With
the comments I am writing
this time I intend to
return to what our
responsibilities as
priests and kings will be
in the soon-coming new
world that will be a new
beginning for all of us as
God’s glorified saints
and for the survivors of
the nations of Israel.
It
will indeed be a new
beginning for all of us in
those beginning years of
the millennium under the
rule and guidance of our
Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ who will have
returned to this earth and
began His rulership over
Israel and the Gentile
nations.
Kings
and Priests —
As
I have written in previous
writings on this coming
new world Scripture makes
plain for the over-comers
of this present age, we
have been promised by
Jesus Christ that our
responsibilities in His
new world will be
fulfilling the offices of
kings and priests
(Revelation 5:10;20:4;
Daniel 7:22.27).
The
role of a priest will be
essential for all human
beings will need to be
taught the opposite of
what this present age
teaches, learning to live
by the laws of God, and no
longer by human reason.
The
role of a king will also
be very necessary for its
function will be to
govern. To make sure
what is taught as the way
of God will be obeyed.
Those who obey will be
blessed all of their
physical lives, and by
being faithful to those
teachings while having an
abiding relationship with
Jesus Christ, will then
make possible their being
born again into the God
Family.
Those
who refuse will then be
judged by Jesus Christ and
their lives will end in
the 2nd death. They
then will be burned in the
Valley of Hinnom just
outside the city of
Jerusalem (Psalm 101:7-8;
Luke 19:27).
God’s
laws make known A WAY OF
LIFE when obeyed will not
only bring abundant
blessings, but makes
possible an abiding
relationship when there is
repentance for having
transgressed them and
accepting Jesus Christ as
their personal Savior and
a Father and son and
daughter relationship with
God our Father.
Notice
this way of life as
revealed in the writings
of a book that was
intended for Israel of
today:
“Therefore
I made them (Israel) go
out of the land of Egypt
and brought them into the
wilderness [to be taught
before giving them the
land of milk and honey].
And I gave them My
statutes and made known to
them (margin) My
judgments, which if a man
does, HE SHALL LIVE BY
THEM” (Ezekiel 20:10-11)
This
coming new world will
introduce to all human
beings a NEW WAY OF LIFE!
It will become A WAY OF
LIFE for each and everyone
who desires it.
Like
Israel of old who were
taught the commandments
statutes and judgments of
God in the wilderness
before entering into the
Promised Land, so we as
God’s people are being
taught the same in the
wilderness of this present
evil age before we will be
graced by God to enter
God’s new world.
To
aid our understanding in
the teaching we are to
learn in this life, and
come to be absorbed within
us by living it,
please note the quotes
below from God’s late
apostle:
MYSTERY
OF THE AGES, Page 228,
Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong
“...
Once again, let it be
emphasized that the
purpose of the Church is
not merely to give
salvation to those called
into the Church is not
merely to give salvation
to those called into the
Church, but to teach and
train those predestined
and called into the Church
as instruments God shall
use in bringing the world
to salvation.
“
Church a ‘Teachers’
College – Let us
illustrate by an analogy.
Many states could not
start or conduct schools
until they had first
trained teachers for those
schools. The Church may be
called God’s teachers’
college to prepare rulers
and teachers for the
kingdom of God when God
does offer redemption and
eternal life to the world
as a whole.
“The
CHURCH was planned to be
God’s instrumentality
for calling predestined
human beings out of this
world to be trained for
positions of leadership in
the world tomorrow, when
they shall teach and train
others. ...”
Living
God’s Laws —
Mr Armstrong makes very
clear the logic by example
the importance of our
being schooled and living
it now in order that we
might be able to teach and
rule in His new world. In
so doing we come to know
on a personal basis the
blessings that come from
living God’s way of
life.
We
then will be able to speak
to the students of that
world from our own
personal experience, as
well as from Scriptural
teachings that God way of
life really works!
With
this as background let us
now consider laws of God
to which we give little
thought and practice yet
will be taught and
enforced by God’s
glorified saints in His
new world.
