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Many Christians believe we should pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Fewer Christians believe we should work for that to happen. Even fewer believe that we will succeed in history -- before a second coming of Christ.
This website defends the idea that we will succeed in creating heaven on earth.
Creating heaven on earth: isn't that somehow a denial of the Gospel?
This is the question I get from people who believe they are going to heaven, but can't really tell me what the Gospel is.
What is "the Gospel?"[2] That sounds like a simple question, and most Christians could probably give a simple answer, but their answer would be, in most cases, simply inadequate. The overwhelming majority of "christians" today have a crippled view of "the Gospel."
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Do I sense an impenetrable circle here?
One of the words most frequently associated with "gospel" (or the Greek word for "preach the gospel") is "kingdom" (Matthew 4:23; Matthew 9:35; Matthew 24:14; Mark 1:14; Mark 1:15; Luke 4:43; Luke 8:1; Luke 16:16; Acts 8:12). The Gospel has something to do with the reign of Christ the King, which was "at hand."
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, {15} And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
(Mark 1:14-15)
But for most Christians, the reign of Christ is either limited to one's own heart, or postponed to the increasingly-distant future, after Christ comes again, because He failed to be the Messiah at His first coming, but everyone gets one "Do-Over." "Take 2."
The word "Gospel" means Good News.
What is the Good News? The Glad Tidings are found in
Galatians 3:8
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, "In thee shall all nations be blessed."
The Scripture preached "the Gospel" to Abraham.
Q.: What was the good news?
A.: World-wide blessing.
Q.: What is "blessing?"
A.: Salvation: Being delivered from our enemies and living securely in peace and prosperity, free from archists in a “Vine
& Fig Tree” world.
Q.: How do we obtain God's blessing?
A.: By faithfully obeying His commandments.
Q.: Is that possible before the Second Coming?
A.: That is the promise of the New Covenant.
- Jeremiah 31
- 31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
- Ezekiel 11:19-20
- 19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.- Ezekiel 36:27
- 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
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What is an "archist?" Click here. |
Jeremiah 31:33 + Galatians 3:8
New Covenant = obedience to God's Law
New Covenant = blessing throughout the world
New Covenant = salvation/peace/safety
New Covenant = freedom from archists
Your church will not likely support you in pursuing New Covenant obedience to God's Law.
Especially if God's Law is understood as prohibiting archism.
You may be interested in joining "The Perfect Club."
Your church may become your mission field.
Pessimillennialism leads to disobedience: murder, theft, enslavement.
The Gospel is CIVILIZATION itself.
Freedom from archists is the Gospel (good news).
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What is an "archist?" Click here. |
"Government" is "archists."
Encyclopedia Britannica says it is "the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated."
One can also obtain political power by military invasion and conquest. But "conquest" is never-ending, for as Wikipedia notes, "Government is a means by which organizational policies are enforced" -- continuously enforced. Little conquests every day, everywhere. Your boss can fire you; your church can excommunicate you, but your "government" conquers you with force or threats of violence. "Government" is the institution of systematic violence. And this institution maintains a monopoly on violence.
This is important. Every professor of political science in every university on planet earth will agree that the fundamental nature (or most basic definition) of "civil government" (or "the State") is
Proof:
Sociologist Max Weber says "the State" is "a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory."
Mainstream scholarship is summed up in the Encyclopædia Britannica:
State monopoly on violence, in political science and sociology, the concept that the state alone has the right to use or authorize the use of physical force. It is widely regarded as a defining characteristic of the modern state.
In his lecture “Politics as a Vocation” (1918), the German sociologist Max Weber defines the state as a “human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.” The modern state, according to Weber, emerged by expropriating the means of political organization and domination, including violence, and by establishing the legitimacy of its rule.
But violence is a means to an end; a way to achieve the government's goals. We might distinguish between the government's real goals, and those goals which are propagated for public consumption (like campaign promises). Politicians might promise you "a better life," or "law and order," but their goal is power, prestige, and a nice paycheck.
Nothing wrong with a paycheck. Every farmer and every owner of a "Mom&Pop Store" wants to be able to feed, house, and clothe their family. But the farmer has to grow, and the store owner has to sell, what consumers want and will voluntarily pay for.
"Government" -- uniquely -- engages in "taxation." Taxation is nothing less than theft. Extortion.
When a business in the "free market" needs to raise money, it must use persuasion to entice the voluntary support of others. By contrast, when "the State" needs money, it takes it by force. This taking is called "taxation." (Other forms of taking, such as fractional reserve banking, asset forfeiture, and debasement of the currency, are also employed. These "revenue enhancement" devices are, like taxation, also immoral. They involve theft through fraud.)
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If we define "government" (as Wikipedia does) as a "group of people" -- a group of archists -- then it becomes plain that "government" is an idol.
What the "government" promises voters is nothing less than the holistic Biblical concept of "salvation" -- which, in the Bible, is much, much broader than simply going to heaven when you die.
What the government promises politicians is "being as gods" (Genesis 3:5).
Government is therefore a false god, and belief in the necessity of having a "group of people" who claim to be god being the source of social salvation is idolatry.
It is the thesis of this webpage that Jesus is the only true God, and the only true Savior, and therefore the only legitimate "government."
Every "government" in history -- including the United States of America -- eventually bans the Bible. They understand that the Bible is an anarchist manifesto.
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Click here for audio: |
People say Christmas has become too "commercialized." They say we've lost "the real meaning of Christmas."
What is the real meaning of Christmas?
People who say Christmas has become commercialized will answer that question like this:
But what is the meaning of the birth of some guy named Jesus? What is the significance of the birth of that guy?
This website says something very controversial.
Nobody agrees with it.
The whole world disagrees with it.
Are you ready? (You already know what it is -- it's the name of the website:
Jesus is the Christ.
In 2021, almost nobody believes that statement to be true.When you first hear it, you might think that the juxtaposition of "Jesus" and "Christ" is obvious and not at all controversial. But when you dig deeper, it appears that this is the most controversial proposition on planet earth.
And -- most surprisingly -- the vast, overwhelming majority of professing, church-going (or non-churching) Christians do not believe that Jesus is the Christ today.
This website defends the proposition that Jesus is the Messiah right now, and has fulfilled or is fulfilling all the "messianic prophecies" -- even those prophecies most Christians reserve for "the millennium."
Jesus is the Christ.
The angels told the shepherds that the birth of the boy in Bethlehem meant "Peace on Earth."
A favorite Christmas carol mentions this announcement:
| It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold: "Peace on the earth, good will to men, From heaven's all-gracious King." The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing. |
Another Christmas carol notes that Christian churches pay lip-service to this announcement::
| I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, and wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men! |
But the poem, written during the Civil War, expresses some doubt:
| Then from each black, accursed mouth The cannon thundered in the South, And with the sound The carols drowned Of peace on earth, good-will to men! |
The poet today might write about "The War on Terrorism."
| And in despair I bowed my head; "There is no peace on earth," I said; "For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men! |
But the poet had something many of today's Christians lack: Optimism:
| Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men." |
Probably a majority of self-described Christians today believe the future belongs not to "The Prince of Peace," but to "the antichrist," "great tribulation," "Armageddon," and global war and suffering.
Sure, things will be much better after The Second Coming of Christ. Then we will have "peace on earth." But not before.
Apparently, the angels were mistaken. They thought the first advent of Christ meant "peace on earth."
Apparently the only meaning of Christmas is
"You can go to heaven when you die, and leave all the war and suffering on earth."
This website challenges the prevailing pessimism.
Many people complain that the Bible is filled with war, slavery, and violence. "How can that be the Word of God?" they ask.
But the world before Christ really was filled with war, slavery, and violence. Many historians note that most human beings died violent deaths, or died prematurely from the violence of slavery, conquest, captivity, and all forms of human violence.
If they could travel through time from their day to ours, every prophet who spoke of the coming Messiah would fall on his knees in gratitude to God for the fact that most people on earth today die peacefully, not violently. They would be utterly speechless walking down the aisles of your local WalMart. The character of human life was changed dramatically by the babe born in Bethlehem. And further change is possible:
| For lo!, the days are hastening on, By prophet bards foretold, When with the ever-circling years Comes round the age of gold When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendors fling, And the whole world give back the song Which now the angels sing. |
Christ has already eliminated 99% of all the violence that existed in the world before the first Christmas.
With the poet who "heard the bells on Christmas day" we should note that with the birth of Jesus,
This website claims that Christians could end 99% of the remaining violence in the world in 2021.
But we have to believe in the real meaning of Christmas:
But most people who call themselves "Christians" don't really believe this.
The two most controversial words in that statement are the words "IS" and "THE."
