JERUSALEM FUTURE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not! BEHOLD YOUR HOUSE IS LEFT UNTO YOU DESOLATE.”
Such was Christ’s lamentation for the city and inhabitants of Jerusalem.
The Lord Jesus Christ spoke these words just prior to his Olivet prophecy, which prophesied the final end for Jerusalem and its inhabitants, as divine punishment for rejecting and crucifying the only beloved son of God.
Luke 21:20‑24
“20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter there into. 22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
Forty years after these words were spoken and Christ had been crucified, these words commenced to have their fulfilment.
A great national disaster was to fall upon the Jewish people.
The armies of Rome invaded Judea and destroyed the Jewish state.
In A.D.70 in one of the most terrible sieges ever endured by a city, a Holocaust of horror that has rarely been exceeded in world history, Jerusalem was besieged for more than 3 yrs during which time its inhabitants were reduced to cannibalism.
Finally with its great walls breached, and its buildings destroyed, the Roman soldiers, incensed with rage at the long and costly siege, plundered the city, massacring the remaining survivors.
The Temple of God in which the Lord Jesus Christ himself had worshipped was put to the flame, and then pulled down stone by stone, just as Christ had predicted.
Luke 21:5‑6
“5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, 6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Whilst Jerusalem now lay in ruins, her end wasn’t yet complete.
Later in A.D.136 the remaining Jews in the land again revolted against Rome and the armies of Rome were again dispatched.
Once more they attacked and destroyed the city at the command of the Emperor Hadrian.
This time with the Victory once more there’s, the Romans ploughed Jerusalem as if it was a field thinking that this would finally destroy this city they had grown to hate.
The Jews were banned from its precincts and its name was changed to `Aelia Cpitolina’. (the capital of Hadrian)
In so doing again the Romans fulfilled the prophecy of Micah spoken some 700yrs before.
Micah 3:12
“12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, And Jerusalem shall become heaps, And the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.”
Such was the seemingly tragic end of Jerusalem in A.D.136.
It was also the end of Israel as a nation, as they were scattered to the four corners of the Roman Empire.
Yet Jerusalem and the people of Israel have somehow still survived to our day.
Well we might wonder at this?
Other great cities and even nations have ceased to exist long ago without anything like such a determined effort to see them disappear.
Babylon once one of the wonders of the world, and Tyre are but two examples.
But it isn’t mere chance that this has happened.
Yes, all this was too was foretold by God through His prophets thousands of years before.
The Bible reveals that God has a special purpose for the nation of Israel and Jerusalem, which will effort all mankind.
ABRAHAM ‑ the father of Israel
Genesis 12:1‑4
“Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.”
Genesis 13:14‑17
“14 And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.”
From this we learn that Abraham, a man that had complete faith in the God he worshipped, was promised a particular portion of land for an everlasting possession.
Not only was the promise to Abraham, but to his seed also.
We see also that ultimately all families, or nations would be blest in Abraham, even down to our day.
We learn from Genesis 15 that this land of promise was in fact the area of modern day Israel, who in 1948 were once again re‑established as a nation in their land after nearly 2000yrs of exile.
As time went on Abraham, came to appreciate that this great promise was to be fulfilled after his death, necessitated his resurrection.
Some years after his death, his descendants, now numbering 70, were driven into the land of Egypt by famine and there they remained for 400yrs.
When they left under the leadership of Moses, they were a Nation of 600,000 men besides women and children.
As descendants of Abraham they had been greatly blessed by God and they left Egypt not only as a great company of people, but with great substance as well.
Moses led this great company of people into the wilderness of Sinai.
It was here that they were given the Law of God teaching them obedience and righteousness, two essential ingredients of they were to worship God acceptably.
To this all the people agreed to obey.
Exodus 24:3 & 7‑8
“3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.”
“7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. 8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.”
(In Deuteronomy 11:18‑19 we read that the “Word of God to be as frontlets between their eyes)
Upon their willingness to serve and obey the God of their faithful Father Abraham, God declared this people to be a special people unto Him.
Deuteronomy 7:6
“6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”
From Isaiah we learn that they were to be God’s witnesses to the rest of the world.
They were to be an example to all those who from the families of nations of the earth, would seek to worship God acceptably and so receive of the reward laid up in the promise to Abraham.
But as a special people to whom much was promised much was also expected by God in their obedience to His Law.
As an example to others He could not let them go unpunished for their disobedience.
Moses in one of his final speeches to the people, placed before them the many blessings that would be theirs if they obeyed.
And the punishment that would come upon them if they were disobedient.
Deuteronomy 28:1‑2 & 15, 64‑68
“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: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.”
“15 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:”
“64 And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. 65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: 66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: 67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. 68 And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.”
From the wilderness of Sinai, God’s immediate purpose with this people now, was to bring them into the land promised to Abraham their Father.
Yet before this was to happen they proved disobedient to God, and as punishment they were made to spend 40yrs in this wilderness, during which time an entire generation perished because of their lack of faith.