Statutes
to Live By —
Now
we come to other statutes
that affect our every day
life in addition to the
ones we already know and
practice. Laws that
continue to make known we
are to live our lives as a
people who appear to all
others as a peculiar
people, but a special
treasure to God (Matthew
5:13-16; Exodus 19:5-6;
Deuteronomy 28:1-4).
Preserving
The Purity of the Creation
—
To
give us an overview of
God’s intention that we
keep in remembrance the
Creator and the physical
creation let us also take
note of what Ezekiel wrote
about the Sabbaths:
“Moreover
I also gave them (Israel)
My Sabbaths, TO BE A SIGN
between them and Me, that
they MAY KNOW that I am
the LORD who sanctifies
them (sets them apart as
His chosen people). ... I
am the LORD your God:
‘Walk in My statutes,
keep My judgments, and do
them; hallow My Sabbaths,
and they will be A SIGN
between Me and you, THAT
YOU MAY KNOW that I am the
LORD your God’”
(Ezekiel 20:12, 19-20).
Please
note the following comment
from a Jewish commentary
regarding the Sabbath Day:
Soncino
Commentary: “The Sabbath
was more than a Day of
rest. It’s
observation was a
constantly recurring
acknowledgment of God as
the Creator of the
universe. It would
be an open denial of God
to desecrate the
Sabbath.”
Just
as the Sabbaths of God
were designed to keep us
in weekly and annual
remembrance of our Creator
God, so also are the
statutes and judgments so
designed to teach mankind
this continued reminder as
well.
God’s
Saints To Be Different —
We
should know from
experience that after
having had the blessing of
being members in God’s
Church for whatever time
does make us different
from all those who do not
obey them. Obeying these
laws does set us apart as
His people from the people
of the world..
Because
of this, there also comes
to be a problem with some
for by obeying them one
comes to be very obvious
and human nature is such
that no one wants to
appear to be different
than others. This
often leads to ignoring
any laws that we feel are
not that important to
obey. This is an
_expression of human
nature.
It
is sad and a denial of God
when such people turn
their backs on any of His
holy and righteous laws
for in so doing they
deprive themselves of
blessings God desires that
all of mankind will come
to have in their everyday
lives.
To
look at some of the
statutes and judgments of
God as unimportant and not
really necessary for us to
obey them falls into that
category.
With
this in mind it would be
well for us to remember
what Jesus Christ said to
His disciples about the
importance of all of His
laws – even those we
consider as being
unimportant:
“Do
not think that I came to
destroy the law and the
prophets (the laws taught
be them as well as the
prophecies). I did
not come to destroy but to
fulfill. For
assuredly, I say to you,
one jot or one tittle will
by no means pass from the
law till all is fulfilled
(until everyone is obeying
them) ... “ (Matthew
5:17-20).
Thinking
about what Jesus Christ
makes known in these
Scriptures, it does not
make sense that God would
make known any law to His
people that would not
serve a good purpose and
add to the fulfillment of
happiness for those
obeying them.
AN
ADDED NOTE: It is
true that God also gave
sacrificial laws and
rituals that served a good
purpose for they pointed
to the Messiah who would
fulfill what those laws
were designed to teach to
Israel. However
after the Messiah did come
to this earth they were no
longer necessary to be
obeyed (Daniel 9:27;
Hebrews 9:28; 10:12;
Isaiah 52; 53).
True
Christians did cease to
offer sacrifices after 31
A. D. for they came to
realize their usefulness
had come to an end.
However they will once
again be re-instituted in
the millennium to serve a
purpose that will be
somewhat different than
what they were to portray
up to the crucifixion of
Jesus Christ.
Comparison
to Others —
Then
there is the tendency to
compare ourselves with
others. Since we as
God’s people do not see
others obeying these
little known laws, we then
have the tendency to feel
they are not all that
important so we try and
dismiss them from our
minds even though we
sometimes read in the Holy
Bible God’s command to
obey them.
