DIVERSIONS

THE DIVERSION

                According to Rabbi Mark Biltz, Pastor of the El Shaddai congregation in Tacoma Washington, there are reasons why certain people believe in replacement theology and why many do not understand, or believe in the earthly millennial reign of Christ. The blame falls to the English translators of the King James Bible. Their prejudice against the Jews and their ignorance of Old Testament foundations, led them to mistranslate certain words in the Bible to favor their anti-Semite view.

                814 times in the New Testament the word “Jerusalem” is replaced with the word “Heaven.” And 2600 times the word “Israel” is replaced with the word “church.”

                This, of course, diverts attention away from the Jews and it also diverts our attention away from that 1000 year period of time when Jesus Christ will reign over the earth from Jerusalem.

                But in spite of these diversions, the careful Bible student will pick up hints of something that should perplex them at the very least.

                In Revelation chapter 19 we first see a great crowd of the redeemed in heaven. They are rejoicing saying: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” Then in verse 8 it says: And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

                Now if we move down to verse 14 we see this same group of saints clothed in white linen coming with Jesus in the clouds. They are now called the armies which are in heaven, clothed in white linen and they are following Him on white horses.

                So picture this if you will. What a twist this is from our previous beliefs that we will be standing on planet earth as Jesus appears in the clouds. Here in Revelation 19, it shows us returning with Jesus and that means that we (or at least the Bride) elsewhere described as wise virgins who were ready for the wedding feast, are now coming from the Marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven and we are returning with Him to the earth.

                That means that at some time prior to the second coming of Christ, the Bride has been caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Some say before the tribulation, but this may not be true, because as Paul tells us in 2 Thess. 2:3, 4 that day cannot come unless there come a falling away first so that the man of sin may be revealed. In layman’s terms this says that there will be a great falling away from the faith in the church. Many Christians will apostatize from the faith and this apostasy will make way for the rise of the antichrist.

                So I place the resurrection and catching away of the Bride at Revelation 14 and the sickle harvest where the righteous are caught up and a second harvest is reaped and thrown into the great winepress of God’s wrath. This places the resurrection and catching away of the Bride at a point just prior to the wrath of God being poured out.

                 Now, in Revelation 20 we see an angel coming down from heaven having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.  He takes hold of Satan (The dragon) and binds him and tosses him into the abyss for 1000 years. This all happens as, or just after Jesus and His saints return from heaven from the marriage supper of the Lamb. He is bound in the abyss so that he cannot deceive the nations for 1000 years. We will reign on earth for 1000 years without Satan’s interference. Yay!

                So then, where are we when the millennium begins? We are with Jesus Christ having returned to earth from the marriage supper of the Lamb.

                Now in chapter 20, verse 4 we see a final harvest of saints. They are the last crop of saints to be brought in. They have endured the wrath of God as late bloomers who have come to Christ during the tribulation or wrath of God on earth. It appears that every one of them has been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the Word of God. But as we can see here, they are not caught up to meet the Lord in the air. That “Catching away” and the Marriage supper of the Lamb has already happened… in fact these could possibly be identified as the foolish virgins who were not ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb, but had to buy oil through persecution and death.

                There is another feature of this group that we must pay close attention to. As I mentioned above, they are not caught up to meet the Lord in the air, rather as it says in Rev. 20: 4b, “They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” And where did they reign with Jesus? Not in heaven, but on the earth.

                Now in verse 5 we see that the rest of the dead were not raised until the thousand years were completed. And so, the Apostle John reveals to us that the Revelation 20 saints are the last and final crop to be included in the First resurrection.

                The next event recorded in Revelation 20 begins with verse 7 where it says: “And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth. It says nothing about the nations being resurrected. It says that they are the nations which ARE in the four corners of the earth. Who are they? They are the children and grandchildren of those who made it into the millennium 1000 years earlier.           Now back to the second coming of Christ which happens before the millennium. This view is substantiated in Zech. 12:9 where it says: “And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” And then in verse 10 it reveals the timing of this, for it coincides with the second coming of Jesus when the unrepentant Jews will look upon Him whom they have pierced. There will be great mourning among all the Jewish peoples when they finally recognize their Messiah.

