My attempt at clarifying the gospel message. I know it is long, but feedback would be appreciated. It is still a burden on my heart to write down as clearly as possible what I believe to be truth. This world is filled with lies. That is no surprise because Jesus told us that for a limited period of time, Satan, who is the father of lies, would be the ruler of this world. How he got into that position is, at least partially, revealed in the Bible.
Before man was created, God created other beings that we usually call angels, but we should be aware they were also called gods. We know they were called gods because one of the commandments is, “You shall have no other gods before me.” So there had to be other gods in order for this command to make any sense at all. These angels/gods had positions of power like in the military, some were generals, some captains, some corporals, etc. God allowed them to be assistants, co-rulers with Him, but of course, under Him overseeing the earth. One of those generals, Lucifer began to believe that he should not have to submit to God. He stirred up other angels/gods and it is said that some of them joined him in this rebellion against God Most High.
Now we come to the place in history where Adam and Eve are in the garden and God grants them authority to rule over the earth and all the creatures in it. His one rule for Adam and Eve is, don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In other words, stay in relationship with Me, trust Me to lead you and guide you through life, don’t try to be your own boss and figure all this out on your own. Before too long Satan takes an opportunity to tempt them into believing that God is not telling them the truth. He tells them that if they disobey God and eat from the tree they will be “like God” and they will not die. Adam and Eve fall for the lie and the authority that they had to rule over the earth now transfers to Satan because their sin was believing that God was lying and trusting Satan. That is how Satan became the ruler of this world. In choosing the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they were choosing Lucifer (light-bearer) to rule over their lives, so all humanity inherits the nature/tendency to follow Lucifer to the death. That is the best explanation I can give as to how Satan became the ruler of this world. It is key to make note of the fact that this was a “legal transaction” Adam and Eve disobeyed God and suffered the punishment of death and Satan took over their job because they gave him authority when they chose to believe, and therefore, worship him. But even right there at that event God announced that the “seed of the woman” one of the descendants of Adam and Eve would crush the head of Satan and put mankind back into right relationship with God.
Mankind multiplies on the earth but they see that they eventually die so once again some of the other fallen angels/gods lie to them and basically say - give us your daughters and we will impregnate them and those beings will live forever. The ones that are born that way are the result of human women and angels combining are called Nephilim, usually the main characteristic we associate with them is they were giants.
Something that is truth but is hard for us to admit or recognize is that unless God moves in our lives we will choose to stay in a place of rebellion against Him over and over.
This leads to the story of Noah. Everyone on earth was turning from God to evil, but this one family had not been as affected by the mixing of men and angels and God gave Noah grace to obey Him. One family and some of the land animals are rescued from a world-wide flood while every human and human-angel mixture is killed. One son of Noah, Ham had a son Canaan who carred some of the Nephilim gene, so the giants continue to appear, but in a far more limited way..
Years later humans are right back in the same mess they are working together attempting to become gods. The project they are working together on is a tower into the heights of heaven where the gods dwell. They are wanting to establish total independence from God Most High. God had made clear they were to scatter and fill the earth and they were doing the exact opposite, gathering in a city and working on one project together. At this point God says something pretty amazing, He says, that when humans are united and with one purpose “nothing they plan to do will be impossible.” It should be evident at this point in human history that most “progress” does not ultimately go to the betterment of human kind, most progress goes to weapons of war and perfecting the ability to destroy each other. Therefore the greatest mercy God could show would be to block this unity. This leads to the final part of the story of the tower of Babel.
God confuses the united language of the people so they can no longer work together. He divides the language into 70 languages (72 in the Septuagint) and puts the gods in charge of them, and they scatter off into the world to be ruled over by the individual god that is in charge of them and that god leads them to a territory that will become the home base of that god.
Then God does something unexpected and beyond human wisdom. God chooses one man and his barren wife and says, “I will make a nation out of Abram and Sarai.” That nation “Israel” becomes His portion. Through His relationship with Israel He will be contrasting how He treats His people with how the gods of the nations treat their people. So the contrast is set up, there are only two people groups in God’s reality, the nations (gentiles) and Israel.
Satan still remembered that God has said one day the “seed of the woman” would crush his head, he knows that seed will come out of this nation. Satan makes it his business to destroy this nation before the Messiah can come.
God chose to be known as the God of Israel, He would call this small group of people, His glory, His portion, the people of His own possession. This choosing by God Most High puts a target on the back of Israel and we can see over and over again throughout history Satan and the “gods” who rule over the gentile nations targetting the Jewish people and the land of Israel, specifically Jerusalem, which is where God says His King will sit on His throne.
We learn about God by reading the history of how He interacted with the Jewish people. Famous stories like Moses and the Exodus, David and Goliath, Daniel in the lion’s den and many others are simply stories of the people of Israel and their God. The book of Psalms which is just another word for songs is a good book to read. In it the songs that the Jewish people sang both about God and to God are kept for us to keep looking at today. One category of the songs is songs of lamentation, songs that are very honest and raw crying out to God. Why is there so much injustice? Is typically the cry we hear. God does not mind hard questions. Psalm 23 is famous it starts out, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” That is cool because it reveals that God is like a shepherd watching over our lives in an ultimate way. God can’t just put a stop to all evil without killing all humans, but He knows that this world is only a tiny part of reality.