Most church-going Christians believe that Jesus will become the Messiah at a future Christmas, a future advent, a future "Second Coming." But the word
"IS" -- present tense -- is the wrong word to use about Jesus being the Messiah. To say that Jesus "is" the Messiah is to say that He already became the
Messiah and began ruling in the past. The word "preterit" is from the Latin word for "past," and the idea that Jesus began ruling as Messiah
in the past is called "the heresy of preterism."
The word "Christ" also has many meanings. The basic meaning is "anointed," as in "king" (Matthew 21:5 ), e.g., "King of Israel" (John 1:49). Jesus is also called a "Ruler" (Micah 5:2), a "Potentate" (1 Timothy 6:15 ), a "Governor" (Matthew 2:6 ), a "Captain" (Hebrews 2:10 ), a "Prince" (Isaiah 9:6 ), and many other words (some of which we aren't familiar with in our day, like "Horn" [Luke 1:69 ]) which are political in nature. Many political terms can be inferred:
Our point is that Jesus is the -- THE -- the ONLY -- legitimate king, prince, ruler, president, prime minister, governor, legislator, judge, and potentate. If we simply practice what we preach -- by obeying His commandments -- we will have a peaceful, orderly, and prosperous society. All other earthly kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates are illegitimate usurpers and anti-Christ. I know what you're thinking. "What are you, some kind of ANARCHIST?" That suspicion is the kind of thing we were all taught in schools run by earthly kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates. We are never taught what Jesus taught. Jesus said the kings of the gentiles love to impose their will on other people by political and military force, but Christ's followers are not to do these things (Mark 10:42-45). Mark uses the Greek word from which we get our English word "anarchist." He says the kings of the Gentiles love to be "archists." But Christians are NOT to be "archists." So some folks will say all this talk about Jesus being THE Ruler -- the only legitimate Ruler -- will lead to "anarchy." Obeying Jesus as the Christ will certainly lead to the elimination of bloodthirsty empires and their Caesars, Pharaohs, and Führers. But it will certainly not lead to chaos and lawlessness (which is what most people have been trained to think of when they hear the word "anarchism" or contemplate the absence of "archists" in the swordless Kingdom of Christ). Taken together, the two words "IS" and "THE" are branded as the heresy of "anarcho-preterism." This website maintains that "anarcho-preterism" is "the real meaning of Christmas." This website maintains that "anarcho-preterism" is "the Gospel." |
This website is sponsored by:
The name "Vine & Fig Tree" comes from the fourth chapter of the prophet Micah, and is set forth below. You've probably heard Micah's words before -- we beat our "swords into plowshares" and everyone dwells safely under their own "Vine & Fig Tree."
America's Founding Fathers were familiar with this vision: "Vine & Fig Tree" is the worldview that made America "the greatest nation on God's green earth."
George Washington's Diaries are available online at the Library of Congress. The LOC.GOV website introduces Washington's writings with these words:
No theme appears more frequently in the writings of Washington than his love for his land. The diaries are a monument to that concern. In his letters
he referred often, as an expression of this devotion and its resulting contentment, to an Old Testament passage. After the Revolution, when he had returned to Mount
Vernon, he wrote the Marquis de Lafayette on Feb. 1, 1784:
This phrase occurs at least 11 times in Washington's letters.
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has found more than 40 references to the “Vine and Fig Tree” vision in Washington's Papers.| The phrase occurs a number of times in Scripture. These references are visual reminders of the Hebrew word for salvation, which means |
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| When today's Americans hear the word "salvation," they usually think about going to heaven when they die. When the writers of the Bible used the word "salvation," they wanted you to be thinking about dwelling safely under your own Vine & Fig Tree during this life -- much more often than they wanted you to be thinking about what you'll be doing in the afterlife. |
The best place to see the Vine & Fig Tree ideal is in the book of Micah.
Surprisingly, you'll almost never hear this prophecy mentioned at Christmas.
| And it will
come about in the last days That the mountain of the House of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains And it will be raised above the hills |
Are we in the "last days?"
When did this establishment take place? |
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| And the peoples will stream
to it. And many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the House of the God of Jacob, |
Is Christianity doomed to minority status throughout history? Hasn't Christianity been growing since the first century? | |
| That He may teach us about His
ways And that we may walk in His paths." For from Zion will go forth the Law Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem. |
What should be the Christian's attitude toward the Law? Isn't every Word of a "Lord" "Law?" | |
| And He will judge
between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation And never again will they train for war. |
Are we commanded to beat our swords into plowshares today? Or do we wait for the Second Coming? Are Christians "pacifists?" |
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| And each of them will sit under his | What is a family? What about private property? |
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| Vine
and under his
fig tree, With no one to make them afraid. For the LORD of hosts has spoken. |
What about technology? What about the military? What is it that really brings "security?" | |
| Though all the
peoples walk Each in the name of his god, As for us, we will walk In the Name of the LORD our God forever and ever. |
What if all the politicians, university professors, TV commentators, bloggers, newspaper editors, rock stars, scientists, CEO's, celebrities, athletes, authors, and think-tanks repudiate the Vine & Fig Tree vision and tell you not to believe it? | |
| In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. |
Should we strive to be on top, or to help those on the bottom? Is God on the side of those who have accomplished much by their own power and initiative, or is He on the side of those who are willing to be used by God to accomplish much to His Glory? |
Most people who call themselves "Christians" today believe that Micah's prophecy will not begin to see fulfillment until Jesus returns to earth a second time. But the Bible teaches that Jesus was born during "the last days" of the Old Covenant, and He put into effect a New Covenant, and as a result of this New Covenant, billions of human beings have been streaming to "the mountain of the Lord," and the world is more obedient to God's Commandments today than it was before Jesus was born. The world is more peaceful. The mainstream media and secular academia do not want you to understand this.
Nor do most clergymen. The more perceptive clergy will say that our belief that Micah's prophecy is already being fulfilled, and that we should continue beating swords into plowshares, is "dangerous." They will warn you that we are promoting the ancient heresy of "anarcho-preterism." They are correct (we are indeed promoting "anarcho-preterism") except for two things:
Distilled into a single proposition, Vine & Fig Tree stands for this:
Jesus is the Christ Today
To say that Jesus is the Messiah today is to say that Jesus became the Messiah in the past, rather than saying He must come again (in the future) before He can begin His Messianic Reign. The belief that a prophecy was fulfilled in the past is called "preterism."
If your pastor has heard of "preterism," and especially if he uses the term "hyper-preterism," he likely believes that it is a dangerous heresy, and that anyone who is a “preterist” has denied the Christian faith, and is not to be counted as a true Christian. Gary North says Pastors should not even debate a preterist. Just kick him out of your church.
It's easy enough to prove that Jesus was made the Christ in the past. Peter explains it in Acts chapter 2. After the Apostles spoke to a large audience of people "from every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5) in all their various foreign languages, Peter explained that this was a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy. He further explains how Jesus had already fulfilled the Davidic prophecies about the enthroning of the Messiah:
| Acts 2 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised
his voice and said to them... “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall come to pass in
the last days, says God,
And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’ 22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says [Psalm 16:8–11] concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my
face, 29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. 34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says [Psalm 110:1] himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” |
God made Jesus of Nazareth the Christ -- 2000 years ago -- fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies concerning the throne of David. Peter and other devout Jews came to believe this; Christians should believe this; today's Jews do not. What was happening in Peter's "present" happened in our "past." This is "preterism."
Let's examine the word "anarchism," which is even more offensive to most Christians than "preterism."
Even more offensive to modern Christians than the belief that Jesus is the Christ today (and we shouldn't be waiting around for a second advent of Jesus) is the claim that Jesus is THE Christ today; that in our day there is no other legitimate Christ, no other legitimate king.
Nobody believes in "kings" anymore. So let's update our language.
As we will see below, Isaiah 33:22 confirms this:
For the Lord is our Judge,
The Lord is our Lawgiver,
The Lord is our King;
He will save us
As we will see below, it was a mistake for Israel to want an earthly king to replace God (1 Samuel 8).
And as we will see below, Jesus prohibits His followers from aspiring to rule over others. Jesus said a Christian must not be an "archist."
An "archist" is a "ruler." We here at Vine & Fig Tree invented the word "archist," deriving it from a Greek word found in Mark 10:42-45, from which the English word "anarchist" is derived.