Finally a nation now known as Israel after one of their forefathers the grandson of Abraham, Jacob who’s name was changed to Israel, (i.e. Prince with God denoting their favored position before God) with their obedience and faith now acceptable to God, they were ready to enter the land of promise.
Deuteronomy 11:8‑12
“8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; 9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: 11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: 12 A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.”
This was a land much favored by the God of Abraham.
Deuteronomy 12:5 & 11
“5 But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:”
“11 Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord:”
A special place, where Israel would later come as a united and faithful people, to worship their God.
1 Kings 9:3
“3 And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.”
Psalm 132:13‑14
“13 For the Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for his habitation.
14 This is my rest for ever: Here will I dwell; for I have desired it.”
And so from this time on Jerusalem played a special role in the true worship and purpose of God.
When Israel was constituted a monarchy, Jerusalem became the capital of Israel, and there David, Israel’s most faithful and illustrious King made his throne by Divine decree.
However the history of Israel apart from the reign of David is a sad, yet true portrayal of human nature.
They were quick to forget their God and all that He had done for them.
They started to do that which was right in their own eyes and disobeyed the law of God.
God sent His prophets unto the people, but they wouldn’t listen, instead they stoned and persecuted the men of God.
Finally on many occasions God was left with no other option but to punish His people.
This He did by way of famine and subjugation by the surrounding nations.
When Israel obeyed God as they did under the reign of David they prospered and were blessed according to the promise to Abraham, but when disobedient, God allowed the surrounding nations to rise up against Israel and defeat her in battle, bringing hardship on His people.
Under David though the nation reached its pinnacle of power and Glory and to David a further great promise was made.
2 Samuel 7:12‑16
“12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: 15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. 16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.”
David was promised that after his death, a descendant of his would be established over Israel on his throne FOREVER.
That promised descendant is the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets and New Testament writers confirm.
Luke 1:30‑33 (and compare Isaiah 9:6‑7)
“30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 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.”
We see then that the basic doctrine of the promises to Abraham and now to David is that of resurrection, just as Christ has been raised from the dead and now sits on the right hand of God His Father.
The promises also teach that for Abraham to possess the land of Israel forever and for Christ to reign before David forever, they must be given immortality, and so too will those who share in the promises.
Resurrection and Immortality then is the underlying message of hope extended to mortal man in these promises.
However the people of Israel failed to appreciate this great hope.
After the time of David, they declined through a succession of evil Kings, until they were finally overthrown by the Babylonians and the inhabitants of Jerusalem were carried off into captivity.
Although a remnant were left in the land and a partial restoration of Jerusalem took place some years later, no King has since sat on the throne of David, since Zedekiah, who reigned when the Babylonians invaded.
Ezekiel 21:25‑27
“25 And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, 26 Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. 27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”
The “one who’s right it is” is of course the Lord Jesus Christ.
Since the time of Zedekiah Jerusalem has truly been “Overturned, Overturned, Overturned.”
After the Babylonians, came the Persians, Greeks and then the Romans as we have already seen, and the people of Israel were finally scattered so it seemed for good to the four corners of the Roman Empire.
This was in direct fulfilment of Deuteronomy 28.
Yet despite this God declared that His people would still be preserved.
Jeremiah 30:10‑11
“10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; Neither be dismayed, O Israel: For, lo, I will save thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity; And Jacob shall return, And shall be in rest, and be quiet, And none shall make him afraid.
11 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, Yet will I not make a full end of thee: But I will correct thee in measure, And will not leave thee altogether unpunished.”
So it was yet again in fulfilment of Bible prophecy that Israel was regathered and became a nation once more in 1948.
Ezekiel 37:21
“21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:”
It was no surprise then to Bible students to see Israel become a nation once more with Jerusalem made its capital in 1967 after the 6 day war in which Israel defeated the Arab nations against incredible odds.
Yet what we see today, is not the full and permanent restoration of Israel.
Ezekiel, 2500 yrs ago predicted that Russia would join the list of those who have invaded the land of Israel and taken the City of Jerusalem.
Today we are witnessing the fulfilment of Bible prophecy, as the nations align themselves in readiness for this great Battle known in Biblical terms as the Battle of Armageddon.
Bible prophecy is quite clear that Jerusalem will yet again be the centre point of this great Battle, of the superpowers.
Only this conflict of man, will be his last!
The Almighty God of Heaven and Earth who created all things with a special purpose in mind, will send His Son the Lord Jesus Christ to intervene in this otherwise globally destructive battle.
He will destroy the armies and the technologically advanced war machines that the nations of this world have accumulated.
Zechariah 12:1‑3, vs 8‑9
“1 The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, Which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, And formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, When they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, Though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.”
“8 In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; And he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; And the house of David shall be as God, As the angel of the Lord before them.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, That I will seek to destroy all the nations That come against Jerusalem. “
Zechariah 14:1‑3
1 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, And thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; And the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and ethe women ravished; And half of the city shall go forth into captivity, And the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, As when he fought in the day of battle.”
