Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):
YEHOVAH God's New World Order
For the Messiah, the Gospel and government were inseparable. Indeed, the Messiah's' Gospel was entirely connected to YEHOVAH God governing the world one day. The Bible is unashamedly a political book, but sadly this has been lost on many today who are taught instead that the Messiah had no interest in politics or power. YEHOVAH will establish His Kingdom with force and by killing His enemies. He will be the greatest military commander and political leader that the world has even seen. The end of Revelation 19 describes this same scene of YEHOVAH God returning to earth and slaying its rulers and armies who make war against Him. |
by Nigel Page-Jones
Satan counterfeits everything, even when it comes to wanting to rule the earth one day. He promises a new one-world government which brings humanity together under one umbrella and solves all the world's problems. Meanwhile, moral and social collapse are widespread. Wickedness has infiltrated every sector of society and seeks to remove all godliness in the name of the common good. Any attempt to protest is derided as old-fashioned or even right-wing. People think truth is relative and no longer absolute. A form of collectivism has conquered the world, and yet its underlying values are rotten to the core. Good is called evil and evil is called good!
Proverbs 17:15: "He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD."
Proverbs 24:24: "He who says to the wicked, 'You are righteous,' him the people will curse; nations will abhor him."
Malachi 2:17: "You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you say, 'In what way have we wearied Him?' In that you say, 'Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them,' or, 'Where is the God of justice?'"
Satan is rallying his worshippers today, especially those in positions of influence. He is determined to complete this program of world dominion, this New World Order. Most Christians and the public at large are unaware of the true extent of Satan's activities and influence. He has structures and fraternities in place at the highest levels of society which make his current rule both unassailable and hidden. He controls government, entertainment, medicine, science, education, and most surprisingly the church. Presidents are hand-picked from an early age, Hollywood stars must take the oath, teachers must teach the curriculum and pastors must teach respectable theology. Livelihoods suffer for all those who dissent.
In Psalm 2, we are warned against the rulers of the earth who conspire against the LORD and His anointed. Nimrod is an example of one such ruler who "reigned in the earth over all the sons of Noah and they were all under his power and counsel" (Book of Jasher, ch. 7). Nimrod is also associated with the building of the Tower of Babel in the attempt to reach heaven and overthrow YEHOVAH God. The attempt failed and YEHOVAH took action against this common intent by confusing their languages.
In the same way, we should be vigilant today about any professed common intent to govern the world especially when its agenda is in direct opposition to YEHOVAH God and having only a form of godliness:
2 Timothy 3:5: "...having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away."
The world is deceived and incapable of ruling itself righteously. Satan is its god:
2 Corinthians 4:4: "...whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them."
The world desperately needs YEHOVAH's intervention. Satan's attempt at a New World Order is a mere counterfeit which is destined to fail in due course. The Bible speaks of a genuine new world government (the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God) which will be established here on earth when YEHOVAH God and the Messiah appear. The world will not carry on forever in darkness under the grip of sin and Satan.
A New Garden of Eden
Everything was perfect in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were blissfully happy and fulfilled. They enjoyed a unique relationship with YEHOVAH God as He communed with them and took care of all their needs. They were destined to live forever. It was the first Kingdom of YEHOVAH God established on earth and governed by Adam with an authority from YEHOVAH Himself. Alas, we all know that it was not to last.
The Bible is an account of how a second Kingdom of YEHOVAH God will be established on earth one day in the future. Corruption, poverty and injustice will be problems of the past. The Garden of Eden will be restored, but this time on an even grander scale with the whole earth perfected and renewed. Man will be restored to properly reflect the image of God and to have dominion over the earth as was YEHOVAH's original intention. Where man has failed with his various political systems, even so-called democracies, YEHOVAH God will now succeed. The future Kingdom on earth will be a theocracy, a dictatorship governed by YEHOVAH God with Yeshua the Messiah ruling Israel with the saints:
Daniel 7:18: "But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever."
Daniel 7:22: "...until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom."
Daniel 7:27: "Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His [YEHOVAH God's] kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him."
When the Messiah said in the Beatitudes that the meek will inherit the earth this is precisely what he meant. Yeshua the Messiah understood the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God to be this theocratic reign under YEHOVAH's own headship which would come to earth in a real and political sense. It would be without end:
Daniel 2:44: "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever."