In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10 (see more below), Jesus discovers His disciples arguing about who is going to be the "greatest" in the Kingdom of God. Their concept of the Messiah was someone who would use force and violence to vanquish the Roman occupation army that held Israel under tribute. They looked forward to the coming of a Messiah who would enlist them into a Messianic Israeli Army which would "stick it to" the Romans. But just as Micah said we should beat "swords into plowshares," Jesus said His disciples should "love your enemies," and if their soldiers conscript you to carry their provisions for one mile, you should go with the occupation forces two. (This form of pacifism completely refutes the legitimacy of "national defense.") The disciples didn't understand that Jesus' Messianic Kingdom was quite unlike the kingdoms of the world.
But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. {43} Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. {44} And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. {45} "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." |
The word translated "rulers" comes from the Greek word from which we derive our English word "anarchist" ("a + archist" -- the first "a" is the Greek letter "alpha," known as the "alpha privative," meaning "not" -- a[n]archist -- the letter "n" bridges the "alpha privative" and the word "archist").
"Lords," "rulers" and "great ones" are "archists."
An "archist" believes he has the right to impose his will on other people by force. He need not rely solely on persuasion. He need not give others anything of value in exchange for what he wants from others. He can threaten violence, and carry out those threats if he doesn't get what he wants. It would be sinful for others to engage in such violent extortion or vengeance, but the "archist" claims a "legal" and moral right to do what others must not do.
Jesus clearly says His followers are not to be "archists." They are to be "servants."
A Christian society is an archist-free society.
We have been brainwashed in "public" schools (run by archists) to believe that an "anarchist" is:
Anyone can be called an "anarchist" by someone who wants to vilify an opponent, but most of those who call themselves "anarchist" have reached their position by their opposition to violence. I am a pacifist, therefore I am opposed to any institution of systematic violence and coercion (e.g., "the Mafia," "the State," etc.).
By etymological definition, the opposite of an "anarchist" is an "archist." By being trained to believe that "anarchists" are bad, we've been subtly inculcated with the belief that those who protect us against "anarchists" (logically, "archists") are good.
But the Bible says archists are bad, and explicitly prohibits us from being archists.
Jesus says His followers are not to be archists. Connect the dots.
www.HowToBecomeAChristianAnarchist.com
Mark 10:42-45 (and other passages we're going to be considering in a moment) teaches that
This isn't just a "fringe" idea. In fact, "Anarcho-Preterists" go much further. They claim:
From cover to cover, the Bible is an "Anarchist Manifesto" and urges mankind to eradicate the institution of "civil government" or "the State." It will take approximately 90 minutes for me to lay out my arguments and for you to follow them Biblically in a loving (1 Corinthians 13:5-7) way.
I want to consider with you four subjects:
- The Bible
- Man and Society
- God and Government
- The Gospel
Within these four subjects are seven steps to prove my thesis:
- 1. The Bible
- • Daily Sharpening
- • Principles of Interpreting Prophecy
- • The Blessings of Obeying the Bible -- God's Standard (Blueprint)
- 2. Man and Society
- • Purpose of Man (Calling)
To build the Kingdom of God by working (obeying God, serving others)- • The Fall of Man -- the Desire to "be as gods"
To build the Kingdom of Man without working (playing God, oppressing others)- 3. The Kingdom of God and Salvation
- • God saves sinners (archists) from the consequences of their sins (archism)
- • God's Kingdom vs. Man's Government
- • Salvation = Freedom from archists.
- • The Vine & Fig Tree society.
- 4. The Vine & Fig Tree Gospel
In these seven themes there are 12 key Scripture texts I would like you to consider before we get to the verse which proves that Anarcho-Preterism is the Gospel.
Bible 1. Acts 17:11 2. Proverbs 27:17 Prophecy: Principles of Interpretation 3. Isaiah 9:6-7 4. Daniel 2 5. Isaiah 65:17-20 Man's Purpose 6. Genesis 1:26-28 God's Blueprint 7. Leviticus 26 Government: Man's vs. God's 8. Isaiah 33:22 9. 1 Samuel 8 10. Mark 10:42-45 Salvation as Freedom from Archists 11. Over 300 "Salvation" Verses 12. Habakkuk 2:14 - Salvation and Civilization Anarcho-Preterism is “the Gospel.”
We're ready to start the argument sequence.
I am a "Bible-believing" Christian. Feel free to accuse me of engaging in bibliolatry, fundamentalism, extremism, creationism, Calvinism, Theonomy, etc. Guilty as charged.
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The first text I want to impress upon you is Acts 17:10-12
Now these [The Bereans] were more noble than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the Word with all readiness of the mind,
searching the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.
The Bereans appeared to be like modern libertarians, with their bumper-sticker that says "QUESTION AUTHORITY." The Apostles gave them the Gospel of Jesus Christ but the Bereans didn't just take the Apostles' word for it, but checked what they were told against a higher authority, the Scripture. The Bereans are more dogmatic authoritarians than those who mindlessly accept the word of clergy or creeds.
Additionally, the Bereans studied the Bible "daily." The verses on that link show that daily engagement with the Bible is an imperative.
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This attitude makes one a better Christian, as seen in our second text.
Just as iron sharpens iron,
friends sharpen the minds of each other.
Proverbs 27:17
My goal in this article is to be your "friend." I hope you'll be my friend as well, and challenge my thinking in a loving way.
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I am not against "authorities" or "experts." I rely on them and quote them. An "expert" can be your friend and sharpen you, but you might have to pay the expert ("mentor," "professor" "seminary"). This article is free. May you be sharpened. May we be friends.
How do we correctly interpret Micah's “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy, as well as others which speak of the Messiah? Sometimes the form of prophecy can confuse us. Often it is poetic, rather than "scientific" or "historical" or reminiscent of journalistic "neutrality." It is designed to encourage us today. That is, to encourage us to obey God's Commandments.
The Bible teaching ministry I founded is called “Vine & Fig Tree.” The name comes from the 4th chapter of Micah. It talks about a day we beat "swords into plowshares." I believe that's not just a prediction about Micah's future, but a command for us today. I believe the Bible -- from cover to cover -- commands pacifism. War -- "the sword" -- is an evil.
You are welcome to try to "sharpen" me on this issue. Others have certainly tried. I am willing to admit that ISIS-inspired psychos kill innocent people around the world, and sometimes it's hard to believe that the Babe born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger on that "Silent Night" was really the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. But despite ISIS, I believe Micah would agree that Jesus is now reigning as Messiah and Prince of Peace.
In Micah's day, seven hundred years before the coming of the Messiah, half of all human beings died as a
result of archist violence.
There was no such thing as "liberty" in Isaiah's day. Today we enjoy liberty because the
Messiah came two thousand years ago.
Today, the vast majority of human beings die of "natural causes" rather than violence. The exceptions to that blanket statement are easily
remedied by professing Christians in America. It's a matter of ethics, not fate or eschatology. We are commanded to bring about the continued and expanded fulfillment of these
prophecies. Jesus gave us enough to consider them "fulfilled," and everything beyond that is just frosting on the cake.
Sanctified Imagination
If Micah could travel through time 2,700 years to our day, he would fall on his knees in praise and faithful gratitude to God for fulfilling his prophecies. We are not so grateful. We should be.
But we can start where we are and imagine even greater fulfillment of the "messianic" prophecies. We should take upon ourselves the exercise of faith and imagine how the earth will look 2,700 years into our future, and work and plan for that day.
Micah and Isaiah would say that their prophecies have been gloriously fulfilled. Those of us living today are the beneficiaries of centuries of theological sanctification from Isaiah's day, and can imagine even greater ways in which those prophecies can be further fulfilled.
But most Christians do not believe that Christ is fulfilling those prophecies and reigning as Messiah today.
The premillennialists are wrong for a number of reasons.
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A. The Messianic Kingdom is Everlasting.
Not just 10 centuries, as millennialists hold
Isaiah 9:6-7
6 For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
The Messianic Age Never Ends -- "world without end." Of the baby Jesus it was foretold:
Luke 1
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
This reign began 2,000 years ago. And it has only just begun.
