul rhetorically asks, “[H]as God rejected
his people?” (11:1), and the answer Paul gives is that God has retained a
portion of Israel for Himself, and Paul cites the exchange between Elijah and
the Lord [YHWH] to show that at the
“present time” [mid 1st-Century CE] there is a remnant
of Israel “chosen by grace” (v.
5) that has been destined to be saved as there were 7,000 Israelites who
hadn’t bowed knees to Baal in the days of the first Elijah … not
bowing knees to Baal becomes a shadow and type of being “chosen by
grace,” which keeps alive the concept of a predestined elect, but not as
Calvinists taught the concept. Paul makes Elijah’s appeal against ·
After slaying
the 450 prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:22, 40) and after the Lord [YHWH] sends rains to break the long
drought of Elijah (1 Kings 17:1), Elijah flees from the wrath of Jezebel and
journeys forty days and forty nights without food or drink until he reaches
Mount Horeb where the word of the Lord comes to him (1 Kings 19:8-9). 1.
There Elijah
tells the Lord that of God’s servants, he alone is left alive, and 2.
Elijah is told
to leave the cave and go out and stand before the Lord. 3.
The Lord was
not in the great wind that broke in pieces rocks so Elijah did not then leave
the cave; nor was the Lord in the earthquake that followed the strong wind; nor
was the Lord in the fire that followed the earthquake. 4.
The Lord was
in the low whisper that followed the great displays of power. And Elijah leaves
the cave and face to face, but with his face covered by his cloak, Elijah
repeats his lament about being alone, the only servant of the Lord left alive. 5.
The Lord told
Elijah to anoint Hazael to be king over 6.
Elisha as the
prophet of God is anointed to kill idolatrous Israelites (1 Kings 19:17); he is
not anointed to bring peace or to heal the infirmed or to be a witness for the
Lord, or to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. 7.
Then, the Lord
tells Elijah that He will leave 7,000, all the knees that have not bowed to
Baal and every mouth that has not kissed Baal (v. 18). ·
When Paul
cites Elijah’s appeal against ·
Being saved by
grace, now, is analogous to not be killed for idolatry, which will have all
those Israelites saved by grace not practicing idolatry—Paul identifies
his people, natural Israel, as an idolatrous nation. ·
Idolatry
produces, by Paul’s reasoning, hardness of hearts (Rom 11:7), and to
those who have been hardened, God gives a spirit of stupor (v. 8) so that they cannot turn to God
and be healed, a reality Isaiah addresses and the shadow and copy of God
sending a delusion over rebelling saints who “did not believe the truth,
but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess 2:12). Understand, when moving from physical to spiritual
to not believe the truth is to practice idolatry! Unbelief is idolatry. And
Jesus came into this world to deliver to a nation that did not know the Father,
that had never heard of the Father, and that practiced idolatry in the second
temple the truth. Jesus’ words
are the truth, and Jesus said to His
disciples, “‘For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that
of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’”
(Matt 5:20). Why? Because the scribes and the Pharisees were idolaters: they
were hypocrites, having the law but only outwardly living by it, and then only
when men were looking, hence the need to ring a bell before giving an alm. ·
Hypocrisy is
idolatry! Jesus said, “‘Do not think that I have
come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to
fulfill them. … Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom
of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the
kingdom of heaven’” (Matt 5:17, 19). Whoever doesn’t teach
these commandments is an idolater—and these commandments are those that
Moses twice lugged down from atop Mount Sinai; for Jesus also said,
“‘If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me.
