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God's Emerging City
Chapter 1: Heaven’s Mercy In Unexpected Places
[1] This thought undercuts the idea of people in some future day having to make pilgrimage to the city of Jerusalem to worship the Lord. To interpret Old Testament passages such as Zechariah 14:16 - 21 in a proper manner, we must view them through the lens of the New Testament. We must especially give appropriate consideration to Jesus’ clear instruction to this Samaritan woman.
Chapter 2: A Harvest Greater Than Our Sowing
[2] See the author’s book, The Coming Increase of Christ in His House
Chapter 3: My Servant Will Prosper
[3] Consider the gap between absolute holiness and the totality of humanity’s sin. At Calvary, Jesus bridged it and was marred more than any of us can understand. There have been many people who were more physically disfigured than Jesus. For example, some in warfare at the center of a bomb blast have been reduced to ashes. Yet Jesus was marred more than any other because He started from an eternally higher place. God had become man. And from an existence of total holiness He came down to where all of mankind’s sin was placed upon Him. In fact, He who knew no sin became sin so that sin would die that day and its power be broken (2 Corinthians 5:21). Today believers who have been immersed into His death have arisen free from sin’s power (Romans 6).
[5] The English translation of the Hebrew word MASHIACH is Messiah. When we translate MASHIACH into Greek, we get the word CHRISTOS, which in English is Christ. The words Messiah and Christ are really the same word from two different languages and mean the Anointed One. When Jesus came up from the waters of baptism, the anointing for visible messianic ministry came upon Him. At that time, the Father released His Son to minister as Israel’s Messiah.
Chapter 6: The Failures Of Men And The Success Of God
[7] After the death of Solomon, Israel divided into two nations – 1. Judah, consisting of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin and 2. Israel, consisting of the remaining ten tribes. The capital city of Judah was Jerusalem; the capital city of Israel was Samaria.
Chapter 7: Israel’s Salvation And The Coming Harvest
[8] Jesus prophesied of the Jewish people in Luke 21:24 that, they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. The times of the Gentiles to trample Jerusalem were fulfilled in 1967 when Israel reestablished Jewish control over the city. Never again will the nations hold the power to rule and control Jerusalem. They will come close to it, but God’s sovereign intervention will thwart their plans (Zechariah 12 - 14).
[9] The fullness of God’s intent for Israel may very well be more than simply a national repentance for sin and belief that Jesus is their Messiah. At that point, Israel will be in her spiritual infancy, not her fullness of maturity or effectiveness in serving the Lord. Indeed, Ezekiel 37 speaks of Israel’s salvation in terms of a great resurrected army. Why would God speak of an army unless there was yet great conflict and victory ahead for His people?
[10] See the Appendix for a short study on Peter’s words in Acts Chapter 3 about the seasons of refreshing that will follow Israel’s salvation.
[11] This thought ought to revolutionize how we build in God’s house. We must begin to question what we are doing when our local congregations look more organizational than body-like (i.e., a living organism that is shaped by life rather than by organizational and administrative skills). For more on this theme consider the author’s book, The Apostolic and Prophetic Foundation (available at this site).
[12] What we await is the fullness of God’s intent in expressing Israel’s Messiah through a body, not simply a full number of people being saved from the nations. The Church must move from a primarily evangelistic focus to an apostolic one. Paul was an apostle. The NIV limits Paul’s thought by translating Romans 11:25 - 26 this way: “...Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved.” However, that would indicate that no more Gentiles could be saved after Israel turns to the Lord. How then would something greater than riches be brought to the nations at her salvation? Besides, the word number is not in the original text. Peter prophesied that seasons of refreshing would break out in the Earth when Israel returns to the Lord (see Appendix).
[13] It is likely that Israel’s salvation will occur in a time of great upheaval and war. Zechariah Chapters 12 - 14 seem to indicate a yet future period when the nations will gather against Jerusalem to destroy her. God’s response will be to pour out the Spirit of grace and supplication. As a result of this gracious outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Jewish people will recognize as their Messiah the One they pierced. Great repentance will sweep the land in those days. It will be very personal and individual yet affecting whole families from all strata of Jewish society.
[14] It is true that great spiritual mixture was brought into the Church in those days. However, this does not negate the remarkable shift that occurred throughout the whole Roman Empire due to the Lord’s presence in His people and His response to their cries under intense persecution.
Chapter 11: The House Of His Glory
[15] While many see Isaiah Chapter 60 as referring only to Israel (i.e., verses 4 - 5 are addressing the return to the land of many Jews who have been living among the nations), yet it is also clear that Isaiah is prophesying of God’s house. See verse 13 where he refers to His sanctuary and the place of His feet, indicating His peoples’ New Testament relationship with Him as a body to His headship. Then in verse 14 he speaks of His people Zion, the city of the Lord. Again, the New Testament uses these terms to refer to the Church (Hebrews 12:22, Revelation 21: 1 - 10). My conclusion is that Isaiah is indeed prophesying of a glory that would emerge out of Israel, and then change the face of the Earth. But for Israel to participate fully in God’s promises to her, she would have to return to Him with all of her heart. Paul’s insight in Romans Chapter 11 is that God indeed has a plan underway to bring Israel to just such a homecoming.
[16] Paul defines for us in Romans Chapter 12 the New Testament offerings that God desires. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
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