The idea that tens of thousands of human beings can live in one apartment building is provocative. There are seven billion human beings on earth today. The entire population of the earth can be "squeezed" into one-third of the state of Texas, each one enjoying a home with the population density of the home in which I grew up, with one-third of the state given to business and industry meeting all human needs, and one-third of the state given to parks and recreation. That leaves the other 49 states empty. The entire African continent would be uninhabited by human beings. Asia and India, with their billions of people, could live much more comfortably in Dubai-style apartments in one-third of the state of Texas. And thousands of years from now, when mankind has fulfilled God's command to "be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it" (Genesis 1:26-28; 9:1) and there are 700 billion, or a 1,000 billion (trillion) human beings on earth, the vast majority will be Christians. David Chilton writes:
6while it is fashionable for modern Christian intellectuals to speak of our civilization as "post-Christian," we should turn that around and make it Biblically accurate: Our culture is not post-Christian - our culture is still largely pre-Christian!
and
The actual number of the saved, far from being limited to mere tens of thousands, is in reality a multitude that no one could count, so vast that it cannot be comprehended. For the fact is that Christ came to save the world. Traditionally -- although Calvinists have been technically correct in declaring that the full benefits of the atonement were intended only for the elect - both Calvinists and Arminians have tended to miss the point of John 3:16. That point has been beautifully summarized by Benjamin Warfield:
You must not fancy, then, that God sits helplessly by while the world, which He has created for Himself, hurtles hopelessly to destruction, and He is able only to snatch with difficulty here and there a brand from the universal burning. The world does not govern Him in a single one of its acts: He governs it and leads it steadily onward to the end which, from the beginning, or ever a beam of it had been laid, He had determined for it. ... Through all the years one increasing purpose runs, one increasing purpose: the kingdoms of the earth become ever more and more the Kingdom of our God and His Christ. The process may be slow; the progress may appear to our impatient eyes to lag. But it is God who is building: and under His hands the structure rises as steadily as it does slowly, and in due time the capstone shall be set into its place, and to our astonished eyes shall be revealed nothing less than a saved world."
Benjamin B. Warfield, from a sermon on John 3:16 entitled "God's Immeasurable Love," in Biblical and Theological Studies (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1968), pp. 518f.
[New York City contains not just residences, but businesses (e.g., "Wall Street") and parks (e.g., "Central Park"). The "Texas" link we provided above does not make this distinction.]
Then there are other planets.
People who want Jesus to return and set up a 1,000 year kingdom (when He's already/only been reigning for twice that long) and then end the whole "earth" business are quitters with no vision. That's probably most church-going Christians.
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Daniel 2
The transformation is not instantaneous.
The Messianic Kingdom is not handed to us fully-developed on a silver platter
after we passively wait for it.
The statue in Daniel 2 represents the archist paradigm of the pre-Christian world. In Luke 4, Jesus was tempted by Satan:
5 The devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
Jesus destroyed the entire demonic imperial paradigm. The Last Adam restored the seed of the First Adam to our original purpose of building the City of God. But the weeds of the City of Man still need to be cut down as a part of tending The Garden. Replacing the City of Man with the City of God is a process called "sanctification." It applies socially as well as individually.
Isaiah 9:6-7 also shows us this idea of perpetual growth. The NRSV renders verse 7:
His authority shall grow continually
The Vine & Fig Tree prophecy of Micah (4:1-7) also shows numerous evidences of continual growth:
The Messianic Kingdom grows. Of its increase "there will be no end" (Isaiah 9:6-7). That means it will never be "perfect." Even in "the New Heavens and New Earth" there is sin and death. But it is so much better than life in Isaiah's day, that it could only be communicated using wild, poetic language that has led many to believe it would be sinlessly perfect.
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In the eyes of most Christians, God Himself -- the Second Person of the Trinity -- comes to earth twice, and is still unable to persuade or empower human beings to exercise dominion in a loving, honest, and faithful manner. The first Christmas was full of promise, but ends in failure. So Christ comes a second time, thousands of years later, bringing an army of resurrected saints with Him, takes a seat on a throne in Jerusalem, rules with a rod of iron in a believers-vs.-unbelievers police state, and still, it all ends in failure. Toward the end of the 10th century of Christ's Messianic reign, Satan reigns for "a little season" (Revelation 20:3), encouraging masses of people to rebel against the personal, visible reign of Jesus Christ Himself. Seeing that He is going to lose the game, Jesus takes His football and goes home.
The very popular Christian writer Dave Hunt has written:
In fact, dominion – taking dominion and setting up the kingdom of Christ – is an impossibility, even for God. The millennial reign of Christ, far from being the kingdom, is actually the final proof of the incorrigible nature of the human heart, because Christ Himself can’t do it.[1]
"Impossible even for God." The Creator's idea of creating man in His Own Image and telling man to exercise dominion over the earth, converting the earth to God's Temple, building the City of God, was a mistake. Progress is not possible. Only regress. Earth is a failure. Jesus' prayer ("Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven") is just tilting at Satanic windmills. As Hal Lindsey put it, "Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth." Poor God.
Didn't God know when He created human beings that it would all turn out in failure? Why did He bother?
Jesus is the Messiah today, forever; not to be waited for in the future, to reign for a few short years, and to then lose a war when Satan is released "for a little season."
Prophecy as Law
When God promises a blessing (or when He threatens a curse) we know what God thinks is good or bad. If we respect God, we feel a moral obligation to pursue the good and eschew the bad.
There is a standard by which we judge our efforts at constructing the Kingdom of God. It is the Bible.
Specifically, God's Law. (All of Scripture is Law, because all of Scripture is breathed-out by God, who is our Lord, and every utterance of a Sovereign is to be respected and obeyed by His vassals.)
The Bible makes up the blueprints for the building of the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God. These Blueprints were drafted by the Master Architect. We are to follow the blueprints as servants and laborers, but God gets the glory. As Calvin put it:
As soon as we acknowledge God to be the supreme Architect, who has erected the beauteous fabric of the universe, our minds must necessarily be ravished with wonder at his infinite goodness, wisdom, and power.
Rushdoony has written that God's Law is God's Plan for Victory and Dominion. God's Law commands us to build the Kingdom of God, and tells us exactly how to do this. God's Law both commands and promises success in building the Kingdom of God.
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Such Promises ("blessings") are found in our fourth text: Leviticus 26 (see also Deuteronomy 28).
Obedience to God's commandments brings blessings, specifically, the blessing of peace.
Peace means freedom from the initiation of force or threats of violence by others. Since archists
are those who employ violence as a means to an end, "peace" means "freedom from archists." The Bible distinguishes
"workmen" from the "horns" of power (Zechariah 1:18-21), and if
we work to build God's Kingdom and do not become archists, God will keep those nasty archists
away from us:
Proverbs 16:7
When a man’s ways please the LORD,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Our text here is "the Dominion Mandate," Genesis 1:26-28. Also, Genesis 2:15,19
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Here we read the purpose for which God created Man.
Human beings were created to "exercise dominion" over the earth as stewards of God's property.
This means growing and building the Kingdom of God, for the glory of God.
This means transforming a wilderness into a Garden, and the Garden into the City of God, the New Jerusalem, a city of unlimited
growth and wealth.
I have benefited from a book entitled, Images
of the Spirit
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Many people object to the idea that man builds the Kingdom of God. They say this is "humanistic," and that the Polis of God must be created wholly by God with no participation by man, and then handed to man on a silver platter. Correct thinking on this issue requires a "paradigm shift." Hal Lindsey represents the old paradigm:
There used to be a group called "postmillennialists." They believed that the Christians would root out all the evil in the world, abolish godless rulers, and convert the world through ever-increasing evangelism until they brought about the Kingdom of God through their own efforts. Then after 1000 years of the institutional church reigning on earth with peace, equality and righteousness, Christ would return and time would end. These people rejected much of the Scripture as being literal and believed in the inherent goodness of man. World War I greatly disheartened this group and World War II virtually wiped out this viewpoint. No self-respecting scholar who looks at the world conditions and the accelerating decline of Christian influence today is a "postmillennialist."
Hal Lindsey, The Late, Great Planet Earth, 1970, p. 176
The idea that Christians would bring about the Kingdom of God "through their own efforts" is a real red-flag for these kind of Christians. They say it reeks of "secular humanism."
Obviously, "anarcho-preterists" do not believe that The City of God is designed by a joint act of Congress. The New Jerusalem is not the vision of an ecclesiastical council or synod, or ecumenical one-world religion. But even as the leaders of church and state conspired together to kill Jesus, even today they are unwittingly orchestrated by the "Invisible Hand of Divine Providence" to enlarge the City of God.
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The New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ, and she must adorn herself for her Husband with righteous acts (Revelation 21:2; 19:7-8; Psalm 45:9-14; Isaiah 54:5; 61:10; 62:4).
But God still gets all the credit.
Consider the "Division of Labor" (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12).
There is not a single person on planet earth who can build a pencil from scratch. This is
because all the labor and skills required to extract the raw materials from God's Creation and assemble them into a pencil are divided among many human beings, no one of
them possessing all the skills and knowledge needed to plant and harvest trees, extract and refine chemicals, and build the equipment which fabricates a pencil. While Faber-Castell
might get credit for making pencils, many other companies had a hand in the task. Previous generations saw the global human economy as being overseen by an "Invisible
Hand." Also called "Providence," about which we'll see more below.
Ultimately, only God can get credit for building the New Jerusalem, but man is commanded to do the work.