But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my
words’” (John 5:46-47). And that question remains valid: if a
person does not believe Moses, how will the person believe Jesus—and the
answer is, the person won’t. The person simply will not believe what
Jesus said. Thus, the person will be, if born of spirit, an idolater, a rebellious
and lawless son of God. In other words, the person will be a typical
“Christian” as seen in Sunday morning worship services. One of the persistent questions concerning
Scripture is whether Scripture serves as a Homeric simile of the Book of Life
in which disciples are epistles (2 Cor 3:3), or whether Scripture is the actual
shadow and copy of the Book of Life. If Scripture is a Homeric simile, then not
every detail in Scripture is an actual darkened representation of an event or of
living being in the Book of Life, but if Scripture is a true shadow—and
this should scare those typical
Christians in Sunday services—then the last Elijah will anoint a
spiritual equivalent to Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha to slay the spiritually
circumcised house of Israel, except for a number equivalent to the 7,000 whom
the Lord [YHWH] referenced, with the
endtime reality of these 7,000 in the 8th-Century BCE being the
144,000 mentioned in Revelation. The justification for logically moving from 7,000
natural Israelites to 144,000 natural Israelites develops from the 70 years
when there was no temple in earthly Jerusalem (586 BCE to 516 BCE) serving as
the shadow and copy of the approximately 1200 years (325 CE to 1525 CE) when no
spiritually circumcised Israelite dwelt in the heavenly city of Jerusalem: disciples
are the spiritual temple of God (1 Cor 3:16-17; 2 Cor 6:16), so it was not that
there were no Israelites in earthly Jerusalem for 70 years, but that there was
no temple in this city that serves as the shadow and copy of the heavenly city. ·
The difficulty
in believing that a physical building in which the Levitical priesthood offered
sacrifices to God can and does represent a living person who has been born of
spirit caused those whom Paul taught to abandon his teachings while Paul still
lived. ·
The bodily
tent of flesh in which the new self or new creature, born of spirit as a son of
God, dwells is, however, directly analogous to the physical temple in which the
descendants of Levi served God, which makes the new selves or creatures the
spiritual reality of the Levitical priesthood. ·
Not all of who
have descended from Israel belong to Israel (Rom 9:6) as not all Israel were
Levites—and as the 144,000 does not represent all of Israel, but 12,000
of 12 tribes, with the tribe of Dan being excluded (Rev 7:4-8) and with these
144,000 following the Lamb of God wherever He leads. ·
The 144,000
that come from natural Israel can, now, be likened to the tribe of Levi being
ordained for service to the Lord [YHWH]
at the cost to each of his son and his brother (Ex 32:25-29). ·
These 144,000,
now, become spiritually like Elisha was physically—and Elisha was
ordained to slay those idolatrous Israelites who escaped the swords of Hazael
and Jehu. ·
By their
obedience of the law and by their belief in Christ, the 144,000 will
“slay” (as in spiritually condemn as opposed to shedding blood)
neighbors, brothers, and sons as the physical sons of Levi slew neighbor,
brother, and companion (Ex 32:27) following Israel’s 40 day rebellion against God, the nation’s rebellion while
Moses was still atop Sinai and in the presence of Yah. ·
Moses was to Aaron,
his brother, as God (Ex 4:16); thus, Moses was to Aaron (both of whom are
Levites) as Christ Jesus is to born again
Christians, the spiritual successors
to the sons of Levi and the younger brothers of Jesus (Rom 8:29). The movement from physical completeness being
represented by “7” (Gen 2:1-3) to spiritual completeness being
represented by “12” gives agreement to “70” (the number
of years when there was no temple in earthly Jerusalem) being a type of “7,000”
as the numeral “1200” is a type of “144,000” (or 12 x
12,000), an underdeveloped subject but also a subject that can be easily abused
by those who are carnally minded. This type of numerology must be approached
with utmost caution if the one using it is to avoid making Scripture say silly
things that are not true. * The reader should now read Malachi
chapter 4; followed by Luke chapter 1, verses 1 through 25, and Matthew chapter
11, verses 11 through 19. Commentary: The testimony of Scripture is that there will be
another Elijah or a last Elijah—an endtime Elijah—that was
foreshadowed by the first Elijah, and the testimony of Scripture is that John
the Baptist was a type of this last Elijah; for John came preaching repentance
as the one who would make straight the way to Jesus as the Messiah. But (and
this needs to be remembered) Jesus did not come in the 1st-Century
as the Messiah so it logically follows that there will be another like John who
comes at the end of the age. The angel Gabriel subtly tells disciples how to
read Scripture: referring to John, Gabriel tells Zechariah, “‘[H]e
will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he
will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go
before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient
to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people
prepared’” (Luke 1:15-17 — emphasis added). ·
In the oracle
of the Lord given to Malachi, the Lord [YHWH]
says, “‘Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great
and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers
