Continuation of "What dispensation???"
Hello FlimFlamboyant:
I don't think you should change any of your beliefs, just give me evidence which will change mine...LOL
The point I am trying to make, and to discuss, is that in reading scripture for the continuous story it contains, rather than to confirm a preconceived dogma based on single verses, I discovered a story that I had not been taught in sunday school. Since scripture was not written in verses, but was written in story form, I concluded that I may have hit on something important. I have tentatively concluded that God's plan to bring the blessing of everlasting peace to all the peoples of the world, was based on choosing a mixed assembly of people, which anyone could belong to by the free will committment to keeping the laws that God had given to the assembly. God would make this lawful assembly into a great nation, to be an example to all the other nations of the world, of how great a nation can become if it practices love for God, and love for one another, thus blessing all the nations of the world by showing them the formula for world peace.
Everything was going according to plan until the assembly(now a great kingdom) became divided against it'self, split into two warring enemy nations, neither of which qualified as that great nation which practiced love for God, and love for one another. "If you can't love your brother whom you have seen...etc, etc, etc."
The two warring enemy nations had rejected the very premise which had made Israel God's chosen people, and were now on a downward spiral towards destruction, unless the were to repent, and become that one chosen nation again. God will always forgive repented sin.
The two warring, enemy nations, not being God's chosen nation, and not having God on their side, were both destroyed by their enemies without repenting/reuniting.
God's covenant with Israel is everlasting, so it still exists, even though God's chosen nation, Israel, does not exist.
There had been individuals within both warring enemy nations, who kept the chosen kingdom alive in their hearts and minds, and together they comprised "Israel in spirit(spiritual Israel)".
When a prophet told them, while they were captive in Babylonia, that a man was coming who would resurrect the kingdom of his father David, those who had the spirit of the kingdom, became the body of people who watched, waited, and prepared, for the coming messiah(the body of Christ).
When the captivity ended, and Jews spread out to every nation in the world, the Jews with the most spirit of the kingdom, went to live in Persian ruled Judea, where they were graciously allowed to rebuild the temple, and live by their customs, just as if they owned the country.
As time passed, interest in making war to resurrect the kingdom, waned among all but the most zealous, so all but the sect called "the Zealots", backslid from the goal of the original "messianic" Jews, and they became the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
The Zealot movement was relatively small and ineffective in their rebellion against Rome, so John the baptist and Jesus came to Judea, proclaiming the same good news of the kingdom that was first proclaimed by prophets in 6th century BC Babylonia. They were reviving the kingdom spirit among the backslidden Jews, to increase the size of the Zealot body, in preparation for the Christ to lead it to kingdom resurrection.
Jesus selected 12 understudies from the very anti-Roman province of Galilee, taught them the good news of the kingdom, and commissioned them as apostles, to go into all the world and preach the gospel of the kingdom to every person.
The point is, that Jesus and the apostles were converting nominal Jews, and gentiles, into "true" Jews(Paul's term), and that apostolic Christianity, was simply a revival of 6th century BC messianic(true) Judaism...a movement to prepare for the coming of the messiah who would lead them to re-possession of the land between the Euphrates and the Nile, thus resurrecting covenant Israel.
The reason that the messiah has not come and resurrected the kingdom yet, is because the body of Christ is not yet large enough a force to take and hold the promised land.
It is currently my tentative opinion, that this is the true story of Christianity. The radical departure from the true story, began with false naming of two, obviously un-chosen, warring enemy nations, "The divided kingdom" of Israel, and the error was later compounded by official Roman interference, when it recreated Christianity in an image which was not based on overthrowing Rome.
Pretty unorthodox I must agree, but it appears to be the story of continuity which runs through scripture, if one can get past defining the story with conveniently worded single verses.
What do you think?
PS-The definitive new covenant description is found in Jeremiah 31:31-34, and a careful examination of that description suggests that the new covenant is entirely comprised of God graciously writing His laws on the hearts of resurrected Israel, so that it will forever keep God's laws, by nature, thus forever fulfilling the everlasting(old) covenant.
Last edited by Provoker; January 29th 2006 at 01:44 PM.
Only when a word can be found in a letter, and a sentence can be found in a word, will the bible be understood in verses.
Defend or retract!!!
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