This great Battle is depicted in Ezekiel 38:1‑6, vs 11‑12, vs 15, vs 18‑23
“And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: 6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.”
“11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, 12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.”
“15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: 16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.”
“18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. 19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; 20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. 21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. 22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.”
Ezekiel 39:11‑12
“11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamon-gog. 12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.”
With the great military powers of this world destroyed, Christ the promised seed of David shall establish God’s throne once more in Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 3:17
“17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.”
Isaiah 2:2‑4
“2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, That the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; And he will teach us of his ways, And we will walk in his paths: For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, And shall rebuke many people: And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruninghooks: Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more.”
Like the House of God in the days of Solomon, once more the House of God for all nations shall be established in Jerusalem, or Mt Zion as it was known in King David’s time.
Zechariah 14:4
“4 And his (Christ’s) feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, Which is before Jerusalem on the east, And the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, And there shall be a very great valley; And half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, And half of it toward the south.”
In this great plain the temple of Ezekiel’s prophecy shall be built.
A BEAUTIFULL EDIFICE never before seen by man.
It shall be ONE MILE SQUARE and all nations shall come unto it to worship the one and true God of heaven and earth our creator.
Zechariah 14:16‑19
“16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations Which came against Jerusalem Shall even go up from year to year To worship the King, the Lord of hosts, And to keep the feast of tabernacles.
17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up Of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem To worship the King, the Lord of hosts, Even upon them shall be no rain.
18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; There shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen That come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, And the punishment of all nations That come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.”
With the promises to Abraham and David fulfilled and all those who have loved and feared God now raised from the dead and clothed with immortality, the long promised Kingdom of God on earth will be a reality.
Instead of coming to Jerusalem to do battle, all nations will come to learn of God and to keep the feast of tabernacles , of the feast of remembrance, as all people will have cause to remember and consider all that God has done for them.
Jerusalem then will be the Metropolis of the whole earth.
Psalm 48:1‑2 & vs 12‑14
“1 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, On the sides of the north, the city of the great King.”
“12 Walk about Zion (Jerusalem), and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
13 Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; That ye may tell it to the generation following.
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death.”
Despite her tragic past, Jerusalem or Mt Zion is destined to become the Glory of the whole earth.
In fact the word Zion itself is interesting as the Hebrew here carries the sense of a : `permanent guiding Pillar or monument’.
This is the effect that Zion will have on all nations in the Kingdom of God.
Psalm 125:1‑2
“1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, Which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, So the Lord is round about his people From henceforth even for ever.”
As Isaiah has told us, all nations and people will go up to Zion to the house of God to learn of His ways and His law.
Zion shall be a guiding pillar to all nations and people.
From here Christ shall reign over the inhabitants of the earth with divine justice and peace for all.
This is the great message of hope contained in the Bible, a hope extended to all mankind if they will but believe and obey the call of the gospel.
Well how can we then, be apart of this great hope?
How can we be given immortality and granted citizenship in the Kingdom of God on earth?
You will recall that this hope was first preached to Abraham in the form of a promise.
This said Paul was the Gospel of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God preached beforehand to Abraham.
Galatians 3:6‑8
“6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 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.”
From this we learn that we must first have FAITH, like that of Abraham.
We must have FAITH, believing that the God of Abraham alone is the True God and creator of all and that He will do all that He has promised and purposed to do since creation.
In doing this we will please God and be found acceptable to Him as Abraham was.
Galatians 3:16
“16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”
Here Paul tells us that whilst the seed of Abraham is ultimately to be multitudinous it is in the first instance singular.
The seed is the Lord Jesus Christ and it is mainly through Christ that this great hope has been made possible for all, even for Abraham.
Galatians 3:27‑29
“27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Christ alone has overcome sin in the flesh and has so opened up a path for those who faithfully and obediently follow it to similarly overcome death and to receive immortality.
Our first act of obedience to the call of the Gospel is to be baptised into Christ.
Baptism entails complete immersion in water, and speaks symbolically of the death and resurrection of Christ.
In effect in baptism we publicly declare our willingness to follow Christ’s example and crucify the old man of the flesh, and to start as a new man to follow the ways of God in obedience to His written WORD THE BIBLE.
Even though there will be times when we will fail, our merciful God has made provision in His only begotton son for us to be forgiven.
So then by being baptised into Christ we can become part of the multitudinous seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise.
Like Abraham we will possess the land forever, free of sin and death.
What a joyous prospect this is, one that should truly motivate us all to good works before God.
Truly an “Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love and serve HIM.”
These were the words of the Apostle Paul concerning the Kingdom of God.
Today is our day of opportunity, let us not ignore the significance of the times in which we live, for Christ’s return in indeed nigh at hand.
Our time to make use of this opportunity is fast running out.
We must therefore start to “bring forth works that are worthy for salvation”.
Israel is God’s Witness to the World
