Christian Message Boards: Nationalizing the Christians

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Posted by scythewieldor (Member # 6830) on :

quote:
John 11:49 and a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being chief priest of that year, said to them, ‘Ye have not known anything,
50 nor reason that it is good for us that one man may die for the people, and not the whole nation perish.’
51 And this he said not of himself, but being chief priest of that year, he did prophesy that Jesus was about to die for the nation,
52 and not for the nation only, but that also the children of God, who have been scattered abroad, he may gather together into one.

This quote is from the Young's Literal Translation. The message is clearer from YLT than the AV.
What is being said is that Christ died for two nations. The nations for which He died were the children of God which composed the House of Judah (present at that time in Zion) and a house (or nation) to be composed of the children of God scattered abroad.
While, to be sure, there were people of the nation of Judah who lived in countries outside of Zion, these people had the right to come back and make their homes in the land of Judah and to participate in the feasts of the Judeans. In short, they were nationals of Judah.
The other nation which was to be re-composed of the children of God scattered abroad was the house of Joseph.

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Eze 37:15 ¶ The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:

This prophecy was written after the House of Judah had gone into Babylonian Captivity. The House of Israel had gone into captivity a century or more before this prophecy. The house of Israel was another name for the House of Joseph, as was Ephraim.
Ephraim was the youngest son of Joseph to whom Israel bequeathed his name when he gave the Birthright to Joseph.

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Gen 48:14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.
18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

God determined to take the kingdom from the House of Israel and scatter her children while keeping mercy to the House of Judah.

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Hos 1:4 And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

Hosea prophesies that Israel will abide many days without a the features of a nation.After many days of this, the children of Israel will return to the Lord.

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Hos 2:4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

And then we will see the fulfillment of this prophecy:

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Ho 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

We know that the fulfillment of this prophecy has begun to occur.

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Ro 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 ¶ As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.

In other words, since it had never been said of Judah at that time, "Ye are not my people", and,
Since it was said of the gentiles that they were not God's people, then,
The people who were coming from among the gentiles were the children of Israel scattered among the gentiles about whom Hosea's prophecy had been written.
When Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant, therefore, He inaugurated a new nation which was to include, not only the Judeans, but, also, the Israelites scattered among the gentiles. This new nation was The Israel of God. It was composed, first, of Judeans, making it clear that salvation was for them if they would be converted from the Old Covenant to the righteousness which is by faith in the blood of the cross of Christ Jesus.
But this New covenant which God established for the House of Judah was, also, for the House of Israel.
However, the nation that was established by the New Covenant was The House of Israel.

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Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Even the Judeans who entered into this New Covenant would no longer be "Jews". They would be part of the Israel of God.
Zechariah after the return of the House of Judah from Babylonian Captivity, pointed out that this break of fellowship between Judah and Israel would occur.

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Zech 11:10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Here, we see that the breaking of the brotherhood between Judah and Israel follows two other events. The first of those two events was the breaking of the first covenant that God had with them which occurred when the Judeans killed their Husband. The second of the two events was the purchase of the potters field with the thirty pieces of silver.
Thus, Peter, when he declared that the New Covenant people were as follows:

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1Pe 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:

he was declaring the fulfillment of the very words that God told Moses to speak over you know who.

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Ex 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.

All of this is the background information behind this, my appeal, for congresses the intent of which is to manifest that "holy nation".
We know that the gentiles have rejected our values, our calling, and our gifting. To us, it should be clear that we are the people, God's people, living subject to governments seduced by Babylonian-type fornications.
Coming out of her will force us to accept the identity which God has given. It will force us to unify, and become of one mind with one another. And, to me, it seems it will open the way for God to judge just as Lot leaving Sodom and Gomorrah, and as Noah getting into the ark did.
I believe that the prophecies make it clear that it is our refusal to partake in the sins of Mystery Babylon which will put us in position to show the support to the House of Judah which will cause them to acknowledge, in their hearts, that Jesus is the Lord of hosts, our God. This event will mean immediate salvation for the Judeans and the return of Jesus to earth.

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Zech 12:2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.
6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.
7 The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.
8 In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.
9 ¶ And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
14 All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

The reference to "the inhabitants of Jerusalem" is common in the prophets. Jeremiah uses it referring to the men of Judah when he calls Jerusalem "a green olive tree" from which the branches will be broken. (See Jer. 11:6.) Thus, we who have been grafted into the olive tree from which the men of Judah were broken are, now, the inhabitants of Jerusalem which, of course, is supported by the writers of the New Testament in Galatians and Hebrews where they point out our relationship to the heavenly Jerusalem.
In other words, it is time for us to come out of Babylon and rebuild a national identity around the New Jerusalem. At some point, this identity as the House of Joseph, Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise will be important in the return of our people to Lebanon and Gilead.

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Zec 10:6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.
7 And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.
8 I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased.
9 And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.
10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.
11 And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.
12 And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.

Notice how God strengthens Judah, but He saves Joseph, and returns him to Lebanon and Gilead before He strengthens him. However, Judah is saved after being influenced by the inhabitants of Jerusalem (we Christians).
I believe that we must return to the mountains of Zion where we can strengthen our national identity, and help the Judeans until they are converted.