In fact, the Bible calls this period of time from the fall of Adam until the day of the Lord “this evil age”. Wars, death, constant conflict, accusations from Satan, temptations from Satan, self-centered behavior driving the consumerism and colonialism and greed of this world system. In the garden of Eden before the fall, there was a simple agricultural system with no advertisers to make you feel like you lacked anything. No sickness, no death, no wars to advance the kingdom or agenda of power hungry men. The Kingdom to Come is a return to Eden. No more wars and Yeshua reigning from Jerusalem. His kingdom that is coming when Satan is cast down is the reality that will last forever. The focus of Yeshua the Messiah in this evil age is on creating an environment or set of circumstances that put us in a place of admitting we need His forgiveness and His life.
When His Spirit brings us to that place the most beautiful fact that we find out is that all the work has been done!
The true God knows our weakness. He knows we cannot work our way to Him, so He did the work on the cross and simply asks us to trust in what He did. His love did what He saw we could not do. As a bonus since Jesus did not sin but did submit to death - He releases us from that legal hold and can promise us a place in His soon coming Kingdom.
Turning to God, repenting of our sin and trusting Jesus puts us into becoming a grafted in part of Israel and God’s Kingdom. In order for His Kingdom to come all other kingdoms and the merchandising system have to be brought down to destruction. That is what we see happening now. No political or economic solution is going to work because God is behind the tearing down of the structures of this evil age that lead to violence, greed and death. Imagine if all the effort put toward war and greed were put to caring for each other? That will never happen in this evil age, but God has placed that longing in our hearts and He will bring it to pass in the Kingdom to come.
We the followers of the Messiah who was crucified in this evil age have a calling that is revealed in the post-tribulation view of the end times. God’s people are present to the end witnessing (a word that in the original language implies martyrdom) to the truth of the coming Kingdom of God and the necessary destruction of every kingdom in this evil age.
We could picture it as if the house you were living in had pipes that were all about to bust and wiring that was going to burn up and mold and etc. The best thing to do would be to tear the whole thing down and start over. When we see the nations and the economy getting torn down it is the best thing because it is all corrupt and needs replaced by a truly righteous King and Kingdom.
When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt He took them through a desert where they had to rely on Him for food and water and shade and warmth. In this situation of total dependence on Him, they found Him to be faithful and true. As the end of this age approaches government and financial systems will collapse and our reliance on them will be bad. We need to begin learning the lesson that He can provide all we need.
Bad news can lead to good news. We are sinners and God’s punishment awaits us, but Jesus took that punishment and if we put our trust in what He did on the cross, God’s mercy and love await us.
Bad news can lead to good news. Every nation and economy is doomed but their collapse will make way for the Kingdom of Peace.
God’s Spirit reveals these things and we believe and agree with Him. That puts us in alignment with Truth and brings us Life. Agreeing with the bad news leads us to hope in the good news.
True believers learn the hard lesson over time that their efforts, their trying and striving, their “I will’s…” are useless against the onslaught of temptations in this evil age. The way of a follower of the Messiah is to die to self - admit you can’t love like He loved and voluntarily get out of the way. From a place of rest you trust and allow His love to flow through you unhindered.
Hypocrisy among those who claim to be followers of Yeshua is a subject that must be addressed Anyone can go online and get a fire-fighters uniform and walk around in it and even show up at a fire, but you can tell the real fire fighters. They are the ones running the hoses and running into the building if the chief says to. Real followers of Yeshua have His life in them and that life does the things He did when He was on the earth. Humble servant-hearted people who welcome sinners while challenging everyone who thinks they are righteous in themselves. Yeshua proclaimed a coming Kingdom knowing full well that anything gained in this evil age would one day be shaken, destroyed and burned up. True followers simply get out of the way - die to self - and allow His Life to flow through them. If the person is not bearing fruit they are not a follower of God and only God can ultimately judge “fruit”.
God is faithful and true.
We are not.
Israel is not.
But God is so the story isn’t over until
the chosen people are in the promised
land with the promise fulfilled.
Lastly, I have felt for years that a public apology/repentance needs to be made for the atrocities committed anytime the “church” became united with monetary, political or worst of all military power. The crusades, the pogroms, the spanish inquisition and the terrible 30-year war that cost millions of lives are all examples of gentile pride rising up and throwing off the God-designed limitations of being graciously, mercifully grafted into the commonwealth of Israel. Evil, greedy men rise up and unite themselves with the powers of the air to build their own kingdom in this evil age. It is all straight from Satan whether the Pope, Luther, Calvin or Augustine was the one saying it. It was never okay and like Daniel in Chapter 9 I publicly repent before God and man for the sins of the ”church”. Church is a man-made word and when it comes out from under the humbling covering of the commonwealth of Israel, it is a man-made institution bent on acquiring money and power and determined to separate itself into denominations that each claim exclusive little “truths” that make them the one-and-only “right” way. Denominations are a stench in the nostrils of God. I publicly repent of the abomination of denominations.
How then will we live? Individual believers will be drawn to fellowship/community with other believers. These communities will demonstrate corporate humility. They will proclaim the destruction of this evil age and all who reject the Messiah of Israel. They will proclaim the God of Israel and the necessary joining of believers to the commonwealth of Israel. There is no other body/concept in the Bible for the uniting of the people of God.
Maranatha!
