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Hope of Israel Ministries -- Preparing the Way for the Return of YEHOVAH God and His Messiah! |
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Hope of Israel Ministries |
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Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):
What Is the Place that the Messiah Is Preparing?
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Here is a thorough, revealing explanation of a greatly misunder-stood text. Did the Messiah say Christians go to heaven? |
by John D. Keyser
MANY today believe the Messiah told his disciples that Christians will spend eternity in “mansions” in heaven. They quote his words in John 14:1-4.
Did the Messiah really say that our reward is a mansion in heaven ? Let’s see.
What Is the Father’s House?
In his Father’s house, the Messiah said plainly, there were many “mansions.” If it had not been true, he said, he would have told us. The Greek word move translated “mansion” means in more modern English, “a room, a place of staying, an abode, a chamber.” So in the Father’s house there are a number of rooms or chambers.
But what is the Father’s house? What does the Bible declare the Father’s house to be?
When in the Temple, the Messiah said to the Judahites who were selling doves and cattle therein: “Make not my FATHER’S HOUSE an house of merchandise” (John 2:16).
Here is a simple Bible definition of the Father’s house.
The Temple at Jerusalem was an earthly type (Heb. 8:5) of the Father’s house in heaven. Luke 19:46 and Isaiah 56:7 also quote YEHOVAH God as saying of the Temple: “My house is a house of prayer....” So the Temple at Jerusalem in the Messiah’s day was a type of the Father’s house in heaven.
But did the Temple have many “mansions” or rooms and chambers in it?
Absolutely!
In turning to Jeremiah 35:2, we read this: “Speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers.” In the fourth verse of the same chapter, we notice that different chambers were for persons of different rank. Hanan, a man of YEHOVAH God, had his chamber or room “by the chamber of the princes...which was above the chamber of...the keeper of the door.”
The various chambers or “mansions” corresponded to the ranks of the persons residing in them. Each room of the Temple -- a type of the Father’s house -- not only designated the residence of each official, but also indicated his position or office, whether he was a doorkeeper or prince.
It Is NOT Heaven
Nowhere does the Bible call “heaven” the Father’s house. The Father’s house is being built IN heaven, but it is not heaven! Heaven is never said to have “mansions.”
The ancient tabernacle built under Moses had two compartments, the inner, called the Holy of Holies, being an exact picture of the throne of YEHOVAH God -- of heaven itself. It had no mansions. Read Hebrews 8:5 and 9:1-7 to see exactly what the pattern of heaven is like.
No, the Messiah was not referring to heaven. He is referring to a place being prepared in heaven.
What Is the Place Prepared?
Now consider the remainder of the Messiah’s conversation with the disciples.
The Messiah said: “I go to prepare a place for you.” We learn from other scriptures that the Messiah did go to heaven, to the right hand of the Father, where he now acts as our “High Priest” (Heb. 9:11).
Do you grasp the significance?
A part of the function of the office of High Priest is the preparation of a place for each of us as the Messiah promised the disciples. But notice this very carefully: the preparation of each place is occurring in heaven, but the Messiah did not say that the places were a part of heaven. (A wife may prepare her meals in the kitchen, but the meals are not a part of the kitchen.)
Does the Bible give any texts telling us what is being prepared? Yes, it does.
There are two texts in the Bible which tell us what is being PREPARED.
The first is in Matthew 25:34. Here the Messiah said: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” The other text is in Revelation 21:2, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God OUT OF HEAVEN prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
The Temple of Jerusalem standing in the Messiah’s day was a type of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God and the city New Jerusalem.
The Bible says the only places that are prepared are the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God and the New Jerusalem. Since it is the Kingdom and the Holy City that are finally prepared for us all, then what the Messiah is preparing for each of us must be individual positions in the Kingdom and in the new city, Jerusalem.
Now it’s plain why the Messiah alluded to the Temple as an example of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God and of the New Jerusalem. The Temple had rooms which served as offices for the various residents holding different ranks. In the same way, each of us will have his own personal place or office in the Holy City, in accordance with how well we use the talents YEHOVAH God has given us in this life. The more we overcome in this life, the more honorable will be our places in the New Jerusalem and the greater will be our offices of responsibility in the Kingdom.
The House Built By the Messiah
Many of us have read right over the verses that clearly show that the Messiah -- when he returns -- will be instrumental in building a new Temple for YEHOVAH God to occupy here on earth during the Millennium!
The Millennial Temple that YEHOVAH God is returning to is to be built and engineered by YESHUA THE MESSIAH! Notice --Thus says the LORD of hosts, saying: Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From his place he shall branch out, and he shall BUILD THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD [YEHOVAH]; yes, he shall BUILD THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and RULE ON HIS THRONE, so he shall be a PRIEST on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be BETWEEN THEM BOTH [YEHOVAH God and the Messiah] (Zechariah 6:12-13, NKJV).Who is this "Branch" that Zechariah refers to here? In Jeremiah 23:5 we read the following:
"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, that I will raise to David a BRANCH of righteousness;..."
Isaiah records the same time in chapter 11 -- "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a BRANCH shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD" (verses 1-2).
Clearly, this refers to the Messiah!