With
all of this in mind, let
us now consider some of
the little known and very
little taught statutes and
judgments of God.
Leviticus
19 and Deuteronomy 22 —
In
these two chapters are
found some very important
and meaningful laws that
teach practical everyday
lessons that are designed
to teach us important
lessons that we normally
should know by just
analyzing what we see so
often in life, and often
in our own selves; and the
end result of disobeying
them.
As
for the importance of
being knowledgeable and
obeying them in our day
and age, consider what God
says after having had
Moses make them known to
Israel:
“Therefore
you shall observe ALL My
statutes and ALL My
Judgments, and PERFORM
them” (Leviticus
19:37).
The
statutes and judgments
that are commanded here
were to remain with
God’s chosen people all
through human life. This
can easily be seen by
moving forward to the
end-time in which God
would send His prophet,
the Elijah to come, to
restore these laws of God
given through His prophet,
Moses:
“REMEMBER
the law of Moses, My
servant (10 commandments),
which I commanded him in
Horeb for all Israel, with
the statutes and the
judgments”
(Malachi 4:4).
Diversity
and Purity of the Creation
—
The
laws found here, and
elsewhere, are based on
the fact that God has made
DISTINCTIONS in the
natural world which it is
wrong for man to
obliterate by
inter-mixing.
In
these two chapters we will
focus on the diversity and
purity of God’s creation
that man in his reasoning
teaches the opposite yet
will often practice in
some ways where he feels
it is to his advantage.
If
one will stop and really
think about these laws it
becomes easy to see they
make a lot of sense. God
created diversity in this
world because He loves and
enjoys seeing the
differences.
Consider the example of
the awesome beauty and
glory of the many
varieties of flowers –
each one with it’s own
unique design, with
varying colors of awesome
beauty and exquisite
fragrances from each one.
With
this in mind also consider
that God created humankind
with the wonderful
blessing of eyes that can
view these very beautiful
flowers as well as all of
His creation in full
color. He could have
created us to see only
black and white, but He
didn’t!
No
one cares to see clones or
monotony and neither does
God or we would not see
the diversity He brought
into existence
through creation, or so
designed within the
original kinds room for
varieties to come into
existence from them,
including the major three
races of humankind from
the womb of mother Eve
(Genesis 1; 4:1-2).
This
was God’s desire for we
can see the three major
races survived the Flood
during the time of Noah.
A
QUOTE FROM MR. ARMSTRONG:
“Japheth and Ham, both
white, had inter-married.
Japheth married a yellow
woman, and Ham married a
black woman. This
preserved the strains,
yellow and black, through
the Flood into the present
world through their wives.
Both Shem and Noah were
white.” .
After
God had finished His
creation, which included
the varieties that would
come into existence
from and within the KINDS,
“He saw
everything He had made,
and indeed it was very
good.”
The
Scriptures found here in
these two chapters, and
related Scriptures, make
very well known God’s
intention and desire to
preserve the diversity and
purity of His creation.
At the same time they
point to Him as the Master
Designer, Creator, and
lawgiver.
And
in a situation where one
has not conformed to these
laws one can come to see
over time the mistakes
that were made that have
brought about confusion
along with tears and
sorrow when one begins to
experience the effects of
broken laws.
God’s
laws are designed to be a
blessing to all who obey
them rather than the curse
for disobedience. As has
been said by God’s late
apostle, and a true
statement, that God’s
laws are inexorable!
They are always in motion
like the laws of inertia
and gravity.
To
violate them brings about
penalties! Though the
penalty is not always
immediate, as with the
violation of those two
laws, nevertheless payment
will be exacted – unless
there is repentance.
And sometimes even then,
in some cases, though one
does repent, it is too
late to undo the penalty.
To
Be Continued —
In
my next writing I will
plan on our considering
the Scriptures that make
known His laws with man,
animals, and crops in the
fields and gardens and
possibly other areas as
well..
Until
next time, your friend and
servant in the Lord,
Don
Billingsley
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