The briefest of glances at the first three gospels confirms that the Messiah was consumed with this message of a future Kingdom on earth. Whilst the Israelite listeners would have understood its significance immediately, this language is largely lost to Western ears today. The Messiah was talking of the great Israelite hope promised to Abraham. The Gospel preached by the Messiah was not primarily one of the tree, but rather one of a new one-world government here on earth replacing all previous earthly kingdoms. The tree is essential for our salvation, but to believe that this was the Messiah's primary message is to miss the Gospel that Yeshua believed and taught.
Unfortunately, the church continues to preach a gospel limited to the tree and points to heaven as our dwelling place whilst using vague language such as "inviting Jesus into our hearts." It fails to properly portray the Messiah as an Israelite prophet announcing, as his Gospel, a future Kingdom of YEHOVAH God on earth in which he would rule over Israel as Messiah. This dominated the Messiah's teaching and yet the church is silent on the issue, preferring instead to focus on Paul's teaching to the exclusion of the Kingdom. We need to elevate the Messiah's words to the highest authority, as did Paul.
The Gospel According to the Messiah
The Messiah in the first three gospels can be a little difficult for us to relate to sometimes. He seemed strangely unconcerned with the world's problems and made no effort to improve social justice despite his large following and influence. Certainly, he challenged the hearts of individuals as to their attitude towards the poor and marginalized, but he never attempted to instigate a program of social reform against the Roman tyranny or issues such as slavery. Perhaps the Messiah knew that things were not going to improve whilst men governed the political systems.
YEHOVAH God had a similar mistrust in man's ability to govern himself when He warned Israel in 1 Samuel 8 that by installing a king, it would suffer hardships such as conscription to war, seizure of their crops and high levels of taxation. Every human king or government is destined to fail despite its various promises, reform programs and even apparent good intentions. It is against this backdrop that the Messiah found himself, but his time to rule as Messiah over Israel had not yet come, and is still a future event.
From the very beginning of his ministry the Messiah passed quickly from village to village telling everyone to repent because the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God was coming. We sense his urgency when he tells his disciples to shake off the dust from their feet and move on if people were not interested. This message of the coming Kingdom consumed the Messiah.
Even from the very beginning of Mark in chapter 1:14-15 we are introduced to a Messiah who preaches predominantly about the Kingdom: "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching God's gospel and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.'" Here the Gospel is defined for us if we are still unsure; it is the message that the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God is coming. By believing this and repenting of our sins, we of Israel are gifted with immortality and the privilege of sharing in the Messiah's inheritance and rule in this Kingdom by the grace of YEHOVAH God. Mark 1:1 speaks of the beginning of the Gospel.
References to the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God can be found a total of 36 times in Matthew, 14 times in Mark and 32 times in Luke. In Matthew it is normally referred to as the "Kingdom of Heaven," but this is simply another term for the same concept, heaven being the origin of this Kingdom on earth. Both terms speak of a Kingdom from and governed by YEHOVAH God which will come to earth at a single, future event and last forever.
Indeed, this is the very event that the Messiah encourages us to pray for in the LORD's Prayer when he said, "May Your Kingdom come." Its location is on earth, for the next line is "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." In the Day of the LORD the earth will be transformed, dead believers of Israel will be raised with resurrection bodies and the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God will be established here on earth.
Let us consider some passages which show the Messiah's preoccupation with the Gospel of the Kingdom. It should be evident that this is not only the Gospel that the Messiah preached but also the one that he commanded his disciples to preach.
Luke 8:1: "And it came about soon afterwards, that he began going about from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the Kingdom of God; and the twelve were with him."
Luke 9:2: "And he sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God, and to perform healing."
Luke 9:60: "But he said to him, 'Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the Kingdom of God."'
Matthew 13:19: "When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road."
The last verse is clear that there are consequences for those who hear the word of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God but do not understand or act upon it.
The Messiah believed in the same Israelite hope as his forefathers and identified himself as the Messiah who would restore and rule over the nation of Israel. He preached that this hope was now at hand and that the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God was coming. The word "preach" means to "herald" much like a town crier would announce important news in days gone by. Nobody seemed in any doubt what this Kingdom was; in fact one almost has the impression that the Messiah could have equally have just said, "It's coming, quick, repent, it's coming!" and conveyed the same message with equal success.
This is quite different from the gospel preached by the church today which has downgraded the Messiah's central message to one of simply believing that he died for our sins, essential as that is. According to Matthew, the Messiah does not even mention his death until chapter 16, so clearly the tree did not have the same prominence for the Messiah as it does for us. Christianity has lost its core message as preached by the Messiah. Instead of preaching of YEHOVAH God's reign coming down from heaven to earth, it has preached a message of us going from earth to heaven!
