Part 7 of 7
RELIGIONS THAT LOST
THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM
Moving on, the Catholic Church rejected and restricted the original faith of
Hebrew priests and prophets. They outlawed keeping the holy days of Torah and
sought to negate the promises of God to the Jewish nation. They took clear
passages and distorted them beyond recognition, spiritualized them away for new
ideas. And since the Protestant churches came out of the Catholic, they too
comprehend very little from prophetic Scriptures, other than the linear history
therein. The Bible therefore remains puzzling to many Christians, despite their
zeal to understand it, whereby its many mysteries are overlooked for surrender
to ignorance, as if ignorance of things calling for clarity should be the norm
of the faith. Whereas the rabbis say, “Until Elijah comes” Christians who fail
to perceive underlying biblical mysteries might as well say, “Until Jesus
comes.” They embellish new beliefs because they want to believe their
denominations have all the answers. Abandonment of the original
Jewish-Christian faith, with errant exegetics and traditions brought in,
remains the true cause of doctrinal ignorance.
“Replacement Theology” was not put to rest with the Protestant Reformation and
its many resulting divisions of Christian theology, but rather it was embraced
as an inherited trait from their mother church at Rome. At the roots of the
Reformation was Martin Luther’s 1543 publication: On the Jews and Their Lies,
wherein the vehement rioter sought to demoralize and demonize Jews, justifying
the rise of other anti-Semitic works of German Protestantism, which in turn
helped plant the satanic seeds for Nazi Germany’s attempted annihilation of the
Jewish race. The “Father of Protestantism” encouraged the burning of synagogues
and called Jews a “plague” and “misfortune” that needed to be severely treated
or cast out of Germany. These harsh words from Luther, who was apparently
enraged that Jews would not convert at his teachings, were embedded in the
hearts of those who adored him, and eventually became another source of power
for Hitler’s “final solution.” This is not merely my opinion but is
well-documented for those who seek to understand the recent history of Jewish
persecution. Some of the exact phrases of Martin Luther were blasted about by
Nazi Germany to justify their religious-evolutionary hatred- a deadly social
concoction. (See Robert Michael’s 2006 work- Holy Hatred, Antisemitism, and the
Holocaust- for the more lascivious and demeaning words of Luther.) Until recent
decades, Protestants’ replacement rhetoric was as anti-Jew and viral as that
held in the long ages of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, if not more
so (though lacking Rome’s power to murder en mass and displace in order to
convert Jews).
Calvin, Luther, Knox, and other “reformers” echoed the blasphemies of the Roman
Catholic Church, embracing amillennial (no millennium of Christ) eschatology.
“Reformed eschatology,” John F. Walvoord wrote, “has been predominately
amillennial. Most if not all of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation were
amillennial in their eschatology…” (cf. Biblio-theca Sacra, January-March,
1951). For this reason Babylon is not alone in Revelation, but truly she has
many daughter churches to this day that trespass boundlessly upon the Word of
God, whence men who have thought themselves great spiritual lights have denied
the fundamentals of the ancient faith, darkening the Gospel of the Kingdom. And
like the Roman Church that birthed her rebelling children, at the heart of
their denial of the Kingdom at Israel are ignorance of Scriptures and
deep-seated, routinely displayed, religious Antisemitism.
I
assert this truth not as a Jew but as a Baptist by family tradition from my
youth- a descendant of Babylon who has learned through grace and trials that
our allegiance should belong solely to God and His Word, not to any religion or
misplaced doctrine, no matter how sincere they may be. Baptists have good
churches with many dedicated, spiritual people, who seek not to compromise on
the truths of God that they recognize, such as Hagee, but like other churches
they have not taken any real initiative to purge unbiblical, pagan traditions,
nor have they collectively embraced crucial truths of a coming Christ Kingdom.
They generally await death for Heaven or an elusive rapture, but the Lord’s
works in a world created for humans are largely treated with contempt,
secondary to their personal spirituality.
This plague of self-serving Christianity, wherein God’s great works are
trivial, is a sad distortion of the faith. The words of the founders’ of
renegade Protestant religions testify to their revolt and forsaking the will of
God, embracing only personal spiritualism and ignorance of Scripture. Few stand
for the Jewish plight and fewer for the coming Kingdom of Heaven.