Imagine the construction of a large apartment. I mean really large, like 432 Park Avenue, the tallest residential building in New York. Or five of the ten tallest buildings in the world, found in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. One of these buildings can house 25,000 human beings. Who gets "credit" for building one of these buildings? Maybe the architect -- except it was a team of architects. Maybe the CEO of the Construction firm, but he personally does not know how to build a cement mixer. Suppose your vocation is being a plumber, and you were hired to install a unique sink in one of the residences on the 32nd floor during the construction of one of these buildings. Do you get credit for building the building? Of course not. You knew very little about what kind of building was being constructed. You were just fulfilling your individual calling as a plumber. Should you say, "This is not my building, so I'm not going to contribute to its edification?" That would be disobedient.
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Each human being has a calling to build part of the Kingdom of God. It is man's job to build the kingdom. God gets all the credit.
Man's divine purpose on earth is to create a flourishing anarchist society, overseen only by an Invisible Hand.
Click bait. To "click," just keep reading.
Man's basic sin against God is the desire to "be as gods."
Genesis 3
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
An aspect of this rebellion is the desire to get something for nothing, or something without working for it. (James Jordan has argued that Adam and Eve would eventually have been allowed to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, but they were required to work for it first and earn it.)
This is a major motivation for forming "the State" and conquering other people. (The other one being vengeance.)
God is man's Governor. Man rejects God's Government by desiring to be his own governor.
God punishes man for his rebellion by granting him his wishes. When man lusts for political power, God gives it to him.
Then in His mercy, God saves the repentant sinner by delivering him from the political disease.
If we obey God's commandments, we will not have war; God will not send "the sword" against us.
I will argue below that peace is possible only in a state of "an-archy," that is, the absence of "archists." This too is a "paradigm shift."
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When we disobey God's Law, God sends archists as a judgment/curse against us.
We see this repeatedly in the Scripture. Israel lusts after gentile archists (like Moloch, which means "king"). God delivers Israel into the hand of these pagan archists, and Israel cries out for deliverance, and God delivers them by sending a deliverer, or "savior" or "judge" who "saves" Israel from the pagan archists.
Here's how Nehemiah sums up Israel's history of rebelling against God's Law and then being "saved" from the consequences of their disobedience:
- Nehemiah 9:23-31
- 23 Thou also multipliedst their children as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.
- 24 So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.
- 25 And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.
- 26 Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.
- 27 Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
- 28 But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the land of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;
- 29 And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
- 30 Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.
- 31 Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.
God sent Israel many "saviors." When Bible-believers think of a "savior," they think of someone who will save Israel "out of the hand of their enemies." The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, and said:
- Matthew 1:18-23
- Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.
A first-century Jew, steeped in the Scriptures, would hear this as a promise to save "His people" from the consequences of their sins, the curses imposed on them by God because of their rebellion against His Law. John the Baptist's father "Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying"
- Luke 1:67-80
- 68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
71 That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
74 To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
79 To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
The Babe born in Bethlehem saved Christians in the first century from their enemies: the Jews who collaborated with Rome. Then the Rock destroyed Rome, and has filled the earth with Christian Civilization -- The City of God. The growing and filling continues.
Consider this classic Christmas text:
- Luke 2:8-20
- 8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
- 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
- 14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
What would a first-century Israelite think if an angel of the LORD announced the coming of a "savior?" They would doubtless think back to all the saviors in the [Old Testament] Scriptures. Those saviors did not just promise a ticket to heaven when everyone died. They promised to save Israel from the consequences of her sins. Those consequences included "the Sword." Freedom from the sword is one aspect of the holistic Biblical concept of Salvation, and one of the benefits of a Biblical savior. The savior brought the benefits ("blessings") of obedience upon a people who had not been obedient, but who had repented of their disobedience.
Jesus was a Savior in this Biblical tradition. He came to bring Salvation. He came to save His people from their enemies, so they could get on with the work of building the New Jerusalem.
"Salvation" is holistic/cultural/economic, not just a ticket to heaven when you die. We'll see this below in more detail.
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A society that is Biblical is archist-free. Our next three texts show this.
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Our fifth text is Isaiah 33:22
For the Lord is our Judge,
The Lord is our Lawgiver,
The Lord is our King;
He will save us
Notice all three "branches" of government are seen here.
God governs from heaven through Providence, not visible physical enthronement in Jerusalem. This is the major error of the "pre-millennialists." See the discussion of the "invisible hand" above. Micah's Vine & Fig Tree prophecy (Micah 4:1-7) says
And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
While it's true that Jesus is the Word, the Word does not judge by sitting on a visible, physical throne in Jerusalem. "The Word" that judges nations is God's Law:
For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
As we saw above, man's chief purpose on earth is to build the City of God. The New Jerusalem is not handed to man on a silver platter fully-built. It is built by the "invisible Hand" of "Divine Providence," but God uses obedient and responsible human agents. An "invisible" Hand requires visible human servants, who are hands, feet, eyes, and other "members" of the Body of Christ.
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Israel rejected this concept.
Israel wanted visible physical archists like the Gentiles had. Emperors, Pharaohs, Molochs,
and Caesars.
This brings us to our sixth key text: 1 Samuel 8
Read the passage. Read the commentary in that link. The Bible says Israel, in desiring a king like the Gentiles had, was rejecting God. This is an awe-ful and profound indictment. Israel, "the chosen people," rejected the God who chose them, preferring the central-planning archist gods of the pagans. The Israelites were idolators.
Of course, Israel's rejection of God didn't stop God from governing. We hear much from premillennialists that Jesus offered Himself to Israel as Messiah, but Israel rejected Him as King, so He could only be "savior." This is nuts. Jesus was King whether the Jewish establishment wanted Him or not, and He destroyed apostate Israel in a day of fiery vengeance.
Luke 21:20
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.”Luke 19:14,27
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’
27 But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’”Matthew 22:1-14
But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10)
We see the error of 1 Samuel 8 in Christ's apostles before they were filled with the Spirit. They not only wanted Jesus to be a visible physical archist to overthrow the Roman occupation army, they too wanted archist powers to take vengeance on their oppressors. None of this has a place in Christ's Kingdom. This is seen in our seventh text, Mark 10:42-45, where the Greek word underlying the English word "anarchist" is found. (We looked at this passage above.)
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In the ancient world, all empires and politicians were religious. The emperor/pharaoh/caesar was a deity. Politicians were gods and mediators/priests.
Today the politician -- and the Polis -- is said to be "secular," but this is only evidence of the
religion of Secular Humanism.
In the Old Testament, archists were called "gods" (Ps 82, etc.).
The desire for a physical, visible archist = idolatry
Human archists = false gods = idols
There is no such thing as a "good" archist.
By definition, "the government" is an institution which claims the right to steal, kidnap,
and murder. If it doesn't make that claim, and does not accomplish its goals through violence (which would otherwise be
universally acknowledged as sinful in "the private sector"), it's not a "government" and is not made up of archists.
It's just a Rotary Club or some other voluntary association. (Which would be a good thing. Voluntary non-violent non-coercive
associations provide all the governance any human society needs:
• homeschools educate,
• businesses discipline, and
• competitive free market Dispute Resolution Organizations resolve disputes.
This is "governance" without "the government.")
"The State" is a criminal enterprise. It is prohibited by God's Law, even if God Himself "ordains" it (brings it into existence), like God created Assyria (Isaiah 10) or Rome (Luke 21:20-22) to judge (rape, pillage, burn, destroy) Israel.
Anarchist optimillennialism is a new paradigm. A new way of looking at human social organization ("government").
And a new way of looking at "salvation."
Let's elaborate a bit on the "blessings" and "cursings" which are found in God's Law (e.g., Leviticus 26).
When Israel rejected the government of God and lusted after Gentile archists, God delivered Israel into the hands of her archist lover/idol. Then Israel cried out for deliverance from these archists. This deliverance is the doorway through which we can gain a larger understanding of the Biblical doctrine of "salvation."
Most Christians think "salvation" means "going to heaven when I die." They focus on a tiny fraction of the Bible, and ignore the vast majority.
"Salvation" -- in the vast majority of Biblical texts -- means "anarchism." "Salvation" means a "libertarian" society. Some would call it an "anarcho-capitalist" society.
The Libertarian Party requires party members to affirm but one proposition:
I do not believe in or advocate
the initiation of force
as a means of achieving political or social goals.
People who will not make this pledge are "archists." They believe they have a right to impose their will on other people by force, usually by "the sword" -- political or military power.
Being an "archist" is un-Christian (Mark 10:42-45). We are not to spread Christianity with the sword. We are not to vote for archists who promise to bring salvation.