The Depoliticized Messiah
Although the Messiah did not initiate social reform programs, he was absolutely a political figure when it came to power and government. It was the reason that the Romans agreed to have the religious authorities put him to death. Any man who claimed that he would rule Israel one day and seemed to have YEHOVAH God on his side was a threat to the empire's future stability.
When YEHOVAH God establishes His Kingdom on earth it will not be with the same latest initiatives found in Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Church. Instead, YEHOVAH will establish His Kingdom with force and by killing His enemies. He will be the greatest military commander and political leader that the world has even seen. The end of Revelation 19 describes this same scene of YEHOVAH God returning to earth and slaying its rulers and armies who make war against Him. And those who refuse to submit to the Messiah's authority over Israel will be killed in his presence as we read in Luke 19:27: "But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence."
Many Christians struggle with this side of the Messiah. Instead they reduce the Messiah to a wise teacher who went about doing good things as an example of how we should live. They are more at home with this meek and mild Messiah who stays out of politics, but for the Messiah, the Gospel and government were inseparable. Indeed, the Messiah's' Gospel was entirely connected to YEHOVAH God governing the world one day. The Bible is unashamedly a political and racial book, but sadly this has been lost on many today who are taught instead that the Messiah had no interest in politics or power.
The reformer Martin Luther was instrumental in promoting this separation of religion and state in his Doctrine of the Two Kingdoms where he described a "left" and "right" kingdom. The left kingdom concerns itself with the physical realm, and the right kingdom with the spiritual realm. Luther proposed that the church (right kingdom) should not impose its authority on the state (left kingdom) because the two realms were distinct. According to Luther, however, the spiritual kingdom would ultimately triumph over the earthly kingdom as the church remained faithful in spiritual matters. Unfortunately this doctrine is still prevalent today.
Some of the rationale behind Luther's thinking was the Messiah's response to Pilate in John 18:36 when the Messiah announced that his Kingdom was not of this realm. Luther understands this other realm as a spiritual one and so concludes that the Messiah's Kingdom is spiritual. Luther misses the point entirely. The Messiah is explaining that the source of his authority of his future Kingdom over Israel is from another realm (YEHOVAH God). Until the day arrives when YEHOVAH God appears to set up the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God, the Messiah will not attempt to establish his Kingdom over Israel in his own strength.
Luther was mistaken to believe that the Messiah's Kingdom was spiritual and that it was the church's mandate to establish it on earth today through human endeavor and spiritual effort. The whole world lies in the power of Satan:
1 John 5:19: "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one."
Today's levels of corruption, injustice and discontent all confirm that the Messiah is no more King of Israel today than he was 2000 years ago.
The church, having successfully been infiltrated by pagan and secular beliefs, is still under state control today. It has replaced its God-given discernment with a misplaced confidence in the state, or even worse, an idolatrous worship of the state. The church now endorses the state in all aspects except for perhaps the peripheral LGBT issues which are mere (but still wicked, in YEHOVAH's eyes) distractions from the main agenda. In the meantime, the perks for charity-based status help to keep all dissent from churches at bay.
Another way in which the future Kingdom on earth is mistakenly viewed is to claim that this Kingdom is in our hearts. The verse used to support this view is Luke 17:21 which in the King James Bible reads, "the kingdom of God is within you." Context is important, so let us first note that the Messiah is talking to Pharisees. It is inconceivable that the Messiah was suggesting that these hostile Pharisees had the Kingdom "within them." Besides, the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God cannot dwell in a person. Other translations render this verse as "the Kingdom of God is in your midst," which is more in keeping with the Messiah's original intention. The Messiah was replying to a question about his future Kingdom over Israel. The Kingdom will be unmissable when it arrives; present everywhere and in the midst of everyone.
We must view the Messiah through the lens of the culture in which he was operating. Part of our misunderstanding about the Messiah stems from the fact that we live in a culture orientated towards the individual. We thus view Yeshua as an individual separated from his social and cultural surroundings, whereas the Messiah identified himself very much as part of something bigger than himself. Yeshua found his identity in his role as the Messiah in YEHOVAH God's great Plan to bring restoration to the nation of Israel.
As well as viewing the Messiah as an individual, we also view ourselves as
individuals. We incorrectly understand the Gospel primarily to be a matter of
personal salvation. There is indeed truth in this, but the overarching
invitation from YEHOVAH God is that we can now be part of His great Plan in the form of
a future Kingdom on earth ruled over Himself and a regenerated Israel ruled over by
the Messiah and the Saints -- and made possible through the Messiah's
blood that he shed on the tree!
-- Edited by John D. Keyser.
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