“Moreover, we
[reformers] condemn the Jewish dreams, that before the day of judgment [GWTJ]
there shall be a golden age in the earth, and the godly shall possess the
kingdoms of the world, their wicked enemies trodden underfoot; for the
evangelical truth…” (The Creeds of Christendom, Philip Schaff, v. 3, p. 852, on
Second Helvetic Confession of 1566); intrpl. mine
Hundreds of prophecies foretell the very things that the reformers adamantly
denied, and I cannot here rewrite half of the Bible to convince anyone. See
Dan. 7:27, Zech. 14:8-21, Mal. 4:1-3, Acts 1:6, Rev. 11:15-18, and Rev. 20:4-8
to understand the Kingdom. Nothing is more amazing of the Christian faith than
the fact that so many people lay claim to the Bible while denying its
disclosures, purblind to what Scriptures plainly reveal. I personally cannot
understand how men who translated Scriptures did not comprehend them. Eastern
Orthodox (Greek/Russian), Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic, Church of Christ,
Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and many other large organizations of Christianity
embrace amillennialism or some form of postmillennialism, along with their
subtle teachings of anti-Semitism, leaving scriptural truths embraced by few.
While they have thoroughly lashed out at Jews for denying the Great King, they
have in turn denied the coming Kingdom. Does a Great King not necessitate a
Kingdom, or is it truly just of them to claim that Christ merely rules from
Heaven over a world filled with growing atrocities and injustices? Is today’s
world truly Christ’s rule over the nations?
Of
the Sabbath, He [God] speaks in the beginning of the creation: And God made the
works of His hands in six days, and He ended on the seventh day, and rested on
it, and He hallowed it. Give heed, children, what this means; He ended in six
days. He means this: that is, in six thousand years the Lord shall bring all
things to an end, for the day with Him signifies a thousand years. And this He
Himself bears me witness, saying, “Behold, the Day of the Lord shall be as a
thousand [of our] years.” Therefore, children, in six days, this is in six
thousand years, everything [secular works] shall come to an end [completion].
And He rested on the seventh day. He means this: When His Son shall come and abolish
the time of the Lawless One [Antichrist], and shall judge the ungodly, and
shall change [make signs of] the sun and the moon and the stars, then shall He
truly rest on the seventh day. (Barnabas 15:3-5) intrpl. mine (NB: Epistle of
Barnabas is not to be confused with the fraudulent Book of Barnabas or Gospel
of Barnabas. The earliest Greek translation of the epistle has survived from
the 4th century Codex Sinaiticus, but dates back to 71-132 AD. First use of the
epistle that we know of was around 190 AD in Clement of Alexandria, as noted by
Jay Curry Treat. The passage in this book is a slight modernization of the
translation of J.B Lightfoot, for easier reading.)
Christian conduct towards Israel is not dependent upon how some believers
perceive the Jewish clergy and is not subject to Judaism’s comparatively minor
religious infractions against Christians though history. Our conduct must
reflect the will of our God and the whole of His Word. We are called to stand
by His declared truths no matter what the ages may bring or what acts may
manifest by humankind. If the whole world came crashing down and us with it, we
are yet called to the stand by the Divine Word as we fall- trusting in the
Kingdom of God, His truths, and the coming reign and glories of the Messiah.
Anyone, no matter who they may be or who they may think themselves to be, who
places their errant eschatology, cosmology, religious traditions, spiritual
pride, or churches or synagogues over the Divine Scriptures is found
trespassing in sight of the Living God. Judaism may trespass; the secular world
may trespass; and indeed all organized religions in Christianity may very well
trespass; but the true worshiper of God and follower of the sacred Word- Jew or
Gentile- is called to stand by the banner of Scripture come the hounds of hell
or high waters, and that includes embracing promises of what is coming to
Israel during the Great Sabbath millennium.