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Not "What is 'salvation' in the minds of most professing Christians?"
What does the Bible say?
The Hebrew word most frequently translated "salvation" or "save" is yasha'. In various derivatives it can be translated "deliverance," "victory," "safety," "security," and "welfare." (The Greek equivalent also carries the idea of "health.")
What does the government promise? We have a Department of Health, a Welfare Department, a Department of Homeland Security -- all components of the Biblical concept of "salvation." "The Government" (a.k.a. "civil government") is always a substitute for God. God is our Governor (Isaiah 33:22), and He brings salvation.
The Hebrew word for "save" or "bring salvation" is "yasha." Here is how a very mainstream, non-anarcho-preterist scholar defines that Hebrew word:
Yasha and its derivatives are used 353 times. The root meaning . . . is “make wide” or make sufficient: this root is in contrast to sarar, “narrow,” which means “be restricted” or “cause distress.” To move from distress to safety requires deliverance. [T]he majority of references to salvation speak of Yahweh granting deliverance from real enemies and out of real catastrophes. That which is wide connotes freedom from distress and the ability to pursue one’s own objectives. Thus salvation is not merely a momentary victory on the battlefield; it is also the safety and security necessary to maintain life unafraid of numerous dangers.
Hartley, John E. (1999). 929 יָשַׁע ["yasha"], in R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1, pp. 414-15.
I admit that I say many controversial things. That definition is not one of them. It is thoroughly Biblical. That's a very conservative, mainstream reference work. Let's look at it in more detail.
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Consider first the phrase "safety and security necessary to maintain life." This is also the "safety and security necessary to maintain a prosperous and humane society." In order to go to WalMart and buy a shopping cart full of food and household accessories, there has to be a global network of businesses who create and transport millions of products by making billions of economic calculations and transactions. Millions of human beings have to get to work on time, run the trucks on schedule, choose to work instead of stealing and robbing, and work the graveyard shift so that when you get to the store, all the items you want are neatly arranged on the shelf in an order which makes it possible for you to quickly find what you need and get on with life.
Who should we trust for "safety" and "security?" What does the Bible say?
The Bible repeatedly says that if we obey God the Lawgiver by loving our neighbor through productive service, God our Judge and King will "bless" us with peace and prosperity. "Peace" means "safety" and "security." These are all components of the Biblical picture of holistic "salvation."
But there are those who want to supplant God the King by promising to give us salvation if we will vote for them.
"Safety" and "security" are blessings from God, not government. We enjoy "safety" and "security" when our nation is Christian and observes "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," that is, the Bible. Nobody enjoys "safety" and "security" when the government becomes a tyranny which bans the Bible and people behave like pagans.
Here are other key descriptions of Biblical "salvation," according to our mainstream source above:
The Bible describes "salvation" as being placed onto a large piece of property that supplies everything you need:
In the Bible, Godly men are shown to be concerned about living in a “large” land. Of course, in a more agrarian society, “large” is better, as far as land goes. But when God promises to save us by putting us into a “large land,” it’s clear that more is included than going to heaven after living for decades in a narrow land before we up and die. What is the modern equivalent of a “large land?” It varies from person to person, but it includes some form of economic prosperity and political Liberty. “Liberty” and “large” are Biblical concepts we are not familiar enough with. Let’s review them and put them in our brains, so that as we read the Bible we will be more aware of them.
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One of the blessings promised to the obedient in the Bible is "liberty."
"Liberty" means "freedom." But "freedom from what?" In the pages of the Bible, the answer is almost always: "freedom from archists."
One of the blessings promised in Leviticus 26 is "peace," or freedom from those who bear the sword. Those who bear the sword are archists. They are also called in the Bible "enemies."
Of course, "freedom from" is always for the purpose of "freedom to" -- freedom to serve and obey the Lord.
The name "Jesus" comes from the Hebrew word Yhowshuwa', which is derived from yasha', which is the Hebrew word most frequently translated "salvation." "Jesus" means God will save. It was said of Jesus at His birth:
- Luke 1:71
- That we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all that hate us;- 74 That He would grant unto us, that we
being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him [exercise dominion and build His Kingdom] without fear [living under our "vine and fig tree" "with no one to make them afraid" (Micah 4:1-7)]
This is what "salvation" means in the Bible.
The specific enemies Christians had in the first century were of the Jewish establishment, but I believe Jesus the Messiah will save us from our enemies today -- whoever they may be, whenever we live -- if we obey God's Law.
"But isn't the real meaning of salvation 'being forgiven of your sins and going to heaven when you die?'"
Most church-goers ask this.
Forgiveness of sins = restoration to fellowship with God,
Forgiveness of sins = restoration to our original Edenic Mandate to build the Kingdom of God.
Forgiveness of sins is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
Jesus: Savior but not Messiah?The overwhelming majority of Christians today agree with Jews who say that Jesus is not the Messiah. The vast majority of Christians believe that Jesus will not reign as Messiah until there is a second Christmas -- a second Advent, or "second coming of Christ" -- which is really the first coming of the Christ, since at His first Advent Jesus came only as "savior," -- that is, someone who secures for us a ticket to heaven when we die -- and not as "Christ" -- that is, someone who delivers us out of the hand of our enemies, sets us in a wide open place, opens the bounties of heaven, and makes our land like Eden, so we can enjoy a “Vine & Fig Tree” society.
Many Christians in our day say that the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, therefore He could only offer to be their Savior. This is so confused it's hard to know where to begin.
- Nehemiah 9:27
- Therefore Thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies that vexed them: yet in the time of their affliction, when they cried unto Thee, Thou heardest them from the heaven, and through Thy great mercies Thou gavest them saviors, who saved them out of the hand of their adversaries (cp. Luke 1:71,74).
The idea that Jesus is only a "savior" but not the Messiah is is not a Biblically tenable position. There is almost no hint in the Bible that any "savior" would do nothing to "save" his people in this life, but only in the next.
A "savior" brings "salvation." Doesn't that make sense? But what is "salvation?" It is not, Biblically speaking, going to heaven after you die, having lived a life without being "saved" in the holistic Biblical sense of that word. In the Bible, saviors brought freedom from archists for God's People. See the discussion of the Hebrew word for "salvation" above.
These "saviors" were sometimes called "judges." The various "kings" of Israel could also serve as "saviors" because they would "save" Israel from her oppressors (1 Samuel 9:16; 2 Samuel 3:18, etc.).
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"Saviors" in the Old Testament served what we could call primarily "messianic" functions." Biblically speaking, "savior" is virtually a synonym for "messiah." And "Messiah" is a political term, that is, a term that does not have primary reference to us after death, but reference to our lives today, in their holistic cultural, social, political, civil, economic, recreational, and legal dimensions.
A "Messiah" brings political changes. A "savior" brings "salvation." But the Biblical definition of "salvation" is not just a short-term relief on the battlefield, but long-term liberty from archists. See the definition of the Hebrew word for "salvation," yasha, which we looked at above.
Jay Wile writes (An Interesting Observation from China | Proslogion):
Recently, I read an article by Dr. Paul Copan entitled, “Jesus-Shaped Cultures.”1 In that article, he makes the case for how faithful Christians have transformed the societies they have served. For example, he discusses the Ethiopian famine that took place in 1984 and 1985. Brian Stewart, a CBC journalist, noted that it was Christians who were on the front lines of the famine, giving aid to the suffering. Their service was such a powerful witness to him that it started him on his journey to becoming a Christian himself.
While Copan’s article is interesting, it led me to a book that I thought was even more interesting. It is entitled Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China And Changing the Global Balance of Power, and it is written by David Aikman, who served as a journalist for Time Magazine from 1971 to 1994. In his role as a Time correspondent, he visited China several times and even lived in China for two years as Time’s bureau chief. He returned to China in 2002 to gather the information he needed to complete his book.
He begins the book in a dramatic way. It is worth quoting at length:2
The eighteen American tourists visiting China weren’t expecting much from the evening’s lecture. They were already exhausted from a day of touring in Beijing. But what the speaker had to say astonished them.
The Victory of Reason Listen Now | Download
“One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world,” he said. “We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next, we focused on your economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West has been so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.”
This was not coming from some ultra-conservative think tank in Orange County, California or from Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. This was a scholar from China’s premier academic research institute, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing in 2002. (emphasis mine)
In his book, Aikman suggests that Christianity will transform China to the point where it won’t even be communist anymore. He suggests that in the next thirty years, nearly one-third of China could be Christian, making it one of the largest Christian nations in the world and a strong ally of the U.S.