                Now, at this juncture, Zechariah confirms several points that we have just mentioned. At this point God will gather all nations against Jerusalem. This invasion is known as the Battle of Armageddon when Jesus steps in and delivers Israel from their enemies. And now you know why, Jesus, when He rides to earth with His saints, is wearing a robe dipped in blood. He has trodden the winepress alone and then gone back to heaven to escort His saints back to earth for His 1000 year millennial reign.

                Zechariah 14:5b confirms this too, for it says: “Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him.”

                So we clearly see two separate events involved in the return of Christ to earth. There is one coming where the dead in Christ are raised and together with the living they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. This event has been identified as the” Rapture” simply in order to give it a separate identity from Jesus’ second coming when He returns with His saints to set foot on the Mt. of Olives. He then rides into the city of Jerusalem through the eastern gate and takes up His 1000 year reign from Jerusalem, the city of the Great King. (Psalms 48:1, 2)

                There is a great deal said about Christ’s millennial especially in the Old Testament. We get a taste of it in Zech. 14 beginning with verse 9 and onward to the end.

                We get another taste of Israel’s expectations in Acts chapter one verse 6b.  Jesus had died and risen again. He met with His disciples who were still dizzy with unanswered questions. So Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem until they had received the promise of the Father. But all the way through His life, the disciples had been expecting Jesus to set up His earthly millennial kingdom. This is why they had argued over who would sit on His left and who would sit on His right. They expected that Jesus would now take up his kingdom and rule from Jerusalem as the Scriptures say. They said to Jesus: “Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?

                So let’s pull it all together.

1.       After His resurrection Jesus tells His disciples to wait in Jerusalem to receive the outpouring of His Holy Spirit.

2.       Jesus returns to heaven to function as our High Priest and to send down His promised Holy Spirit.

3.       At the end of the age there is a catching away of the righteous, both the dead and the living to take part in the marriage supper of the Lamb.

4.       Meanwhile on earth the tribulation or time of Jacob’s trouble is taking place.

5.       Then we see Jesus and His saints returning to earth on white horses.

6.       A group of faithful saints that came to Christ after the resurrection and catching away come to life and reign with Christ on earth for 1000 years. We could call them tribulation saints.

7.       Satan is bound in the abyss for this 1000 year period so that he can no longer deceive the nations.

8.       This 1000 year period is when the saints rule and reign with Christ.

9.       At the end of the 1000 years, Satan is released from the abyss to once again deceive the nations. Evidently there will be a large number that in spite of the restoration of all things, do not like Jesus’ government and they will side with the enemy in one last effort to take over the kingdom of the saints.

10.   Fire will come down from heaven and destroy them. It will be seen that they can no longer blame the devil for their choices. They can’t blame the environment, or their parents or anything else. In the clear view of Christ’s righteous Kingdom they still choose evil.

                `Some have argued using Isa. 24 that there is no life left on earth and this planet is totally destroyed. Well, if you read the book of revelation it would appear that the earth is destroyed many times over, but in his description of the post Armageddon war and the coming millennium Zechariah says: “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths and it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them.” Zechariah 14:16, 17. This then clearly portrays a picture of Christ ruling the nations with a rod of iron. He will literally enforce His government upon them and that is why there is a rebellion at the end of the 1000 years. It will be shown that even without the devil’s help some people just don’t like righteousness; therefore they are unfit for eternity with God.

                The bottom line is this. The popular teaching that we will all go to heaven to dwell with Christ for eternity is distorted, because of miss- translations of the King James. We only spend 3 ½ years in heaven for the marriage supper of the Lamb. We then return to earth with Christ to administer the restoration of all things and to learn the principles of eternity.