To
this day almost every brand of Christianity dismisses or to some degree
diminishes the Old Testament and the Jewish nation, failing to fully comprehend
the prophecies, for the roots of doctrinal corruptions are deep and run
worldwide. This disregard is due to demonic doctrines which spiritually blind
those who adhere to them- given as false lights. And while the restoration of
biblical truths and understanding has increased in modern times, many
extra-biblical traditions and long-inherited traits of false doctrines are not
easily expunged. Thus the true Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven often appears as
something new or foreign when a Christian or Jew hears it for the first time,
for they must newly learn to distinguish between Scriptural truths and faulty
religious teachings.
Revelation cannot be fully understood by Christians who hold to false
doctrines, for it was assigned to and delivered by a Jewish Christian who
believed in the coming messianic Kingdom during the millennium- a glorified
Jerusalem and restored Israel. So it is not we who decide which nation God
makes the throne of the Messiah, as a priestly nation of lights for the world,
but God. If God would have done all His works in Australia, then that would be
the nation we should stand by and lift the banner of His Word. Yet we have not
collectively stood for Jewish people or for all biblical truths, but have more
often sought to replace the nation of God’s everlasting promises, and this for
the glorification of worldly churches. Our allegiance belongs only to God and
His Word, not to Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, or any religious
organization. We may embrace people from them who stand by the Word and carry
the banner, but our devotion belongs to God. If some in Israel are corrupt, and
there are evils being allowed, God will indeed send His judgments, for truly He
sees all and weighs all, but for those who are mindful of the Divine Word there
is but one clear warning that should be heeded in regards to national Israel:
“I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” This does not
imply that we must agree with all secular ideas and worldly politics in Israel,
but that we should stand for the betterment and increase of the nation and its
people while we await the Great King. Anti-Israel Christianity is an oxymoron
for true believers.
Again, the earliest patriarchs of the Christian Ekklesia were still somewhat
connected with scriptural roots of the faith and generally promoted futurism by
similar interpretations (e.g., Clement of Rome, AD 96; Justin Martyr, AD
100-165; Irenaeus, AD 115-202). Although early leaders were disadvantaged and
oftentimes suffered from Judaism while protecting smaller Christian flocks,
they did not abandon the coming of Christ to reign in Jerusalem. It was later
that the wolves came into the flock to scare Christianity astray:
“They are not to be
heard who assure themselves that there is to be an earthly reign of a thousand
years, who think with the heretic Cerinthus. For the Kingdom of Christ is now
eternal in the saints, although the glory of the saints shall be manifested after
the resurrection.” – Tertullianus (3rd Cent. AD)
So
this is how the Truth of Scripture was corrupted among Gentiles who hated our
Jewish roots and wanted to reign in this present age, and the Truth became
lost. Every church heretic should dread an awakening to everlasting shame for
their subtle revolt against the coming Kingdom of the Messiah. They, thinking
themselves spiritual and knowing better than Scriptures, have trespassed beyond
measure against the King and God of Heaven. No greater damage has been done to
the biblical truths of God than what they have done, and the history of their
“saints” shall testify against them, especially because they have boldly
claimed that the Messiah has directed their heresies and slaughters from
Heaven.
May
the Lord have more mercy and compassion on our ignorance than these words must
convey, knowing that we have all fallen far short of Your glory and You are
faithful to forgive with grace. Your mercy extends forever. From Jews and
Gentiles we have altogether failed at doing what matters most for this passing
age. In our sorrows we count it to spiritual growth, and with tears we leave
these things covered by the blood of Your atoning love. We had a short time to
come to terms with Truth, and we made a run for discerning the mysteries, but
our world has missed the mark You have set before us. What matters most and
what we were called to await, we have collectively cast away and shelved for
all the glory of withering grass. We were given books and signs of the times
and miracles and prophecies and riddles and parables and holy feasts and all
things to comprehend Your universal truths, but still we cared not enough to
assemble them- Your glorious works through the ages. Have mercy on us and this
planet that confesses our evil history, and consider the good in families of
love- the fellowship and sisterhood and brotherhood and the virtues and
kindness of the children of Your Kingdom. Count our rebellion and ignorance to
Your higher wisdom in an awakening at the appointed time. For in all these
things, in all our stumbling and trespasses, we yet work to accomplish Your
will for good. You, our merciful Lord, we praise. Amen.
