Welcome to Thus Say the Prophets!
The Revelation of Y'shua the Anointed:
A Study into the Noahide Nazarene Way
By Ben Ruach ha Kodesh (John of AllFaith) � 9.18.09 (3.15.08)
Chapter Three, Part 3
Go to the index page for: The Revelation of Y'shua the Anointed
The Church of the Laodiceans:
1914 CE - Present: Following the onset of World War One -- "The Great War to End All Wars" -- everything changed. Faith in God and observance of religious principles as matters of personal devotion and piety began to wane abruptly into the hedonism of 1920's.
The Book of Job records the ongoing struggle that forms the heart of human existence: Would the world choose or reject God given the choice.
Historically most people in the world accepted God's sovereignty according to the Light they had been granted. As the Master said, the One God has many sheep of various folds (John 10:16), but now that was changing. Even in India, the most religious country on Earth, Atheism is dangerously on the rise and threatening to destroy Bharata Varsa. Today most Jews say they are not convinced that HaShem exists and in countless Nicean Christian Churches we hear similar doubts.
Matthew 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
In the aftermath of the War it was clear that the world had made its decision. The people of Earth would embrace Secular Humanism and abandon any meaningful faith in God. Throughout the West and in much of the world faith in God has become tantamount to mindless superstition! And yet humans have a psychological need to believe! To have faith in something larger than themselves! And so today as we rush to our destruction like moths to the flame the fastest growing religion on earth is the one that holds, as a fundamental dogma, the genocide of God's people! Islam is now the world's largest single religion (when Catholicism and Protestantism are considered separately) and by far the fastest growing.
Self proclaimed intellectuals and the under-educated as well -- who didn't begin to grasp the philosophical significance of Nietzsche's statement -- began openly debating and denying even the very existence of God.
God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? -- Friedrich Nietzsche
While most people still claimed to believe in God as the twentieth century drew to close it was clear that 'the faith of the many has grown cold'. As we move ever closer to the end of the Church Age Y'shua the Anointed's warning to the Laodecian Church of the Last Days becomes both more relevant and more ignored.
Revelation 3:
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Y'shua the Anointed, who is revealing these things through his disciple John, says that due to the rampant lack of faith and hypocrisy within this final Church period God will vomit these Christians and their hierarchical structures from His mouth! What a powerful, all-consuming condemnation this is!
While there remains within the Laodicean Church today sincere Believers the Church itself is even now being rejected by God and Master Y'shua! Soon the call will echo forth:
Rev. 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
But that time is not yet.
The Apostle and Prophet Paul shares this same dire information this way. It is worth taking a few moments to understand this important message!
Romans 11
1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew....
First understand that the Jews remain, as they have been since the days of Abraham, the Chosen People of HaShem. Were this not so, Paul argues, then our reliance on Y'shua the Anointed would have no basis!
16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Had HaShem rejected the "root of the Tree" then we "branches" would have no standing with God! Nicean Christians betray Israel at their peril!
In the following important section Paul will be referencing the coming Kingdom of HaShem using the analogy of Israel as the Tree of God (referencing one of Daniel's prophecies). This analogy has a long and honored biblical basis. We can not understand the role of the Way (or the Church) without understanding this information. So, take a break if you need to, grab something to drink, then come back and read this carefully. It is absolutely essential:
17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.
20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.
24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
"...Until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in."
We'll look into this in more detail below, but first let's finish reading this section.
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Again, "...Until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in."
This "fulness of the Gentiles" is that period of time referenced by Master Y'shua this way:
Luke 21:24 And they [the Jews] shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations [i.e. the Diaspora]: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
"The Times of the Gentiles" ends as the Laodicean Church is vomited out of God's mouth and the Jews embrace their destiny as a nation of kings and priests. When they do, Moshiach (Messiah) will come and establish the Kingdom of HaShem as promised and His Will "will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
As the Laodecian Church is vomited out or as these branches of the Tree are severed and cast into the fire, the Papacy and her denominational daughters will become Babylon the Great as we will discuss later in this study God willing.
There is a key understanding here that we don't to want to miss:
Since its inception the Roman Papacy and most Christian denominations have pointed to Israel's short comings, citing these as the reason God turned to the Gentiles. In the Seven Churches however we see the absolutely hypocrisy and fallacy of this claim!
Yes, it is true, most Jews allowed the Oral Torah to move them towards legalism and away from reliance on the living God (as Master Y'shua laments in the Gospels) and yes, at times they were led astray by other gods... but in a mere 300 years the Way allowed itself to be co-opted by a universal Pagan religious system! It allowed its most cherished doctrines and beliefs to be replaced! The resulting Christian Church adopted every one of its holidays from the Pagan religions, it left the biblical God and His Sabbath and embraced a parody of the Roman Sun god Sol Invictus and adopted his day of worship, Sun Day.
Please don't misunderstand me here. God looks at the heart and accepts all sincere worship regardless of the day etc. However it is also vital to understand that unlike the Jews who were never abandoned by God, the Church is even now on the verge of being vomited out of His Mouth in part because of its Nicolaitane doctrines, its hypocrisy and its apathy!
Where then is the justification for finger pointing?
The Master addressed this in his dealing with the woman caught in the act of adultery.
John 8:1 Y'shua went unto the mount of Olives.
2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Y'shua stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Y'shua was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Y'shua had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Y'shua said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Like this woman the Wife of HaShem has sinned and much of the Nicean Church is standing around ready to stone her! But what does the Master say: Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
We know that all have sinned and fallen short of God's requirements (Romans 3:23). Like this woman ALL deserve to be stoned according to the righteousness of the Law. However Paul adds this:
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
"...Not of works, lest any man should boast."
GOD alone is worthy and throughout the Times of the Gentiles He has proven conclusively that neither the Jews nor the Noahides deserve His Grace!
But He bestows it anyway!
Out of LOVE.
According to Master Y'shua and his disciples it is true that the Jewish people wavered in their service to HaShem. Yes. This is part of what Romans 11 is discussing above. However Paul also clearly explains that this failure was foreknown by God and was used by HaShem to show His mercy on all people!
The Seven Christian Church periods have absolutely confirmed the words of Paul:
Romans 3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
I realize this a long reading but I hope you have taken the time to go through it carefully and understand what it is saying.
Through the entire span of prophecy we return where we began: With God's relationship with His Chosen People and His intention to use them to establish His Kingdom on Earth.
Genesis 12:1 Now HaShem 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 show 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.
Material life exists to provide us the ground on which to learn and grow in our relationship with the One God. It is only by the Grace of the One that we are free and fulfilled.
And so in the near future as the Nicean Church embraces the Antichrist, as the flames of Armageddon are sparked and fanned...
Remember what Y'shua the Anointed says to us all!
Material life exists to provide us the ground on which to learn and grow in our relationship with the One God. It is only by the Grace of the One that we are free and fulfilled.
And so in the near future as the Nicean Church embraces the Antichrist, as the flames of Armageddon are sparked and fanned...
Remember what Y'shua the Anointed says to us all!
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock:
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in and we will have fellowship"
This study of the Seven Churches is the introduction for everything that comes next.
The Apostle John wrote this Revelation of Y'shua the Anointed somewhere around 95 CE. At the time he was a very old man who had witnessed a great many things. As we conclude chapter three his prophecy is only beginning. I hope you will continue reading and sharing your thoughts.
Maranatha!
Having Done All You Can To Stand
STAND
Here ends chapter three.