                When the final judgment is over and death, hell and the grave have all been cast into the lake of fire, then Jesus will create a new heavens and a new earth and we shall dwell on the New Earth for eternity. The New Jerusalem will come down from god out of heaven and earth will become the new headquarters of the universe. Earth will become the center of the universe… a museum if you will of sin and salvation… of an everlasting love that sent God’s son to die for us and to rescue us from Satan’s rebellious kingdom.

                Thus the Bible, being totally unique from any other book, tells us the story of Eden lost, to Eden restored. The earth itself was created to be a temple of God. Think if you will, of the Garden of Eden as being the Most Holy Place. God dwelt there and man with Him beyond the veil. Adam’s assignment was to expand God’s righteous kingdom until the whole earth became a Most Holy Place. But when Adam sinned, the lights went out, so to speak and he lost his ability to directly commune with God or to carry out his mission.

                When Adam sinned, he was banished from the Most Holy Place and a guard of Seraphim guarded the way into the Garden of Eden (The Holy of Holies.) Likewise the curtain in the sanctuary, laced with embroidered Seraphim blocked all but the High Priest from entrance into the Holy of Holies. “The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the Most Holy place has not yet been disclosed, while the outer tabernacle is still standing which is a symbol for the time then present, according to which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience…” Heb. 9:8

                But when Jesus came and died for our sins, the veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This was to indicate that Jesus had, by His supreme sacrifice opened up the veil into the Most Holy Place where Jesus stands as our new Tree of Life. He stands as our High Priest and the Mediator of a New Covenant in His blood.

                “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:19, 20.

                This picture corresponds to Adam himself. When he sinned, the way into his own spirit was blocked so that he began to live out of his soul with its mind, will and emotions. And mankind was thusly blocked from the indwelling of Christ in his spirit until that veil was removed upon the cross. This is why Jesus said in John 14: 16, 17. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides WITH you and WILL BE IN YOU.”

                So herein is the prime difference between the Old and New Testament eras. In Old Testament times the Holy Spirit was WITH them and even occasionally came UPON them as with prophets, but the Holy Spirit could not dwell IN them until the veil was removed in Christ.

                Likewise Jesus, when He returns is going to cleanse the earth of its defilement and reconcile it to God so that it will once again be a fit place, a holy dwelling place of the Lord as was Eden. And we will participate with Him in this restoration process, because we are and will be even during the millennium, sons and daughters of God in training for eternity. We will have glorified bodies. We will reign over the mortals that made it into the millennium. And this is talked about in the Old Testament as well where it says that if a man dies at one hundred years old he will be thought to have died early. AS you see then this is not talking about heaven and eternity for there will be no death there, and it is not before the second coming of Christ for now 1000 is thought to be old and most people die well before that. In fact the millennium will be a time of restoration when life spans will be increased as before the flood.

                Well, we could ask why Jesus would bother with an interim period between time and eternity. Why a Sabbath millennium? What is its purpose?  Jesus could just wiggle His nose and change everything in an instant, but He wants His sons and daughters to understand the process in which all things are made new. If we will reign with Him we must reign with understanding and wisdom and wisdom only comes with experience.

                Likewise, when you become a Christian, you are given a new spirit that is sinless and holy. But with it, Jesus wants us to conquer the territory of our minds, hearts and bodies. He could instantly make us perfect, but then we would know nothing of the process by which God restores all things. Likewise God has allowed sin and suffering to rule this planet for 6000 years so that we will truly understand righteousness and redemption. God does not deal in magic. He uses natural and spiritual processes to restore all things and we know this because even though we are instantly saved in our spirit and the New Birth, we still have a mind and a body to conquer and to bring into subjection to Christ.

                Meditate on these things for there is much here to chew on which the Holy Spirit has given us today. Don’t take my word for it, but study and pray and seek the Lord for understanding. Satan does not want us to understand, or to have the mind of Christ and so he throws down diversions as often as he can, including the great deceptions that will take place in the end when mankind believes the lie.

                But this is why Romans 8 is so important, for our job on this earth is to learn how to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh. Herein is the reason why intellectual Christianity often misses the point. They are trying to figure out with their minds things that can only be imparted to us by the Spirit. To him that has an ear; let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.