Ironically, as much as Gentiles sought to separate themselves from Jews,
outlawing Christian worship on the Sabbath and the sacred days of Torah, they
actually followed in the steps of errant priests who had forgotten the meanings
and expectations of the Great Sabbath centuries before them. Nevertheless,
despite all but a few Jews and Gentiles erring from the revelations of God, the
Lord will restore all His truths.
In that day [Day of
YHVH] the LORD of hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to
the remnant of His people, for a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
and for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. But they also
have erred through wine, and through intoxicating drink are out of the way [the
pathway]; the priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink
[spiritual things], they are swallowed up by wine, they are out of the way
through intoxicating drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For
all tables [their hearts] are full of vomit and filth [corrupted doctrines]; no
place is clean. “Whom will He teach knowledge? And whom will he make to
understand the message? Those just weaned from milk [babes in doctrinal
knowledge]? Those just drawn from the breasts [depending on others]? For
precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon
line, here a little, there a little.” For with stammering lips and another
tongue [language] He will speak to this people, to whom He said, “This is the
rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,” and, “This is the
refreshing”; yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was to them,
“precept upon precept, upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a
little, there a little,” that they might go and fall backwards, and be broken
and snared and caught. (Isa. 28:5-13) NKJV; intrpl. & emp. mine
What
the above passage plainly means is that the prophets and priests had corrupted
their hearts by their own faulty doctrines- their lukewarm vomit. They lost
perception of the “rest and refreshing.” They became drunk on things of the
world and reigning in this present age. How could God teach them deeper truths
of Scripture when their hearts were filled with corruption and disagreeing
traditions? The Word has to be earnestly correlated and compared back and
forth. Many prophets and priests tried to put line upon line and precept upon
precept without having their hearts in the meaning. Thus God must reteach the
Great Sabbath with a foreign tongue to provoke a mass reawakening. Many Jews,
just like Christians, need spiritual restoration and a reminder that Sabbaths
are a sign of something much, much greater to come:
Speak also to the
children of Israel, saying: “Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a
sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know the I am
the LORD who sanctifies you…It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel
forever; for in six days the LORD made heavens and the earth, and on the
seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” (Ex. 31:13, 17) NKJV; intrpl. mine
Now
how will Israel forever know- actually know- the Lord YHVH by the Sabbath sign
unless He comes on the Great Sabbath- on the Day of the LORD? Is He not
perceived and manifest though His Son and inheriting Messiah, whose face has
been hidden from many people? And how can people believe in a Sabbath
millennium if they do not believe that the Lord created our world in six days
in the first place? Something must be true before it can be mirrored. Thus, in
this book I will prove His words are empirically true, and also that God’s
understanding is infinite in levels above the simple ideas of rebelling
humankind- Jews and Gentiles. And when these things are truly understood, then
the Messiah will return to fulfill the kingly prophesies. Then all will know
what it means to put “line upon line and precept upon precept,” to comprehend
this rest and refreshing of God, for all things will be restored.
Repent therefore and
be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that time of refreshing
[Sabbath] may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus
Christ [Yeshua], who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until
the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of
all His holy prophets since the world [this world-age, time] began…And He
has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the
earth [populate the world], and has determined their preappointed times and the
boundaries of their dwellings…because He has appointed a day on which He will
judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given
assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 3:19-21; 17:26,
31) NKJV; intrpl. mine
For Roman Catholics who are reading this and are perhaps a little offended, for
you know that your popes teach that they sit as the Vicar of Christ, and that
the millennium is figurative and not an actual period of time, but rather their
long era of papal trials and glory, all I ask is that you continue in
understanding, and that you, as many of us have done, choose Truth over
unscriptural doctrines and traditions. I, the scribe, am not your enemy, but
lies will not stand, and resistance to God’s will is futile. I make no claim
that all the popes were evil or that Catholics have not done many saintly works
for the Gospel, but the claim I put forth is that if we invest too much time
honoring any religionist, we may very well slumber and miss the more honorable
positions offered eternally for those who actually follow the Word.
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