2. David Aikman, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China And Changing the Global Balance of Power, pp. 5-6
See also: The Iona Institute | Christianity the reason for West's success, say the Chinese
In asking whether Habakkuk's prophecy has been or is being fulfilled, and whether the knowledge of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea, don't ask those who should admit that they know the Lord; ask the Scriptures whether they ought to admit it. Sometimes they won't, but many times they will. Truth is truth, whether we admit it or not.
Today, the Chinese are "streaming" to Zion (Micah 4:1-2). So are people in Latin America, Africa, and even India, according to Philip Jenkins. Humanity has been flowing to Zion for 2,000 years, but the rate may be accelerating. This phenomenon is not yet on the radar of archists. It will dramatically increase when Christians become widely recognized as a Dispute Resolution Forum. It will exsanguinate the State by doing so.
We have worked hard to create this website, and we're still working on it.
If you feel you have been helped by our work, remember that "the laborer is worthy of his hire" (
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"Polis" is the Greek word behind the English world "political." It is most often translated "city-state." The City in ancient Greece was often an independent State. It was also wholly religious, not "secular" as states today purport to be.
For more on the polis see here. For Biblical grounds to equate "Kingdom" and "Polis" see here.
Because man is created in the Image of God (see Kline above), man is qualified/commanded to build God's Messianic Kingdom on earth.
It is a popular myth that
The Bible says the exact opposite:
For a thorough defense of this contrast, see Jesus and the Law of Moses (Torah). See also Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus.
Can there be a "Good" Archist?
The British historian Lord Acton put it this way:
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.
The exercise of political power is problematic. We should assume that "great men" -- that is, powerful men -- men who wield "the sword," that is, the compulsory force of "the government" -- are morally corrupt. Bad men, not good men. This assumption should be considered confirmed if he increases his own power during his time of "public service."
Nebuchadnezzar's statue (Daniel 2) represents the world before Christ. Before the Prince of Peace was born, the world was dominated by Satan and his minions. Life was violent. The "Preterist" believes that the Messiah bound the Strong Man at the beginning of the Messianic Reign. The Biblical "anarchist" believes that "civil government" has a demonic origin. Our job as Christians is to continue the task of putting to death the old man
Most church-goers believe that empires are good; that they are God-approved, morally legitimate, and socially necessary. You might think that many in Daniel's day and in Christ's day were doubtless confused by the prophecy of the destruction of the greatest empires in the world: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. After all, didn't these great empires provide social order? Wouldn't their destruction lead to "anarchy?" On the other hand, maybe they were smarter than we are. Maybe they suffered under conquest, tribute, forced labor, confiscation of children, random conscription, and other horrors of depraved, child-sacrificing homosexual would-be gods that they rejoiced at the thought. If they read the Bible, they knew that empires were a punishment "ordained" by God against a people who rebelled against God's Commandments. God ordained evils like "the sword." The Bible says all empires are evil. Their history is demonic. Their demonic character was clearly seen at the time of Christ. The Empire represents a refusal to allow God to be Lawgiver, Judge and King.
The claim that the binding of the demonic Strong Man occurred in the past, and the call to abolish archism in the present, are not refuted by a common misunderstanding of Romans 13. That passage is about the demonic "powers." God sovereignly controls all things, but that does not mean that God gives all things His moral seal-of-approval. The State has God's Seal-of-DISapproval. Our website on Romans 13 covers these issues in more detail:
The New Testament was written in the last days of the Old Covenant. The "night" of the Old Age was passing (Hebrews 8:13). We are Now in the Daytime of the New Covenant, and we are now to live in the Day (Romans 13:11-13; Luke 1:78; Malachi 4:2; Revelation 22:5; 1 John 2:8). In fact, as James Jordan points out, the entire Old Covenant economy could be viewed biblically as being the “night” and the New Covenant as the “day.”
The moon, of course, governs the night (Psalm 136:9; Jeremiah 31:35), and in a sense the entire Old Covenant took place at night. With the rising of the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2), the “day” of the Lord is at hand (Malachi 4:1), and in a sense the New Covenant takes place in the daytime. As Genesis 1 says over and over, first evening and then morning. In the New Covenant we are no longer under lunar regulation for festival times (Colossians 2:16–17). In that regard, Christ is our light.2
Following this same idea, Zacharias prophesies at the birth of John the Baptist that he would be “the Sunrise from on high” who shall “shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78–79). The light of Christ creates the everlasting day, so that in the New Jerusalem,
the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it (Rev. 21:23–24; compare Is. 60:19–20).
Christians who live in the Day do not need to kill. God will hold us to the higher standard.
“And [Jesus] came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both [Jews and Gentiles] have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Ephesians 2:17-18).
This is the truly “good news” of the Star of Jacob, the Star of Bethlehem, and the King which it announces.
The American Vision: Why a Star?
- 1 John 2:22
- Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
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In Part One of The Christmas Conspiracy we saw the Biblical evidence for a Christian conspiracy to take over the world. The Architect of this conspiracy is the Triune God of Scripture. Jesus Christ came into the world on the first Christmas to put this Conspiracy into effect. The Machinery of His New World Order has been set up, and now He is raising up co-conspirators to take over the planet. The recruiting of billions of co-conspirators is the present task of His followers. We shall succeed. Part Two of The Christmas Conspiracy proves this guarantee of success from Scripture.
The God of the Bible has predestined The Christmas Conspiracy to succeed. The "Vine & Fig Tree" vision of heaven on earth spoken of by the Prophets will one day be "mainstream," although it is now just a minority.
Again, we look to the Prophet Micah, who has already described the victory of Christ's Kingdom:
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And
Jesus came and spake unto them saying, 'All power is given to me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age'
(Matthew 28:18-20).
Here are some of the more popular "gospels" going around today:
Neo-Platonism is the view that the material is inferior to the spiritual. The body is to be despised, the soul (or spirit, or mind, or heart) is to be our focus. The "good news" of the Neo-Platonist is that we shall soon leave the planet and live forever as disembodied spirits. Until then we can ignore society-wide injustice, ignore the creation, become ascetics and perhaps, like the great Neo-Platonists of old, mutilate and abuse our bodies as a sign of our great self-control. Upbeat "evangelical" neo-platonists will sing about the "joy" they have "down in my heart."
The New York Times does not really tell us which are the best-selling books. Books sold in Christian bookstores or by direct-mail solicitations predicting that Christ will return before 1988 have not been counted by the Times, even if such books have sold more copies than the entire Times top ten list combined. This may be bad news for Hal Lindsey, but it makes for "good news" which is "fit to print" for those who cringe at the "good news" according to Hal: Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth. Millions sold.[3] "Good News"?
Deuteronomy 28 (and the rest of the Old Testament) speaks of God "blessing" those who seek first the Kingdom of God and "cursing" those who reject His Kingdom and Law in search of the "blessing" of the Empire of Man. The "good news" heard in the overwhelming majority of fundamentalist churches today is that no one is obligated to undergo metanoia (radical repentance) according the Standard set forth by the Law and the Prophets. "We're not under law, we're under grace."[4] No need to worry about being a peacemaker, or hungering for justice. The bad news? No "blessing." Except "down in your heart" (see "The Neo-Platonist Gospel").
From two Greek words, "A" (without), and "millennium" (golden age), this eschatological[5] option holds that things get worse and worse until we die or Christ comes back and everybody goes to heaven. (see "Neo-Platonism")
From "pre," (before), and millennium, this view of the Good News holds that Jesus comes again a Second time, before the "millennium" starts. The bad news: before He comes, the Roman Empire is revived, millions are tortured to death by the United Nations, and Russia nukes a third of the Earth into oblivion, beginning with Israel. Christ then returns to set up a top-down hierarchy administered by an army of born-again bureaucrats headquartered in Jerusalem, where He has reinstated Jewish-mandated animal sacrifices. More bad news: In the United States, at least 50 million people follow preachers of this "gospel." (see "Dispensationalism.")
In reaction to the pessimistic and Neo-Platonic "gospels" above, a growing number of Christians are attempting to "have an influence" in their society. They hope to replace secular politicians with Christian politicians. While they want the family and the institutional church to be strengthened, they do not challenge the state-centered paradigm of the Secular Humanist world. They believe that the State, rather than the "free market," is necessary to bring social order, health, harmony, and peace -- all concepts which are part of the Biblical word for "salvation." But the "good news" in the Bible is not that the political machinery of Babylon "will be the habitation of the saints." The "good news" is "Babylon has fallen!" (Revelation 18:2)
Where was "the Gospel" first preached? Early in the book of Acts? The Middle of Matthew? What was the content of this message? What exactly are the "glad tidings"? Galatians 3:8 gives us an answer:
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, "
In thee shall all nations be blessed."