Once again, as during Solomon's Temple and Herod's Temple, the SHEKINAH GLORY of YEHOVAH God will be present in the Millennial Temple -- along with the Messiah carrying out his role as High Priest and king over Israel!
So if YEHOVAH God and the Messiah are going to be here on earth during the Millennium -- why would we be living in heaven?
The Kingdom of YEHOVAH God can only be established here on earth when the Shekinah Glory of YEHOVAH God fills the Holy Place in the Millennial Temple. The Millennium will witness the reception of the Messiah by the nation of Israel, and it will also witness the RETURN of the Shekinah Glory to the Holy of Holies!
Of this glorious time, when YEHOVAH God Eternal will dwell with the nation of Israel, Ezekiel records:
And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.The regenerated nation of Israel will be a priestly nation, administering to the needs of the surrounding nations during the Millennium.
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them [the New Covenant]; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore (Ezekiel 37:25-28).
In Titus 2:13 we are encouraged "to expect the blessed fulfillment of our CERTAIN HOPE, WHICH IS THE APPEARING OF THE SH'KHINAH OF OUR GREAT GOD AND the appearing of our Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah" here on this earth! (Jewish New Testament). Verses 11-16 of Revelation 19 describe this eagerly awaited (by the early Christians) "Second Coming" of God's (YEHOVAH's) holy "Shekinah" -- NOT the Second Coming of the Messiah as millions have blindly assumed!
Be sure to write for or download the article, The Return of YEHOVAH God and His Messiah! for more information about this exciting time!
The Father’s House Comes to Earth!
Revelation 21:2 plainly proves that the Holy City -- the Father’s house or home, since He will make it His place of future residence (Rev. 21:3 and 22:3) -- is one of the two things that the Messiah is preparing now in heaven, Both YEHOVAH God the Father and the Messiah (His first-born Son) have been fashioning it, since whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise (John 5:19). Since the city comes down out of heaven fully prepared, then it must have been prepared in heaven, just as the Messiah said he would do.
Notice, too, that the city comes out of heaven. It does not say that we go to heaven!
Now let’s understand what the Bible says about the Kingdom which is in preparation in heaven, and which will come to earth. Yeshua the Messiah went to heaven to receive the Kingdom (Luke 19:12). He must be preparing it while acting in the office of High Priest. Since the Kingdom is prepared for all of us to inherit, then the particular place the Messiah is preparing for each of us must be our own position or office in that Kingdom. Place means position, office, rank, as well as geographical location. Our places or positions in the government of YEHOVAH God will depend on the office we hold. YEHOVAH God has first place, as He is King of kings and will rule over the entire earth. The Messiah, as High Priest and King of Israel, has the secondary place and we shall all have lesser positions under him.
The Kingdom of YEHOVAH God is the government of YEHOVAH God, the members of which are to be born of YEHOVAH God. Being born of YEHOVAH God makes the entire Kingdom, then, the family of YEHOVAH God. “Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). That is why the Messiah used the ancient Temple as a physical type of the spiritual family or Kingdom of YEHOVAH God.
Now it is becoming obvious why our places or positions in YEHOVAH’s government had to be prepared in heaven by YEHOVAH God and the Messiah. We could not receive the holy spirit, the only means by which we can enter the Kingdom, until the Messiah ascended (John 16:7). The Messiah prepares our places or positions in the Kingdom by being our High Priest, interceding for us and by giving us the spirit of YEHOVAH God. The places or positions -- the responsibilities of office -- are being prepared by training us to fill those offices. The Messiah, as our High Priest, has been calling, justifying and perfecting each of us for YEHOVAH's Kingdom so that when the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God comes to this earth (Matt. 6:10), each position or place in it will be fully prepared by having one of us fill that particular office. If the Messiah were not High Priest in heaven, the Kingdom would not be prepared. It would have none to fill its offices.
“I Will Come Again”
Although the Messiah had to go to heaven, He said: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Here is the Messiah’s own promise that he is coming again ! Notice, it does not say anywhere in these verses that we go to heaven.
It says just the opposite. The Messiah will come to earth !
The Messiah will return from heaven in clouds, to be followed by YEHOVAH God Himself. We are going to meet YEHOVAH God in the air (I Thes. 4:15-17). At that time YEHOVAH will give us our places or positions in the Kingdom, according to how well we have done with what we have been given.
Having received our responsibilities, we shall descend with YEHOVAH God to the Mount of Olives that same day. (Zechariah14:4). YEHOVAH is coming to set up the Kingdom on the earth! Since we inherit the Kingdom, we, too, will be on this earth, not heaven.
So Christians are not going to heaven after all. We are to be with YEHOVAH God and the Messiah here on this earth -- “that where I am, there ye may be also.” We shall be ruling with YEHOVAH God and the Messiah on earth over the nations (Rev. 20:4). And after that, the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven to the new earth. The Father Himself will continue to dwell among us here on the new earth where we shall live and reign forever (Rev. 22:3-5).
No wonder the Messiah said the meek shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5).
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Hope of Israel Ministries -- Preparing the Way for the Return of YEHOVAH God and His Messiah! |
|
Hope of Israel Ministries |
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Scan with your Smartphone for more information |