to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come
and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction’” (4:5-6). ·
In moving from
physical to spiritual, turning “the hearts of the children to their
fathers” is the physical type of the spiritual reality of turning “the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just” as is striking “the land
with a decree of utter destruction” the type of “to make ready for
the Lord a people prepared.” ·
If the Lord [YHWH] physically struck the If there is no evident or apparent or visible wisdom of the just to which the last
Elijah can turn the disobedient, this last Elijah will not successfully prepare
a people for the Lord and the land will then be physically struck with utter
destruction so that no human being would be saved alive. But the wisdom of the just functions as a
euphemistic expression for Christ Jesus, for John said of himself,
“‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make
straight the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said’”
(John 1:24), followed the next day by, “‘Behold, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, “After me
comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.” I myself did
not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water that he might be
revealed to John baptized ·
If Jesus had
not been revealed to ·
By extension,
if the endtime Elijah does not turn disobedient “Christians” to the
wisdom of the just, the Lamb of God
will remain unknown to the theology that bears the name of Christ Jesus as in
the 1st-Century the Lamb of God was unknown and unrecognized by
unrepentant Sadducees and Pharisees. ·
The wisdom of the just is now repentance
from disobedience, or walking as Jesus walked (1 John 2:3-6) and imitating Paul
as he imitated Jesus (1 Cor 11:1; Phil 3:17); for Jesus is the manifestation of
the wisdom of the just, the
manifestation of obedience to the Father. Turning the hearts of physical sons to their
physical fathers is the type and shadow of turning the disobedient to the
wisdom of the just, or of turning sons of disobedience (Eph 2:2-3) to the
Father and His Christ. This now sets up the task of the endtime Elijah: turning
the heart of the Father toward disobedient sons of God— How would or could Christ turn the heart of the
Father towards disobedient sons of God—disciples who, when sin had no
dominion over them (Rom 6:14) voluntarily returned to sin, making themselves
again bondservants to sin, which leads to death (v. 16)? The prophet Zechariah writes, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who stands next to me, declares the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be
scattered;
I will turn my hand against the little ones. In the whole land, declares the Lord,
two [parts] shall be cut off and perish,
and one [part] shall be left alive. (13:7-8) Jesus said he was this shepherd: “Then Jesus
said to them, ‘You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is
written, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be
scattered”’” (Matt 26:31). And the scattering of disciples
that was seen after Jesus was physically taken and interrogated is a shadow and
type of the scattering of the flock after the spiritual Body of Christ was
taken captive by the prince of this world. The Lord of hosts’ turning His hand against
the little ones wasn’t a 1st-Century happening, but is an
endtime event that occurs when “they shall be given into his hand [i.e.,
the hand of the little horn on the head of the fourth beast] for a time, times,
and half a time” (Dan 7:25). Because of the lawlessness of the saints—of
Christians—the Father will turn His hand against the saints just as He
caused or permitted the sword to strike
the Shepherd and the sheep to be scattered when Jesus took upon Himself the
sins of Although prophecy can fail, it won’t on this
occasion: the “many” who have been called do not now and will not
in the future attempt to walk uprightly before God as bipeds, but rather, they
shamble along as beasts, following after the appetites of the flesh, loving
this world, pursuing the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions. They
follow those teachers of lawlessness who do mighty deeds in the name of Jesus
Christ, little realizing that the endtime Elijah will turn the heart of the
Father only toward those disciples who are as oil and wine (Rev 6:6), the
processed produce of the Promised Land. Only those disciples who strive to walk
uprightly before God, neither crawling as an infant nor hunched over as a
quadruped, will escape being merchandised by sin as if they were cereal grains
to be bought and sold. * The reader should now read Romans
chapter 11, verses 11 through 36. Commentary: Paul said that through natural The convert who insists on living as a Gentile is
not of God, does not have Christ dwelling within the person, and most likely
has not been born of spirit but is a spiritual bastard, fathered by Satan but
masquerading as a disciple. And on this person the world and its prince bestow
the identifying label, Christian,
such is the shame that has come to the wild olive branches that would be
grafted onto the root of righteousness. * The person conducting the Sabbath service should close services with two hymns, or psalms, followed by a prayer asking God’s dismissal. * * * * * "Scripture
quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©
2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by
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