Everything in this verse strikes out at modern-day Evangelicalism. Modern evangelists limit the Word of God to but a few passages or books in the Bible (usually in the New Testament) and are surprised to find the Gospel in the book of Genesis. But it is also the content of this Gospel that is so foreign to most evangelists today. Again, for the overwhelming majority of "christians" in the latter part of the 20th century, "the gospel" is a crippled version of the original: it is the "good news" that although the world is getting worse and worse, I'm going to be "raptured" out of history and out of responsibility, and into eternal self-indulgence.
The Gospel which was preached to Abraham was that "all nations shall be blessed!" This is indeed "Good News!"
It is impossible to understand the Gospel without understanding the Law. In the Law of Moses (that is, the first five books of the Bible, and "The Book of the Covenant" [Ex. 24:7] - the "case laws" - in particular) we have not only promises of the coming Messiah but also concepts which are foundational to the Gospel. Without an understanding of these concepts the Gospel cannot be understood.[6]
According to Galatians 3:8, the Gospel is the promise that "all nations shall be blessed." What is "blessed?" This word is defined in the Law and the rest of the Bible assumes this definition without necessarily repeating it. We must, therefore, study the Law to find out what the Gospel is.
Perhaps the clearest definition of "blessing" is to be found in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy. The entire chapter is devoted to explaining the concept of "blessing" and its opposite, "cursing." Blessing comes upon the obedient, while cursing comes upon the disobedient. The first two verses set the stage for an explication of the word "blessing:"
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
We will see in more detail what exactly God commanded; by the time Deuteronomy 28 was handed down, it was already abundantly clear. The prophets made it clearer. Then Jesus upheld all these commands[7] (Matthew 5:17-20) and the rich, the powerful, usurers, adulterous politicians, religious extortioners, military imperialists, and self-indulgent escapists all clamored for His execution. Something in the Law of God obviously irritated these kinds of people.
The next twelve verses give the details of what it means to be "blessed." These include:
Rather than print the verses here, I will allow you to read them in your own Bible, as you may wish to underline or mark the passage. (You may also wish to compare Leviticus 26.) All of these (very material) "blessings" are offensive to the Neo-Platonist.
The verses that follow (vv. 15-68) give a detailed description of the opposite of "blessing," which is "cursing." Verse 15 serves the same function as verses 1 and 2 did:
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
That so much of the chapter is devoted to setting forth the meaning of cursing rather than blessing is due to the fact that Spirit-less Israel was not predestined to believe the Gospel, would not obey the LORD (as had already been hinted [Deuteronomy 17:14f.] and would shortly be more fully set forth [ch. 32; cf. 31:20-21]).
But the glorious fact about the New Covenant is that "all nations shall be blessed!" Of course, this is just another way of saying that, in sharp contrast to Israel, the heathen nations would be obedient to the LORD, in terms of His Covenant.[8] As Deuteronomy 28 makes very clear, blessings come upon the obedient, while upon the disobedient come cursings. That all nations would indeed[9] be obedient is set forth in the many Gospel promises found in the Old Testament. Let us examine some of them.
To
understand the Old Testament prophets, it is necessary to recall[10] that in "the last days" of the Old Covenant world, Jesus the Messiah inaugurated a New Age, the Age of a Spiritual[11] Kingdom, wherein believers are priests and kings under the Christ, through whom He extends His reign through the power of the Holy Spirit and by the Word. We can begin our survey, as does Galatians 3:8, with Abraham.The Gospel is given to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. "...in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." More specifically, "in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 28:14). The Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 3:16 that Abraham's seed (singular) is Christ; thus in Christ shall all families be blessed; more specifically, in those who are "in Christ" (Galatians 3:7,9,14,28-29; Romans 4:16; 9:8), and for this essay, that means Jesus' "co-conspirators" and others who believe the Biblical Gospel.
Another promise of the successful spread of the Gospel is given in Genesis 49:10:
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between His feet, until Shiloah come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.
"The gathering of the people" was a concept picked up by ancient Empires and attributed to their acts of conquest and captivity.[12] They perished (Matthew 26:52). The Law and the Prophets spoke of this gathering as occurring freely, spontaneously, without tyranny. Only an all-powerful King could guarantee the coercion-free prosperity and spread of His Kingdom. Such dominion was prophesied of Christ by Balaam in Numbers 24:17-19:
There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel.... Out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion.
At the time of Moses, the refusal of the people of Israel to listen to the Lord's prophets became particularly evident. But the LORD promised to raise up a Prophet Who, although human ("made of a woman" [Galatians 4:4; John 1:14]), would have the Power to enable the people to hear. Moses declared,
The LORD thy God shall raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken.
Deuteronomy 18:15
By God's grace and power, people would hear, not reject, this Prophet. Peter, in Acts 3:22, and Stephen, in Acts 7:37, said that Christ was the Prophet spoken of in Deuteronomy 18:15. The Apostle Paul knew that all nations would be gathered unto Him, and knew that Christ was that Prophet Who would be heard. For this reason, when the Jews treated Christ as they did all the other prophets (Matthew 23:37- 38; Matthew 21:43), Paul turned from their Empire-worshiping stubbornness and preached unto the Gentiles of all the other nations, victims of the violence of Pax Romana, knowing that they would gladly receive the Good News of Christ's Kingship (Acts 18:6; 28:28; 13:48).
When the Jews heard that Christ of Nazareth was the Messiah-King promised by the Scripture, they were not at all delighted, for they were hoping for a political king who would militarily deliver them from oppression so that they could begin to oppress their oppressors. But Christ was not a political king, and His power is greater than mere military power. He doesn't just change the external behavior of citizens through coercion or threats of force; in His Kingdom behavior change comes from the heart: by His Holy Spirit, the King changes people's hearts! Although greatly sought after, this is the kind of power modern socialist planners and psycho-political manipulators can only dream of. Thus, when Peter and the Apostles did not hesitate to preach the full-orbed Gospel to the Gentiles, King Jesus poured out His Holy Spirit upon them. Their hearts were opened, and they believed the Gospel (Acts 10:44-48; cf. Acts 16:14). Christ truly is the Prophet Who would be heard.
It should be noted, however, that the Spirit does not act to open hearts to a diluted, statist, neo-platonic "gospel." When our hearts are opened, we hear the Gospel which Jesus preached to the poor (Luke 4:18-19), and lived out in a life of Self-sacrifice. We become Patriarchs, like Abraham.
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Go to Next Installment of The Christmas Conspiracy: The Great Commission vs. the Wimp Commission
Other related resources:
The Biblical Doctrine of Salvation
(1)
"Then comes the end, when He delivers the Kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet." (I Corinthians 15:24-25).(2) The literal meaning of the Greek word for "Gospel" is the "good news."
(3) Lindsey's publisher, Bantam Books, reports that by the end of the "Jesus Generation" only the Bible had sold more copies. Lindsey's book is thus the book for understanding Christendom at the end of the 20th century. (More information on Hal Lindsey's "apocalyptic" best-seller can be obtained by writing to Hal Lindsey's publisher, Bantam Books, Inc., at 666 Fifth Ave., NY, NY, 10103.)
(4) Everybody is "under law," culturally speaking. Our society is either under God's Law, or under Caesar's Law. Or as William Penn put it, "Men must choose to be governed by God, or they condemn themselves to be ruled by tyrants." The rise of "Dispensationalism" has also seen the rise in totalitarianism and mass destruction. Law is an inescapable concept.
(5) "Eschatology" is the Doctrine (Gk., logos) of "final events" (Gk., eschatos).
(6) See Essay Three in this series of essays.
(7) See Essay Three in this series of essays.
(8) Hebrews 8:7-10 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. {8} Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
Ezekiel 36:26-27 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. {27} I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Paul the Pharisee took the Gospel first to the Jews, then the Gentiles.
So they disagreed with each other; and as they were leaving, Paul made one further statement: "The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah, {26} 'Go to this people and say, You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. {27} For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn-- and I would heal them.' {28} Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles [Gk.: ethnos]; they will listen."
(Acts 28:25-28)
Paul agreed with the indictment Christ leveled against the Jewish leaders:
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither permit ye them that are entering to go in. (Matthew 23:13)
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation [Gk.: ethnos] bringing forth the fruits thereof. (Matthew 21:43)
Paul believed the claims of Christ, that He had bound Satan.
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, {3} And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations [Gk.: ethnos] no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
(Revelation 20:2-3)
(9) (as well as in thought and word!)
(10) from your reading of Essay One.
(11) As in "Holy Spirit," not "Neo-Platonism."
(12) See our paper, "Emperors and Shepherds: Statist Rivals to the Christian Messiah."
For Further Reading: The Great Commission vs. the Wimp Commission
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